226 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 1 



can easily push their way out. This sug- 

 gestion has been given before several times 

 in these columns, but it vsrill bear repeating 

 as a sort of reminder. The idea came orig- 

 inally from that 300-colony bee-keeper, Mr. 

 W. L. Coggshall, of West Groton, N. Y., 

 and I know it is good. 



KARO OR CORN SYRUP; IS IT BETTER THAN 

 HONEY? 



Another friend is troubled about the way 

 a Chicago firm is advertising karo. The 

 label reads: 



Karo and honey look alike, taste alike, are alike. Mix 

 karo with honey or honey with karo, and experts can't 

 separate them. Even the bees can't tell which is which. 

 In fact, karo and honey are identical, except that karo is 

 better than ho7iey for less money. Try it. 



There is no doubt that such statements do 

 a real damage to the honey business until 

 the dear pubHc learns better, as it surely 

 will. Real honey is now for sale almost all 

 over the world. Let the great honey- con- 

 suming world taste of some good genuine 

 honey and then taste of the much-advertised 

 karo. Why, it is really quite a joke to see 

 it said in all soberness that no one can tell 

 one from the other, and then wind up by 

 saying that "karo is better than honey." — 

 A. L R. 



RESULT OF THE LAST NATIONAL ELECTION. 



We have just recived a report from the 

 Chairman of the Board of Directors, announc- 

 ing the result of the vote taken last Decem- 

 ber, but which could not be counted and re- 

 ported by the Secretary, Mr. Geo. W. Brod- 

 beck, owing to his severe illness and death, 

 as announced in our last issue. Mr. Brod- 

 beck kept thinking he would be better, and 

 that he would soon be able to count the votes 

 himself and certify the result. Growing 

 weaker and weaker he saw that it was im- 

 possible, and accordingly delegated the work 

 to others. His wife has just sent the result 

 of the vote to W. F. Marks, who in turn 

 certifies them to the various bee-journals. 

 The result of the election is as follows : 



President, J. U. Harris; Vice-president, 

 C. P. Dadant; Secretary^ W. Z. Hutchinson, 

 who received 203 votos, and Mr. Brodbeck, 

 who had requested to be relieved, 95; Gen- 

 eral Manager, N. E. France. E. Whitcomb, 

 R. L. Taylor, and Udo Toepperwein were 

 elected as directors. 



SENDING BEES BY THE POUND. 



In our last issue, page 168, mention is 

 made of sending bees by express without 

 brood or comb. When I visited Mr. J. B. 

 Mason, of Mechanic Falls, Me., a year ago 

 this winter he incidentally mentioned that 

 he had been having great success in ship- 

 ping bees by the pound, that his losses were 

 comparatively light, and the express charges 

 were considerably below those for bees sent 

 on combs of honey and brood. He had had 

 a good many favorable reports, and has re- 

 cently sent me one which speaks for itself. 



Mr. Mason:— I want to write a few words to you in 

 regard to a purchase that I made of you last year 

 through our Mr. Fenderson. American Express agent. 



I had one of the pounds of bees that he procured from 

 you, and I think that they made a pretty good showing. 

 They filled a ten-frame brood-chamber, and stored 33 

 one-pound sections. Don't you think that is hustling? 

 If I remember rightly I received them the 28th of June. 

 Rochester, N. Y. J. L. Wellman. 



While this may be a sort of free adver- 

 tisement for friend Mason, yet it demon- 

 strates what can be done; and as it has 

 proven to be a severe winter there may be 

 quite a trade in bees this spring. Queen- 

 breeders and those who have bees for sale 

 may find quite a nice little business. As 

 stated in our last issue, our success in send- 

 ing bees by express has been unfavorable 

 for long distances. For distances not ex- 

 ceeding 300 miles— that is to say, where 

 bees would not be on the road more than 15 

 or 20 hours— the results were fairly good. 



SHALL WE USE SECOND-HAND SQUARE CANS 

 FOR SHIPPING HONEY? 



In this issue, page 230, appears a valuable 

 article from L. B. Bell, and on page 240 an- 

 other good item on how to clean second- 

 hand cans for the storage of white or table 

 honey; but so many times it is not done 

 right that the taint of kerosene is imparted, 

 ruining the honey and making it almost un- 

 fit for any purpose. A careful reading of 

 these articles alone ought to save some of 

 our subscribers in the West hundreds of dol- 

 lars if they are large producers. Even the 

 smaller producer can profit by their perusal. 



Our experience with shipments of honey 

 to Medina in second-hand cans has been 

 generally unsatisfactory, just because bee- 

 keepers are careless, or ignorant of what to 

 do to make these old cans suitable for the 

 purpose. Our honey-man says that too oft- 

 en producers will use cans that are rusty on 

 the inside. The rust imparts its color to the 

 honey, making it several shades darker. 

 Cans that have once held gasoline are more 

 liable to be rusty than those that have held 

 kerosene; and too often bee-keepers sup- 

 pose that gasoline-cans are free from taint, 

 and therefore do not clean them. 



The buyer has no objection to all second- 

 hand cans filled with honey, provided the 

 cans are properly treated before filling. A 

 rusty can should not be used under any cir- 

 cumstances—that is, one that is rusty on 

 the inside. The outside rust may not do so 

 much damage; but if the rust is deep the 

 can will leak. 



There is some excuse for the Western 

 producer in using second-hand cans, for the 

 reason that freights are very high on new 

 empty cans ; but I question very much wheth- 

 er it is economy for the Eastern bee-keej)er 

 to use them except in some particular in- 

 stances where the cans have not been rust- 

 ed or otherwise injured. Perhaps it may be 

 said that cans that have once been used for 

 honey can be used again for the same pur- 

 pose. This is true; but the suggestion has 

 been made, and I believe it is a good one, to 

 leave all such second-hand cans with thp 

 smearing of honey inside (because honey 

 prevents rust) , then wash and dry them out 

 just before refilling. 



