1090 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 15 



carefully sorted, there ought to be no real 

 choice. One might be fuller, and another 

 not quite so full, but present a little whiter 

 and cleaner comb. 



To retail honey by the pound and ounce 

 necessitates uneven change, delay, and both- 

 er. The whole grocery business has gravi- 

 tated largely to packages all ready to hand 

 out, containing just so much food stuff. 

 Even sugar is beginning to be put up in reg- 

 ular-weight bags. It has now come to be 

 the fact that one can go into a grocery and 

 get pretty nearly a whole lay-out, without 

 using the scales once. Shall we bee-keep- 

 ers try to compel the grocers to go back to 

 the old way of getting- exact ounces and 

 then figuring up each time the actual price 

 of the section? You can lead a horse to wa- 

 ter, but you can't make him drink. Many 

 grocers will not handle honey, and why? 

 Because we bee-keepers have not catered 

 enough to the custom that now prevails, of 

 regular size and regular packages at even 

 change. If he must weigh out every sec- 

 tion, and figure up the price at uneven 

 change, he will handle something else. 



We will grant, for the sake of argument, 

 that one customer will get a box that by 

 weight will be one cent less, and another 

 customer a box that will be one cent more 

 than the standard price— say 15 cents. If 

 either customer buys half a dozen boxes in 

 a" year, by the law of averages he will not 

 be much out of pocket after he has bought 

 his six sections. If he buys a dozen at dif- 

 ferent times, the difference will be almost 

 infinitesimal. Do not forget that the law of 

 averages corrects many of these things just 

 as it does the value of eggs. One dozen 

 eggs might weigh several ounces more than 

 another dozen; but no one would think of 

 buying eggs by the pound. — Ed.] 



WATERING CELLAR-WINTERED BEES. 



Some time ago I noticed an article in a 

 Danish bee journal on the subject of pre- 

 venting poor wintering. I might translate 

 all of It, but will now refer only to what is 

 said about the necessity of water when bees 

 commence brood-rearing in the spring. The 

 writer, in speaking of the importance of 

 having strong colonies in the spring, says 

 that the bees must start brood-rearing very 

 early. In the cellar they can not do this to 

 the extent they ought to, because they lack 

 water. Outdoors, if water is not close by 

 or furnished, they will, even when it is too 

 cold or stormy for them to fly, go out in 

 search of it, never to return. More bees 

 are lost this way than we imagine. This is 

 a reason for having only weak colonies when 

 harvest is at hand. No method is given for 

 watering bees outdoors or in the cellar. If 

 it is of such paramount importance to give 

 water in the cellar from the latter part of 

 February, as this article seems to indicate, 

 I should like to know. Mr. Editor, you may 

 have informed us fully on this matter, but 

 my memory can not place it. 



Wausau, Wis. G. A. LuNDE. 



[Outdoor wintered bees will usually get 

 all the water they require, by the condensa- 

 tion that will take place near the entrance, 

 and sometimes on the sides of the hive. 

 This condensation is the result of the warm 

 breath of the bees, which, on striking the 

 cold air near the entrance, or the cold sides 

 of the hive, condenses. The same thing oc- 

 curs to a lesser extent in the cellar. But it 

 is generally considered advisable to keep 

 down brood-rearing for indoor wintering, if 

 not stop it altogether. In this country, at 

 least, the giving of bees water in the cellar 

 is not practical. If any one has any thing 

 definite to offer, based on actual experience, 

 I should be glad to have him tell us about it. 

 -Ed.] 



bleaching comb honey. 



As my honey was rather dark I undertook 

 to bleach it by sulphur fumes followed by 

 exposure to the sun. The result was that in 

 such frames as were exposed under glass, 

 and no ventilation, the comb melted down 

 and the honey ran off. Eight frames of 

 honey were lost. Where was my mistake? 



Elyria, 0. R. B. Gary. 



[You explain the cause of failure yourself; 

 namely, the lack of ventilation. The honey 

 was doubtless exposed too close to the glass; 

 and if it were shut up in a box or any little 

 compartment where there would be no ven- 

 tilation, the results would be exactly what 

 you secured. In other words, you possibly 

 made what we would call a solar wax-ex- 

 tractor. If you try the experiment again in 

 a window in a house or store, placing the 

 honey, say, a few inches from the glass, 

 and leave it there for several days, we think 

 you will note on improvement in the color. 

 -Ed.] 



a light breakfast or no breakfast at 



ALL. 



Friend Root:—l want to shake hands with 

 you on the light (or no) breakfast plan, and 

 say that I am surprised that any one as old 

 as you and I are (I am 55) have not found 

 this out before; and I can also congratulate 

 myself that I am not the only old crank. I 

 used to eat the beefsteak (or heavy) break- 

 fast too, and, like you, would get weak be- 

 fore dinner. About two years ago I com- 

 menced reading Physical Culture, and saw 

 that we were eating too much, so I adopted 

 the two-meal-per-day plan, eating no break- 

 fast at all, and this proved to be one of your 

 " happy surprises. " 



At that time I was working from 4 A. M. 

 to I P. M. ; so you see I did my whole day's 

 work without eating, yet I suffered no in- 

 convenience from it, and felt so much better 

 in every way that I have kept it up. I have 

 more endurance, and can do my work with 

 much more ease, never get tired, and rarely 

 feel hungry; yet I enjoy eating more than I 

 have ever done since I was a boy. It is not 

 only better for us, but it is more economi- 

 cal, and makes less work for the good wife. 



Latonia, Ky. R. 0. Denpree. 



