THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



471 



exliioited, and the secrets of tlie hive 

 dischtsed behind llie mosquito bar 

 partition, wliile the crowd outside 

 looks on without fear. The entrances 

 to the hive are througti the sides of 

 tlie building. Tlie only objection 

 tliat I see to this plan is that, if al- 

 lowed to fly, the bees trouble the 

 candy and cider makers. 



Comb honey for exhibition may be 

 stored in section boxes of different 

 sizes. The largest size should hold, 

 perhaps, two pounds, the next size 

 smaller, one pound, while the smallest 

 has only one-fourth of a pound. To 

 give the honey a " gilt edge " appear- 

 ance, the outside of eacli section may 

 be covered with gilt paper : and then 

 the sections can be piled u)) in the 

 form of a pyramid, with tlie largest 

 section at the bottom and the smallest 

 at the top ; or they may be piled up 

 into the form of a church, castle or 

 ■wliatever sliape the taste of the ex- 

 hibitor may dictate. In order to show 

 how honey is sent to market, it would 

 also be well to have at least one nicely 

 finished shipping crate tilled with 

 sections of lioney. By partly filling 

 section boxes with properly shaped 

 pieces of wood, so as to leave spaces 

 in the shape of stars, hearts, letters, 

 etc., and giving them to the bees i 

 during a bounteous flow of honey, the 

 bees can be induced to build comb in 

 the fancifully shaped spaces and fill 

 it with honey. Such devices as these 

 attract considerable attention 

 fairs. 



Extracted honey presents a fine ap- 

 pearance put up in glass fruit jars. 

 J )itt'erent sized jars can be used, and 

 tliiMi arranged in some attractive 

 m;inner. If candied, the honey could 

 be exhibited in tin pails of varying 

 sizes, and adorned with bright labels. 

 A placard should be attached explain- 

 in;: the difference between extracted 

 and strained honey ; it should also ex- 

 plain, about candied honey, how itcan 

 be restored to a liquid state by the ap- 

 plication of heat, etc. 



Ill making a display of beeswax, it 

 might be caked in different sized ves- 

 sels, and then piled up in the form of 

 a pyramid. The largest cake miglit 

 be "made in a large tin pail, while the 

 smallest might be run in the chimney 

 of a small night lamp. Sheets of 

 comb foundation can be shown just 

 as they come from the mill ; other 

 sheets partly drawn out. and others 

 fully drawn out into a complete comb. 

 A placard should explain about comb 

 foundation, wliat is is, how it is used, 

 its advantages, etc. 



The large implements used in the 

 apiary, such as lioney extractor, lamp 

 nursery for hatching queens, bee 

 hives, wax extractor and comb foun- 

 dation machine, can stand by them- 

 selves upon the floor ; while the 

 smaller implements, like the honey 

 knife, bee-veil, smokers and queen 

 cages would appear to better ad- 

 vantage in a small show case. The 

 display of bee literature would also 

 look well if appropriately arranged in 

 a show case. 



Railroad companies charge nothing 

 for carrying goods to and from the 

 fair, and if the exhibitor carries a 

 tent and boards himself, the expense 



of attending a fair is not great. I 

 have a bee-keepiug friend who made 

 an exhibit at our State fair last year, 

 and received more than S50 in prem- 

 iums, while his expenses did not ex- 

 ceed $5. lie lived in his tent during 

 the fair. Another friend, who lived 

 so near tlie fair that lie could go liome 

 at niglit, received last year more than 

 $40 in premiums. 

 Rogersville, Mich. 



For the American Bee JournaL 



Apiciiltiiral I'rofessorslilp, etc. 



JAMES HEDDON. 



Mk. Editor : It was always my 

 part to feast on ideas in print. If I 

 could have but one way to get at a 

 good lecture, hear it delivered, or 

 have it on paper, I would take the 

 latter way, unless the orator was of 

 tlie first order, f always had full 

 faith in our agricultural college. State 

 chemists, and more than all the rest, 

 the important chair occupied by 

 Prof. Cook, viz, entomology. The 

 gratis pamphlet issued by the State, 

 through Prof. Cook, is worth its 

 weight in gold to the farmer or 

 gardener, if I am any judge. 



If bee culture has a sufficient outlet 

 for its products, to warrant our pro- 

 ducing' all we can, as a nation, then 

 I hail the State apiary and Professor 

 and Lecturer on apiculture, as great 

 auxiliaries to its proper development. 

 But right here, I want to say that 

 this Professor must be a Professor of 

 practical apiculture, not speculative. 

 He must not only have had an apiary 

 in his head, made up of hives that his 

 contemporaries liave written about, 

 but he must liave had experience, and 

 plenty of it, with one or more apiaries 

 of size. I want to say, that the knowl- 

 edge and system needed for the suc- 

 cessful management of large, special 

 apiaries, is vastly different from that 

 needed for the best management of 

 10 to 25 colonies. I wish further to 

 give it as my opinion that specialists 

 will raise the honey of the future. I 

 suppose, at this time, hardly any one 

 doubts the last statement. Those who 

 may, have only to cast their eyes 

 back over the past decade to verify 

 the truth that just in proportion as 

 specialty has taken the place of the 

 Jack-at-all-trades system, have we 

 been able to have the produced and 

 manufactured comforts of life, at a 

 price within the reach of all. Every 

 day we hearsomeone exclaim, "Well, 

 well, I don't see how that was gotten 

 up for that price V" 



Honey production has been going 

 rapidly in the same direction, for the 

 past 15 years, since I have been con- 

 nected with the pursuit. I know 

 some men are capable of managing 

 two or more kinds of business at once, 

 but I call any man a specialist who 

 keeps and means to keep colonies 

 enough to occupy his field completely. 

 Say 85 to l.")0 colonies, spring count. 

 This number of colonies need a very 

 different management, to get the 

 most income from tlie least outlay of 

 combined capital and labor, from 

 I that which is best adapted to a few 



colonies, a point which I will try to 

 clearly illustrate in an article in the 

 near future. 



In reply to J. V. Caldwell on foun- 

 dation making, I will say that we 

 have run two Dunham, one Root, 

 three Vandervort, and three Given 

 machines, and we know we can run 

 off more sheets and more lbs. from 

 the press than ever was run from any 

 roller mill, as far as reported. When 

 the sheets are off they are the same 

 size they went on to the book, and 

 the line is bulky and soft, and the 

 base thin, and the bees work it much 

 faster and into much more delicate 

 combs than any rolled foundation I 

 have ever made, or been able to get. 

 I would like to have yon find one of 

 my students using any sort of foun- 

 dation except Given, and they have 

 made the experiments with me. I 

 am aware that the Dunham, or any 

 otlier roller mill can be set so as to 

 run about as easy as a " clothes 

 wringer," and it makes about as good 

 foundation as the wringer, when 

 thus set. Tlie trouble with me was, 

 I was trying to make foundation 

 equal to the sample strips and pieces 

 that had been sent me as specimen 

 work. Well, perhaps I do not know 

 of the best lubricators and methods of 

 manipulation ; I know I am not an 

 expert mechanic. Let us know this 

 truth, and let us couple with it the 

 other trutli, that we run off 271 sheets 

 of thin Given foundation by one 

 lubrication of the book. Machines 

 tliat make first-class foundation with 

 tiiis ease, are valuable to the less ex- 

 pert. During the present season I 

 liave sold several thousand pounds of 

 Given foundation exclusively, and 

 many others, have used and sold much 

 more, and is there not some(me who 

 will step forward and tell how the 

 Dunham, Vandervort or Root foun- 

 dation surpassed the Given among 

 the bees V It seems strange that 

 some one has not spoken out from 

 among the dishonest or mistaken, 

 against this new foundation. 



Last season I had a strong opposer 

 of tlie Given foundation who had not 

 tried it. " He would, though." He 

 ordered about equal parts of Vander- 

 vort and Given, to the amount of 

 about 1-50 pounds.; of both heavy and 

 light. When he was, as I thought, 

 under full sail with his experiments, 

 I impatiently wrote for a verdict up 

 to date. He replied (consistent with 

 his former prejudices) that he thought 

 he liked the Vandervort the best. I 

 said no more. Neither has he. All 

 I know further about his test is that 

 early last spring he bought a Given 

 press and book. Actions speak louder 

 to me than words. 



" Drones, their uses." by Dr. Baker 

 interests me much. This Dr. B. has 

 evidently not unwisely " entered the 

 arena." As one of your readers, let 

 me extend tlie right hand of fellow- 

 ship to the Doctor. 1 think that in a 

 way back number of either the Bee 

 Journal or Gleanings, I took some- 

 what the same position as the Doctor 

 regarding the possible use of the 

 hitherto supposed " dead-beat " drone. 

 Knowing iiut little about it. and be- 

 ing a honey-iiroducer to the extent of 



