570 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 15 



^ E. L. Pratt, of Swarthmore, Pa., writes us that his 

 "ad. "has brought him all the oflfers for help he can use. 



BEESWAX MARKET. 



We offer, till further notice, 28 cts. cash, 30 cts. in 

 trade, for average wax delivered here. The prospect 

 is that this price will not be good longer than three or 

 four weeks, for by that time we shall be so near the 

 close of the season that we usually mark the price 

 down again. 



The business heretofore carried on at San Antonio, 

 Texas, under the name of The A. I. Root Co., Udo Toep- 

 perwein. Manager, will hereafter be carried on by Udo 

 Toepperwein individually, he having purchased the 

 entire stock of goods of The A. I. Root Co. Mr. Toep- 

 perwein is a hustling young business man, having built 

 up a large trade in Root's goods, and will continue to 

 handle them as in the past, but under his own name 

 instead of that of The A. I. Root Co. We can assure our 

 patrons that they will receive the same class of goods at 

 equally low prices and the same treatment from Mr. 

 Toepperwein as from us. We bespeak for him a suc- 

 cessful business in the future. 



The a. I. Root Co. 



COMB-FOUNDATION MACHINES. 



We now have in second-hand machines the following 

 to off er. Samples of foundation made on any of these 

 machines mailed to those interested. 



No. 2132.-6x2 hexagonal extra-thin mill, fair condi- 

 tion. Price $10.00. 



No. 014.-6x2 hexagonal extra-thin mill, good condi- 

 tion. Price $12.00. 



No. 057.— 6x2 Va hexagonal extra- thin mill, good condi- 

 tion. Price $15.00. 



No. 058.— 6x2i/i> hexagonal thin-super mill, good condi- 

 tion. Price $15.00. 



No. 055. — 10x2 Pelham, neaj ly new. Price only $6.00. 



No. 066.-10x2 hexagonal medium-brood mill, good 

 condition, $14.00. 



No. 070.-10x2 hexagonal medium-brood mill, fine 

 condition. Price $15.00. 



No. 071.-10x2, old-style frame, round cell, fair condi- 

 tion. Price $9.00. 



SECOND PRIZE-PHOTO CONTEST. 



Many of our subscribers could not take part in our 

 first contest, as the time was so short, and it was the 

 season of the year when good photo* could not be ob- 

 tained. Those who were fortunate enough to have pic- 

 tures had an advantage. To give all an equal chance 

 we have arranged our second contest to extend over the 

 best time in the year to take pictures. Keep your eyes 

 open for a good view, and when you have found it get 

 a camera and you will have a chance to win one of our 

 liberal prizes. It's a great satisfaction to have a good 

 photo of one's bees, even though a prize is not won. 



We offer the following prizes for different kinds of 

 photos: Class A, photo of apiary. Class B, photo of 

 comb honey. Class C, photo of any object of interest to 

 bee-keepers, not included in two first classes. 



Rewards:— 'Each class will be awarded a first, second, 

 and third prize. First prize, winner will be allowed to 

 select goods from our catalog to the amount of $5 00; 

 second prize, same as first, except amount is $3.00; third 

 prize, same as first, except amount is $2.00. 



Co7iditions:— Contest doses Sept. 1, 1905. Contest is 

 open to all ages, and limited to United States and Cana- 

 da, as the foreign contest is still on. We suggest that 

 photos of honey should show the product of one colony, 

 and be arranged so as to expose the entire face of each 

 section, similar to the photos often shown by Mr. Dan- 

 zenbaker. If preferred, a select ten sections could be 

 photographed, or any other idea may be used. 



Photos should not be marked in any way, but your 

 full name and address should be put on a separate sheet, 

 and enclosed with photo, marked " for prize competi- 

 tion." Do not neglect this. Photos not winning a prize 

 will be paid for according to the value to us, if we can 



use them. The prizes will be awarded with special ref- 

 erence to clearness of photo and artistic beauty and 

 the instructive and interest-drawing power. No photo 

 returned unless stamp is enclosed for return. Prize- 

 winning photos are to become our property. 



BABY NUCLEI, EQUIPPED WITH QUEENS, FOR SALE. 



The baby nuclei having done so well in our yard, we 

 have concluded that some of our subscribers might like 

 to buy one or more of them with bees and a virgin of 

 our red-clover stock, which virgin would, of course, be 

 already introduced, and ready to mate with any drones 

 that the consignee himself may have. Some years ago 

 there was an attempt made to sell virgin queens, but it 

 proved unsatisfactory owing to the difficulty of intro- 

 ducing these queens after they had been through the 

 mails, and the business seems to have been given up 

 entirely. But the new Swarthmore boxes of bees offer 

 a solution to the problem, and at the same time enable 

 one, if he has experience enough, to build each baby 

 into a good strong colony. In view of the fact that 

 there may be some of our subscribers who would like to 

 cross their own desirable strains of drones with some of 

 our choice virgins, we have decided to try the experi- 

 ment of putting these baby nuclei on the market sup- 

 plied with virgin queens. We shall be prepared to 

 furnish these by June 1, supplied with about 200 bees, 

 two sections of comb, six of which of the right size will 

 fill a Langstroth frame and a virgin queen with the 

 nucleus box itself, all complete for $1.50; or, when 

 desired, we can substitute a laying queen for 50 cts. 

 more, or $2.00. 



Full directions go with each box of bees, so that even 

 a beginner, if he pays careful attention to details, will 

 be able to make a nice start with bees. Of course no 

 one should think of ordering these babies unless he has 

 already, or will have, full-sized Langstroth hives, for 

 the little boxes will be so full of bees after the queen 

 begins to lay that they will shortly need larger quarters. 



How will you transfer these little frames into a big 

 hive? Very easily. Take a standard L.-size frame, and 

 cut out of the center of it a piece of comb as wide as 

 the little nucleus frame is long, and reaching from the 

 bottom to the top bar. In the space cut out, fit the two 

 little frames, one above the other. Then set it down in 

 the hive with the bees and queen. Place the full-sized 

 hive where the baby originally stood, and contract the 

 entrance down to the space of one bee. If you can give 

 them a frame of hatching brood when the weather is 

 not too cool, all the better. You will then have in a few 

 days a nice nucleus with a queen from the Root Co.'s 

 celebrated red-clover stock crossed with your own 

 choice drones. If only one lot of drones are allowed to 

 have access to the air, and all the rest are restrained by 

 drone-guards, you can practically control the mating of 

 your red-clover queen, with the result that you will 

 have a strain of strong and vigorous bees with cross- 

 ings that are not nearly related. 



If any one desires a more expensive queen sent with 

 the baby nucleus, the price of the nucleus alone will be 

 $1 00. Pick out from the catalog such a queen as you 

 desire, and we will make the introduction before ship- 

 ment. 



The baby nucleus offers the advantage that there 

 will be no risk in introducing. 



Special Notices by A. I. Root. 



WINTERGREEN-PLANTS— NO MORE WANTED. 



Many thanks to the kind friends who have responded 

 so liberally in sending me the beautiful plants ; but 

 please do not send me any more until I know whether I 

 shall succeed in growing them under cultivation. 



WRITE PLAINLY. 



A little time ago I think I said it was a part of my 

 religion to read through very carefully every letter that 

 is plainly intended for myself, and I am still trying to 

 do this. But I wish to make a little protest against 

 asking me to read letters written on coarse rough 

 paper, with a poor pencil that will not make a black 

 mark. In this age of the world, when it is so easy to 

 have good writing material, even if you do not use a 

 typewriter, it is uncivil and unbusinesslike to ask any- 

 body to go through several pages of matter poorly writ- 

 ten, that takes valuable time to get at the meaning. I 

 am not so particular about spelling or plain writing. 

 There are people whose advantages have been such, or 

 who write so seldom, they have but little practice; but I 



