1905 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1179 



ed, to save stores if nothing more. While 

 bees can be wintered outdoors if warmly 

 packed in double-walled hives in cold cli- 

 mates, the consumption of stores is some- 

 thing enormous. But even then I would 

 use the outdoor plan if I did not have a good 

 dry cellar where the temperature could be 

 kept under reasonable control — not lower 

 than 40 nor above 55. 



When there are a good many flying days 

 in the winter, and the bees can gather nat- 

 ural pollen as early as the first of March or 

 the latter part of February, they may be 

 wintered in single-walled hives; but even 

 then there ought to be a super on top filled 

 with packing material. The top of the hive 

 should be kept warm, for this is far more 

 important than keeping the sides protected 

 and not the top; but in almost any locality 

 a double- walled hive will save stores and 

 bring the bees out in better condition in the 

 spring. It is always advisable, ivhere it can 

 be done, to put cellared bees into protecting 

 eases when they are set out in the spring. 



From some observations we have been 

 making, it almost seems as if the double- 

 walled hive would pay for itself even in 

 summer. Rainy weather or cool nights, 

 even in summer, have a very depressing 

 effect on a colony that ought to be busy at 

 work in the supers; yet because those supers 

 are not sufficiently protected the bees will 

 draw down in the brood-nest and waste val- 

 uable time. 



THE HONEY-MARKET. 



It is gratifying to us to note by the num- 

 ber of letters which have reached our office 

 within the last ten days from bee-keepers 

 and dealers in the clover belt, that is to say, 

 from the Mississipi Valley east and north 

 from the Ohio River, that there is a decid- 

 edly favorable tone to the market for East- 

 ern honey. So far as our information goes, 

 a very large percentage of the better grades 

 has left the hands of the producers, and 

 dealers have only fair stocks. 



In this connection, we are led to remark 

 that we have often noticed, and many times 

 have called attention to it, that even with a 

 dull market fancy honey is not a drug. To 

 be sure, we have been criticised when we 

 have made this statement, a good many 

 times. Our critics, however, have not been 

 able to say that their honey was fancy in 

 every respect. Either the quality was lack- 

 ing, or the manner in which it was put up, 

 or some other condition by which it failed to 

 bring a good price and ready sale. 



COST OF POOR SHIPPING-CASES. 



Too much can not be said in favor of ex- 

 treme care in putting up a fancy article. 

 Look into any first-class grocery- store and 

 see how much care is taken in putting up the 

 fine grades of well-known goods. No cheap 

 packages are tolerated, even though the 

 product is an article which sells for not 

 more than ten or fifteen cents. We lately 

 had a letter from a well-known bee-keeper 



who visited one of the large city markets 

 and saw some honey put up in cheap home- 

 made cases. He made no criticism of the 

 honey; indeed, I believe it was a nice arti- 

 cle, for it was produced in one of the best 

 clover sections of Michigan. It was, how- 

 ever, put up in cheap cases. I presume the 

 cases would not cost more than about one- 

 third the price of the standard 24- lb. ship- 

 ping-case as listed by various manufacturers. 

 The merchant, however, aomitted that this 

 honey would have to be sold at from one to 

 two cents per pound less than its real value 

 on account ot the cases it was in. .The 

 actual cost of the best shipping-case on the 

 market would not be more than three- 

 fourths of a cent for each pound of honey 

 contamed in the case, while the poorest 

 case would cost, we will say, three- eighths 

 of a cent. Therefore, for a savmg of three- 

 eighths of a cent per pound, the producer 

 was actually losing Irom one to two cents 

 per pound, according to the statement of 

 the honey-merchant himself. 



PRODUCING FANCY HONEY. 



Now that the busy season is past, and 

 plans are being laid for a new year, we 

 want to urge again the importance of select- 

 ing good hives with the best supers, so that 

 the crop produced will have the largest per- 

 centage of fancy hone; that it is possible to 

 obtain. Ill-fitting separators or poorly con- 

 structed supers often result in the produc- 

 tion of a crop of No. 1 honey, while a slight 

 additional expenditure of time and money 

 might give a crop of fancy honey instead. 

 True, tne season may influence this to some 

 extent; but pooriy made supers, allowing 

 the escape of heat, and bulged combs, oc- 

 casioned by poor separators, or none at all, 

 often turn a crop of fancy honey into No. 1; 

 and whatever may be said of the condition 

 of the honey market, it is always true that 

 No. 1 honey has slower sale than fancy, and, 

 of court e, at a less price. Furthermore, 

 the poorer the condition of the market the 

 greater is the difference in the price of 

 these two grades. With an active market, 

 the difference between No. 1 and fancy may 

 be figured at about one cent per pound. 

 With a dull market there is often a differ- 

 ence of two cents per pound. This, of 

 course, affects very materially the profits of 

 the bee-keeper, a greater part of which 

 could have been saved by the selection of 

 suitable appliances. 



ADULTERATED BEESWAX. 



As a general thing, wax shipped to us in 

 large or small lots is pure; but occasionally 

 we get hold of a shipment that contains 

 either tallow or paraffine. All such we re- 

 ject of course. One whole barrel came from 

 a bee-keeper recently who had evidently 

 bought it believing it to be pure. When it 

 reached us, examination showed that it was 

 but little better than ordinary sealingwax. 

 As nearly as we could determine, it con- 

 tained pitch, crude oil, rosin, paraffine, and, 



