1906 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



301 



ment of hastening granulation, and we 

 proved conclusively that, of two lots of hon- 

 ey out of the same receptacle, the one that 

 was stirred or agitated considerably would 

 candy much sooner than that which had not 

 been so treated. This agitation theory ex- 

 plains why extracted honey, or honey out of 

 the comb, will assume a solid condition soon- 

 er than that of the same honey in the comb. 

 It is easy to see why this is so, because the 

 former has been subjected to the violent ac- 

 tion of the centrifugal force — a force that 

 slams the honey violently against the sides 

 of the can in a way that makes one think of 

 a hard beating rainstorm. Then as it is ag- 

 itated by running down the side of the ex- 

 tractor and out through the faucet it is 

 further conveyed into big vats or cans, then 

 further agitated by being drawn off into 

 shipping-receptacles. On reaching the deal- 

 er it will be redrawn off into retail packages. 

 As a result, it has received all kinds of mix- 

 ing and stirring that honey in the comb does 

 not have at all.— Ed.] 



lOfi PRESSURE 



A QUESTION. 



Will some one who knows please tell 

 through Gleanings how to tell the age of a 

 queen? W. R. Clover. 



Clinton, Ind., Feb. 5. 



[It would be a little difficult to tell how you 

 could recognize an old queen from a young 

 one. I might say, in a general way, she has 

 an "old" look. She does not have that 

 bright crisp appearance that a young queen 

 has; and sometimes there is a dingy hoari- 

 ness about her not seen on a young queen. 

 But let me tell you it is not always possible 

 to distinguish young queens from old ones. 

 I have seen even experts fooled. Better not 

 rely on appearance, but clip your queens 

 each j^ear in such a way that you can deter- 

 mine in which year they were clipped. In 

 this way you can determine the age of a 

 queen. For example, in 1906 cut off the wings 

 on one side square. In 1907 make a slant- 

 ing cut, the point of the stub being next to 

 the wings not clipped. Then the year fol- 

 lowing, cut on the other slant so the point 

 will be in the opposite direction or outside 

 of the queen. Usually this would be about 

 as far as we need to go; but we can make it 

 six by taking the opposite pair of wings. — 

 Ed.] 



STARTERS FOR WIRED FRAMES. 



Is it practical to wire frames when using 

 starters? I want wired frames for extract- 

 ing, but it is difficult to use full sheets and 

 avoid a second prime swarm during buck- 

 wheat honey-flow in August. 



Newfield, N. Y. W. L. Hine. 



[It is perfectly feasible and advisable, I 

 may say, to wire frames, even when start- 

 ers only are used. The natural comb built 

 below the starter will be built over the 

 wires. —Ed.] 



HIGH - PRESSURE GARDENING IN WEST 

 FLORIDA. 



South of Manatee, just before I reached 

 Mr. Bannehr's, while picking my way along 

 a low muddy place in the road I happened to 

 glance over to the left, and my eye caught 

 sight of something so entrancingly beautiful 

 I could for the moment hardly persuade my- 

 self it was real. It was a celery-farm of 

 about three acres newly started. The foli- 

 age was greater in quantity than I ever saw 

 before, and the rich luxuriant green, border- 

 ing on golden, that indicates perfect health 

 of the plants, covered every portion of the 

 entire field. There were no poor spots and 

 no better spots; it was all uniform, and in 

 every stage of growth, from the little plants 

 that look like stars (in such straight rows) 

 across the jet-black mucky soil— it was all 

 the same. It was a wet place, and the wa- 

 ter was taken off by open ditches perhaps 

 from two to three feet in depth, and, say, 

 every two rods apart over the whole field. 

 I suppose these ditches can be closed so as 

 to raise the water and give sub-irrigation 

 whcnsver the plants lack moisture; but with 

 the abundant recent rains the main thing 

 has been to take the excess quickly out of 

 the way. 



At one point, where the plants were im- 

 mense in size, they had commenced bleach- 

 ing with boards. This is done with cypress 

 lumber, almost clear stuff, a foot wide by 16 

 feet long. The black soil had been cleared 

 of every bit of growth and trash, the ground 

 was leveled as flat as a floor, with grade 

 enough so the water from excessive rains 

 would all go off into the ditches, and every 

 part of the work was done with a mathe- 

 matical precision that astonished me. When 

 I questioned friend Bannehr he replied: 



* ' Yes, they have in one sense made a won- 

 derful success of that celery- farm. I think 

 it is generally admitted it is one of the fin- 

 est in the State; but they spent a pile of 

 money doing it. Clearing out the big trees, 

 bushes, roots, clumps, and all, cost a lot, 

 the ditching a big sum more, and, after that, 

 hundreds of dollars have been spent on fer- 

 tilizers to produce this magnificent growth. 

 It now only remains to see if they can sell 

 the crop for enough to pay for all this out- 

 lay." 



Well, whether it pays or not I am glad 

 somebody has given us an object-lesson that 

 shows what is really possible in the line of 

 ' ' high-pressure gardening. " If money must 

 be wasted in experiments, I like to see it 

 wasted in this way. But we are not sure it 

 is wasted. Later on I learned of a man 



