1418 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 15 



On the front cover page of thi.s issue will 

 be seen a l)ee-keeper and liis antoiuoliile— a 

 son of horseless-carriage outfit en route to 

 one of his out-yards. He is equipped with 

 saw, hammer, sinoker. and his trusty rilie to 

 shoot down a jack-ra))bit or a stray cayote. 

 Mr. C. F. Kinsie, of Riverside, Cal., the 

 driver, does not say whether his automobile 

 ever "exceeds the speed limits," or whether 

 it ever "balks" as autos sometimes do. It 

 is proliably sting-proof 



THE SAN ANTONIO CONVENTION. 



Just as we go to press I learn that there 

 was a iiig and enthusiastic meeting of the 

 National in San Antonio. No general re- 

 port has thus far i-ome to us; but a brief 

 statement has been received, to the effect 

 that a proposed amendment, prepared by 

 myself and offered l)y Pres. C. P. Dadant, 

 excluding bee-supply manufacturers, queen- 

 breeders, et(\, from l)eing eligible to office 

 in the National, was voted down. I am un- 

 der the impression that the members pres- 

 ent thought it would be an act of discourte- 

 sy, in the presence of Mr. Dadant and other 

 manufacturers who might be present, to vote 

 otherwise. I should not construe it so, and 

 I am sure Mr. Dadant would not. No man- 

 ufacturer or dealer desires to hold any office 

 in a honey-producers' organization; and I 

 l)elieve that, as a general proposition, not 

 because there have iDeen abuses, but because 

 there may be, some such amendment should 

 be incorporated in the constitution. The 

 National is now as strong as it ever was be- 

 fore in its histoi-y, if not stronger. It does 

 not now need the assistance of those indi- 

 rectly connected with the pursuit as it did 

 formerly. In saying this I do not see any 

 reason why a Ijee etlitor or publisher, if he 

 be not connected with the supply interests, 

 should be barred from admission to the offi- 

 cial family. 



THE EFFECT OF THE NATIONAL PURE-FOOU 

 I.AW^ ON THE GLUCOSE INTERESTS. 



When the national pure-food law was 

 passed by Congress it was probably as severe 

 u blow to the glucose interests of the country 

 as those interests ever received. I have been 

 told they are now seeking outlets for their 

 products in Europe, and well they may, for 

 the demand for their glucose in this country 

 is lx)und to grow less and less. As there are 

 now heavy penalties against putting it in oth- 

 er syrups' without plainly stating the fact, 

 it would seem as if one great outlet for the 

 stuff as an adulterant having been cut off, 

 the demand would necessarily be vei-y great- 

 ly reduced. I shall be greatly surprised if 

 there shall not, in time, be a toning-up in 

 the honey market by reason of the greater 

 demand that will naturally take place for 

 honey that is known to be such. 



But the public has been fed on glucose 

 mixtures for so many years, purporting to be 

 honey, and supposed it was honey, it will 

 take that same public some time to learn that 

 real honey is both delicious and sweet. Glu- 



cose has done more to disgust people with 

 our product than almost all other agencies 

 coml)ined. They have gcme to their grocer's 

 and bought a mixture that was lal)eled hon- 

 ey, and got something else so vile that that 

 one purchase would generally suffice for a 

 long time. When a customer buys a pack- 

 age of honey after Jan. 1st he will be almost 

 sure to get just what he asks for. If the 

 honey is of good flavor he will want more. 



When consumers Anally learn what honey 

 is, it is then that prices may advance to a point 

 they have already reached in England and 

 Scotland, where glucose has not been allow- 

 ed to masquerade under the name of honey; 

 for be it known that the best comb honey 

 sells in Great Britain for prices considerably 

 in advance of those ruling here: viz., 48 cts. 

 per lb. This honey is not one whit better 

 than oui's, either. 



queens FOR EXPORT; MODIFIED BENTON V. 



'THE ORIGINAL BENTON CAGE PURE 



AND SIMPLE. 



Mk. Frank Bknton, of the Depai'tment of 

 Agriculture, now on a trip around the world 

 in search of new races of bees, was the first 

 one to make any general success of sending 

 queens by mail across the ocean. While in 

 the Orient, and before he entered into the 

 employ of Uncle Sam, he sent (pieens re- 

 peatedly to the United States that came in 

 excellent order. Frequently the cages would 

 come without a single dead bee; and, what 

 was more remarkable, the attendants would 

 arrive as bright and lively, apparently, as 

 when they were just picked oft" the comb be- 

 fore entering upon the long journey of two 

 or three weeks. So phenomenal was the 

 success of these cages that some years ago 

 we adopted the foi"m of the cage but not t/ic 

 jjrerise model. For the purpose of giving in- 

 spection the Benton shape was adopted, but 

 covered with wire cloth, and on top of this 

 was placed a wooden cover. This was prac- 

 tically all the change that was made, and 

 for domestic purposes the cages so modified 

 seemed to give perfect results; but when 

 this same cage in larger form was used for 

 export to Australia the queens sometimes 

 got through alive, and sometimes would be 

 dead, including all the bees. In explaining 

 this matter to Dr. Phillips, acting in charge 

 of apiculture, he inquired why we did not 

 adopt the original Benton without any mod- 

 iflcation. He said the Department was hav- 

 ing imiformly good results with the old cage 

 as flrst put out. He further gave it as his 

 opinion that the wire cloth intervening be- 

 tween the wooden cover and the cage in the 

 Root-Benton model, so far from being any 

 particular advantage, was a positive detri- 

 ment. After this conversation I determined 

 to test the matter, especially with one or two 

 cases where we had failed in getting delive- 

 ry alive in good order. We accordingly 

 went back to the exact form of the original 

 Benton, without an iota of mollification, put 

 up a couple of queens, and sent them on. 

 The two reports are just now in, showing 



