1906 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1169 



up on that, but now I find, on reading page 

 1109, that I've been off the ti'ack in another 

 respect. You say that on the day No. 1 lays 

 a frame of eggs the slide of the cage of No. 2 

 is slipped by (yoii don't say so, but of coui'se 

 you remove No. 1, don't you?), and then you 

 emphasize the point that No. 3 is allowed 

 sole possession until two days before laying. 

 I didn't allow any sole business at all. When 

 No. 1 was laying I removed her, and at the 

 same time slipped the slide of No. 2, and also 

 put in No. 3, caged, so that two queens were 

 always in the nucleus. I never knew but 

 that it worked all right. But perhaps your 

 plan is better. What do you think? [Not 

 so astonishing after all, doctor, that you did 

 not follow out closely the instructions when 

 it is understood that we varied our methods 

 of practice from time to time ; for we are 

 constantly learning something new; and as 

 often as we discovered an impi'ovement in 

 the method, we gave the variation. But in 

 doing so perhaps I shall have to confess that 

 I did not draw particular attention to the 

 change in the method. Your understanding 

 of our present processes is correct. Yes, on 

 the day that No. 1 lays a frame of eggs she 

 is removed, and at the same time the slide of 

 cage No. 2 is slipped by. It follows, then, 

 that No. 2 does not immediately have sole 

 possession of the hive. Four or five hours, 

 or even longer, may elapse before the bees 

 eat out the candy and release her. This 

 whole scheme of pre-introduction or dual in- 

 troduction is an interesting one, for the rea- 

 son that we find we can make quite a num- 

 ber of variations. I am not surprised that 

 you succeeded in two or three of the cases 

 described. But a method that works thi-ee 

 times out of five can not ordinarily be called 

 a success. Thei'efore we shall have to adopt 

 the plan that will give at least 90 per cent 

 of safe introduction. But that brings us to 

 the point that what will succeed during the 

 honey-riow may fail utterly immediately aft- 

 er the honey-fiow has stopped and the bees 

 are inclined to rob. — Ed.] 



Reading about automobiles at out-yards, 

 page 1109, makes me sigh that I am not rich. 

 One of the most wearing things aliout out- 

 apiaries is the constant dread of accident 

 from having a horse stung when taking a 

 load to (and especially from) an out-apiary. 

 To have a metal horse immune to stings is a 

 big, big, big advantage. But then, keeping 

 two horses costs me less than half what it 

 woiild cost me to keep an automobile. 

 [Can't have an aiitomobile because you are 

 not rich? Perhaps I did not make it clear: 

 but one does not have to be '•rich" in order 

 to own one of these machines. We bought 

 two second-hand ones that are giving good 

 service to-day. By watching the market we 

 found one machine, an electric, costing $950 

 new. This we bought for about .$800. A 

 $1000 machine we ])ought for $75; but after 

 we had put in a set of new batteries and a 

 volt-meter it had cost us about $400. In 

 looking over some of the prices on second- 

 hand gasoline-machines I find verv good 

 ones offered from $100 to $300. The Gra- 



ham C.ycle Co., 601 West Madison St., Chi- 

 cago, are offering quite an array of tine 

 bargains. You see, it is this way: Some 

 "rich fellow " buys a machine and gets the 

 auto fever. It begins to rage. Soon he 

 wants something faster and nigher-price<l. 

 What does he care for the depreciation of 50 

 or 75 per cent on the second-hand? He has 

 plenty of money, and is going to have what 

 he wants. He goes to a dealer and makes a. 

 trade, sacrificing in the deal his second-hand 

 machine. This the dealer offers at slightly 

 above the price he allows on it for a new 

 machine. A good many of these second- 

 hand machines have not had 300 miles of 

 run; but because they are second-hand they 

 offered at a very low price. But the ordina- 

 ry man who does not care about the latest 

 style and high speed can get one of these 

 machines at a fair bargain. 



Perhaps you would say that even $300 is 

 too much for you to pay. Very possibly, at 

 your age; but if you figure up the cost of a 

 horse, a large barn, hay-storage room, his 

 feed for half a year when you can not use 

 him; his constant care eveiy day in the 

 year; his own depreciation; the depreciation 

 of buggy and harness: his milage limit; the 

 danger of stings, etc., you will find that the 

 cost per mile will far exceed the cost per 

 mile of a $300 automobile, if in good repair. 

 But if one likes to run an auto recKlessly, take 

 chances, and has not very much idea of ma- 

 chinery, he had better stitrk to the old horse. 



Do not buy a second-hand aiitomobile at 

 any garage or other jjlace without taking 

 some friend along who knows something 

 about autos and their condition. Some ma- 

 chines offered cheap woulil be dear at one- 

 fourth the price asked. Sc^ look out. — Ed.] 



Attention is drawn to the leading ax'ticle 

 in this issue on winter fo(jd. where it is 

 shown that honey does not give as good re- 

 sults as sugar syrup. 



W^HEN TO SELL THE CROP. 



Do not make the mistake of keeping your 

 honey too long. Comb honey especially 

 should be sold before the holidays; extracted, 

 especially that of a cheaper grade, may be 

 held witli less danger after the selling season. 



The great troul)le with many of our bee- 

 keeping friends is that they do not get their 

 honey on the market until they "get around 

 to it," and this is often long after the holi- 

 days, Avhen they have nothing else to do. 

 When several thousand Ijee-keepers do this, 

 there is pretty apt to be a slump in prices. 



