514 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 15 



the world if she is cared for; so I can not let 

 this pass by without replying to same, as 1 

 am keeping both bees and poultry, and al 

 ways like to boost both and run down nei 

 ther. I have kept bees for the last ten years,' 

 and could not be without them any more, as 

 they have proven most profitable to me. I 

 will not go into details and give any book 

 accounts, but I can say that my bees have 

 averaged $10 per hive profit, and I can give 

 Mr. McGlade credit for boosting the bees. 

 They surely deserve it; but I can not say 

 that the work is play compared to chicken- 

 raising— nothing of the kind. I am sure 

 there is enough of it in both lines, if they 

 are cared for the way they should be, for 

 everybody knows neither bees nor chickens 

 will thrive well for a song. I will admit 

 that there is enough work in the chicken 

 business to keep one hustling all the time. 

 In the winter we haven't so much work with 

 bees as chickens. Chickens have to be car- 

 ed for more in winter in order to get the 

 best results in winter eggs; also fitting some 

 of the birds for the show-room, as everybody 

 knows that blue-ribbon winners hardly ever 

 grow around the woods; so there is always 

 something to look after, especially in yards 

 where there are more than one variety kept. 



I am a crank on buffs. I tried nearly 

 every thing that wears buff feathers, and 

 each variety. The Rocks, Wyandottes, Leg- 

 horns, and Orpingtons, are proving a very 

 successful bird to me, laying their store of 

 eggs all the year round, never stopping for 

 the coldest day, as the mercury often falls 

 to 20 below zero in this part of the country. 

 Of course, these hens are cared for, and no 

 one should expect the busy old hen to lay 

 unless she is cared for. 



I am sure I could not say a word against 

 the busy hen, for she deserves the same 

 praise as the busy bee, and I think that 

 every poultry- keeper agrees with me here. 

 If not, why don't they all do as Mr. McGlade 

 did— load them up and haul them to Colum- 

 bus, which, I am sure, they would, and I 

 myself wouldn't hold on to them very long 

 if they turned out the way Mr. McGlade is 

 speaking about. But almost every poultry- 

 keeper knows that there is the almighty dol- 

 lar back of the busy hen each year; yes, 

 and just a little more, sometimes, in some of 

 these fine specimens of thoroughbred pullets 

 and cockerels. No, I think when it comes 

 to giving advice on either bees or poultry as 

 to which is the more profitable, I say both, ev- 

 ery time, and think every bee or poultry keep- 

 er finds, if they have care and right manage- 

 ment, in both lines, each will give its share 

 of profits; at least I have found them a win- 

 ing pair, neither interfering with the other. 



Waltham, Minn. 



[Our readers may be interested to know 

 that I am just starting in the poultry busi- 

 ness in a small way, with the view of test- 

 ing some of the ideas advanced by some of 

 our bee-keeping poultry- men. Going to 

 make a mixed bee and poultry journal? Oh, 

 no! Gleanings will always be a bee paper, 

 -Ed.] 





A COMB- HONEY SHIPPING- CASE WITHOUT 

 GLASS. 



I am sending a shipping- case which Mr. 

 L. A. Aspinwall, of Jackson, gave me. The 

 two things different are, of course, the no- 

 glass feature and the manner of putting the 

 no drip sticks in. While in Jackson, Mr. 

 Aspinwall had me talk with a number of his 

 grocers, and, almost to a man, they said 

 they would just as soon have the cases with- 

 out the glass, and some of them now prefer 

 them without the glass. The reason they 

 offered was that their attention was called 

 by the stencil-marking on the front, and 

 that they were much more apt to ask to see 



it, and thus give the grocer the opportunity 

 to talk with the customer, where, ^if it was 

 in plain sight, the prospective customer 

 would look at it and pass on. They also 

 mentioned that, so much of their trade was 

 by phone, it little mattered. The difference 

 in price would also be a considerable item. 

 Mr. Aspinwall also suggested j, that a case 

 after that pattern, only a one-row ten-sec- 

 tion case, would be a fine family size, espe- 

 cially for the man who sells ten sections for 

 a dollar. E. M.^HuNT. 



Bell Branch, Mich. 



[The shipping-case here shown was exhib- 

 ited at the Michigan State Bee-keepers' 

 Association convention at Jackson, and was 

 quite favorably commented on by the mem- 

 bers present. The freight classification puts 

 honey "in glass" as first class, and that 

 "in wood " as second class. When this tar- 

 iff was first printed, some of the roads were 

 inclined to consider that all comb honey in 

 shipping- cases with glass front was in glass, 

 and, consequently, the freight rate was 

 pushed up one notch; but after considerable 

 explanation we showed that, evidently, such 



