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GLEANTXGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 15 



queen gives the scent? [I don't agree that 

 a queenless colony ' ' protects itself poorly. ' ' 

 At least they do better than that in this 

 locality. If we throw largely out of consid- 

 eration colony odor, it will be hard for us to 

 understand many of the phenomena that 

 now seem easy of solution. — Ed.] 



"They would crowd every available 

 cell in the brood-nest, and very often swarm 

 before going into the sections," page 596. 

 I've read that several times, wondering why 

 your bees should act so differently from 

 mine. I never had a colony swarm before 

 working in sections. Did you use any bait? 

 I think my bees begin in a baited section- 

 super as soon as in extracting- combs. I 

 don't mean they'll begin as soon on the 

 foundation, but on the bait. Just one bait- 

 section for each colony is all 1 use. [Yes, 

 we have had them swarm before going into 

 the sections, even with baits; and we have 

 had them loaf in front of the entrance and 

 not swarm, jamming full every available 

 cell in the brood-nest for several days. The 

 Townsend plan puts up something more 

 than a bait— a real coaxer in the shape of 

 shallow extracting combs. When the bees 

 get started to going above they will keep on 

 going there, even when conditions are not 

 so inviting as before— at least that was my 

 personal observation, and it seems to be in 

 line with the Townsend practice. —Ed.] 



Ft lEND Weaver, you say, p. 596, "if the 

 package contains 3 or 6 pounds they will 

 buy just as quickly " as they would a pound 

 package. Locality again. Thousands of 

 people that would do without it if they had 

 to buy 3 pounds at a time buy frequently if 

 it's offered a pound at a time. The Nation- 

 al Biscuit Co. evidently think they increase 

 the amount sold by putting 5-cent packages 

 on the market. [If a customer is allowed 

 his choice without solicitation, he undoubt- 

 edly in any locality would select the smallest 

 and cheapest package. Well, suppose he 

 did, and liked the honey, and came to buy 

 m)re, and so on everj* Saturday night. 

 Suppose our bee-keeping friend or the gro- 

 cer should say to him, "Say, Jones, why 

 don't you buy 25 or 50 cents' worth like this, 

 and get it for very much less money per 

 pound than in that small package?" 1 have 

 been told that the sellers of proprietary 

 medicines soon discover that customers find 

 it more economical to buy a large dollar bot- 

 tle than a 25-cent one that does not begin to 

 contain a fourth the amount in the large 

 package. I think our friend Weaver had in 

 mind the matter of personal solicitation on 

 the part of the seller. — Ed.] 



"The growing scarcity of suitable sec- 

 tion lumber may force all comb-honey pro- 

 ducers to adopt some other plan of market- 

 ing in the future. If so, we may as well 

 begin to face the problem now," page 587. 

 Now look here, Mr. Editor, you may as well 

 face the fact that there isn't going to be 

 any such problem. We used four-piece sec- 

 tions before one-piece sections were ever 



heard of, and would be still using the four- 

 piece with satisfaction if the one-piece had 

 not come in. Why can't we use the four- 

 piece after the one-piece go out, just as sat- 

 isfactorily as we did before the one-piece 

 came in? Surely there's no scarcity of 

 four-piece lumber. [You forget, doctor, 

 that lumber for four-piece sections would 

 also be expensive. The scarcity of one 

 would affect the price of another. I know 

 of no lumber that would be available except 

 hardwood; and the expense of cutting lock- 

 cornering at each end of four pieces of wood 

 comprising the sections, or eight lock-cor- 

 nering joints in all, to make one section, or 

 8000 lock-corner cuts to make 1000 sections 

 —well, you see it would be a question of 

 labor. But that is not all. It is a big job 

 to box up and prepare for shipment 4000 

 pieces to make 1000 sections. If you were 

 a manufacturer for a time, and had made 

 both kinds of sections, I think you would 

 conclude that the four-piece kind would not 

 materially relieve the situation. While it is 

 true that we had the four-piece sections 

 before we had the one-piece, the lumber 

 was soft, and cost only about a fourth what 

 it does now. — Ed.] 



"Let me see," says ye editor, page 583, 

 "if my recollection serves me right, there 

 used to be a chap up m Northern Illinois 

 who argued strenuously for sections holding 

 a full pound because the public expected a 

 section to weigh that much." That chap, 

 Mr. Editor, hasn't changed his views in the 

 least. Neither did he at that time believe 

 the production of a crop of sections weigh- 

 ing an exact pound each was other than a 

 myth. Possibly you may recall that he 

 viewed with some favor the idea of produc- 

 ing sections weighing so much less than a 

 pound that no one could possibly be deceived 

 into believing them full pounds. What he 

 then protested again.ct, w hat he protests 

 against now, is the dishoi.esty of sellinor a 

 light-weight section for a full pound. Not 

 the slightest objection to selling sections by 

 the piece if there's no deception as to 

 weight. But I'm afraid there is deception, 

 even yet. On what honest ground can you 

 explain quotations that make a case of sec- 

 tions weighing llf pounds sell for more than 

 a case weighing 12J pounds, the quality be- 

 ing the same in each case. [There is no 

 difference of opinion between the Illinois 

 man and the editor, and never has been, i^n 

 the question whether it is right or wrong t ) 

 palm off a short weight for a full one with 

 intent to defraud. That point does not admit 

 of argument. The weights have been short- 

 er, not to deceive but to get within a certain 

 price, say 10 or 15 cents as the case may be; 

 and in such cases sections have been sold by 

 the piece, like oranges. When sold by the 

 pound the price is figured accordingly, 

 whether it was short weight or a full one, 

 like cheese. The Colorado bee-keepers have 

 for years sold their honey at so much a case 

 —not to deceive, but for convenience. 

 Where do you find specific cases of intent 

 to defraud ?-Ed.] 



