232 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 1 



each race with queen being in a single-frame 

 observatory hive. I have an eight-frame 

 observatory hive with a set of honey-boxes 

 on top, and glass on all four sides. Hundreds 

 of people will ask about a full-sized hive, 

 and are surprised to learn that there are at 

 least 30,000 bees in them, and many others 

 at home with 50,000. When preparing this 

 hive for an exhibit, run some of the bees 

 back into the old hive and leave it on the old 

 stand with some combs of brood in it, for a 

 large colony will smother a great many bees, 

 and look bad. 



It is well to have five or six mailing- cages 

 with queens and a few bees. Hundreds of 

 people will ask about bees being sent by 

 mail, and how far they can go in that small 

 box. Many keeping a few bees will ask to 

 see the queen and want to look her over, as 

 they never saw one before, and those mail- 

 ing-cages can be passed around. 



I have lost but one mailing-cage with 

 queen. 



A great deal of pains should be taken 

 with the honey-exhibit. The honey should 

 be put up in as many forms as it appears in 

 the markets of the county. Show as many 

 kinds as possible of both comb and extracted 

 honey, light and dark. Show also the candied 

 form of each variety, and make some ex- 

 planation concerning it. Many will say they 

 like it best. 



I find free samples a great advertisement 

 for the bee-keepers in general. My wife 

 handles the samples, using 12 small butter- 

 paddles and 12 very small spoons. A pail 

 with a wire screen one inch below the top, on 

 which to drain the small dishes, is hung out 

 of sight under a railing. When drained they 

 are wiped off with a dampened cloth before 

 using again. The greatest expense is the 

 work. We used the most honey for samples 

 last year, which was 15 lbs. 



I was surprised at the large number who 

 said they never knew before that there was 

 more than one kind of honey. 



In talking with people from other counties, 

 I find they usually know some bee-keeper 

 near them, and this is the time to tell them 

 they can get just as man/ kinds and just as 

 good honey of that bee-keeper. Often the 

 man they know is a member of the Associa- 

 tion. 



Remember the night-watchman ; show him 

 the sample pail and spoon; tell him there is 

 the place to eat his lunch; and if the night 

 gets extra cold, just cover up the top air- 

 hole in the observatory hives. 



Take great pains in getting a large collec- 

 tion of honey-plants, pressed and mounted 

 on white pasteboard, for many will speak of 

 adulterated honey, and will be interested in 

 the different honey-plants. Explain that 

 many trees, plants, flowers, and even weeds 

 will produce honey as good as that they are 

 sampling, and that tons of honey go to waste 

 on common weeds along the roadside. 



Make a good display of beeswax and comb 

 foundation. Show small pieces of foundation 

 to those speaking of manufactured comb hon- 

 ey, and explain how it is made, and say that 



it is all that has ever been done toward 

 making honey-comb. 



Make a good display of hives, fixtures, 

 and tools used about the apiary. Queen- 

 rearing outfits should be on hand, for many 

 will ask about rearing queens. Show as 

 many bee-books as possible, and copies of 

 all of the bee-journals. A few price-lists 

 will be called for. 



If bee-keepers' societies and bee-keepers 

 themselves, especially those who produce 

 large crops of honey, would take pains and 

 see that every county fair was nicely repre- 

 sented, people would understand more about 

 bees and honey, and there would be far less 

 talk about the manufacture of comb honey 

 and adulteration of extracted honey. 



Don't try to make an exhibit out of a bas- 

 ketful of fixtures. The small exhibit I had 

 last year at the fair, to say nothing about 

 pressed flowers, observatory hives, many 

 tools, and small fixtures, amounted to about 

 $75. I received nine premiums, $24; paid 

 for entry fees, $2.50; paid for two season 

 tickets, $2, leaving a balance of $19.50. 



There is no money made out of the premi- 

 ums; but remember it costs to advertise. I 

 have worked up a good retail trade for all 

 of my honey, and don't get enough to sup- 

 ply the demand. 



Mayfield, N. Y. 



««■» 



THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE MEETING AT 

 HARRISBURG, CONTINUED. 



In addition to the account of this conven- 

 tion in the issue for Feb. 15th, we have ob- 

 tained brief mentions of two other papers 

 that were read, and a copy of the one read 

 by Prof. Frank Benton, which we give here 

 in condensed form. 



Rev. H. W. Bender read a paper on "The 

 Honey-bearing Flora of Adams County." 

 This was interesting in that it showed the 

 exactness which any one may reach by tak- 

 ing notes on the honey-bearing flowers of 

 his locality. 



Dr. William Friar, chairman of the com- 

 mittee on food standards of the oflRcial agri- 

 cultural chemists, spoke with reference to 

 their work on the proposed definitions and 

 standards of honey. Prof. Benton was ask- 

 ed to reply, and did so, reading the defini- 

 tions which he proposed as substitutes for 

 those which the committee has provisionally 

 put forward. 



In his paper entitled " Improvement of 

 Honey-bees ' ' Professor Benton said, in sub- 

 stance : 



This subject naturally divides itself into, 

 first, the selection of a race or breed; sec- 

 cond, the selection of individual queens to 

 breed from; third, the methods employed in 

 rearing queens; and, fourth, the selection of 

 drones, or male bees. 



SELECTION OF RACE OR BREED. 



Caucasians for beginners.— There comes 

 to the mind of the beginner, in many in- 

 stances, a dread of cross bees and the fear- 

 ful stinging which may result from unskill- 



