1903 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



285 



starter in the brood-frames. It compels the 

 bees to put the houey almost entirely in the 

 sections; and when we g^o to the expense of 

 runninir a colony for comb honey, the more 

 they put in marketable shape the better. 

 We can take combs out of extracted-honey 

 hives run under more advantaj^eous condi- 

 tions for rapid storing-, or we can otherwise 

 afterward supply the comb-honey hive. But 

 if the flow is prolong-ed, as it may be with 

 us — clover, basswood, and then buckwheat 

 — I would prefer the increased brood, which 

 a good queen is likelj' to give throuffh more 

 rapid space being provided her for laying- 

 by the use of full sheets of foundation. 



When it comes to the production of comb 

 honey it is amazing to me how any one can 

 be so foolish as to do without full sheets of 

 foundation in the sections. That by using a 

 proper grade of section foundation — that is, 

 by taking a piece of virgin comb, and then 

 comb built upon foundation, and testing- it 

 with the tongue, a difference maybe found, 

 means nothing. The tongue as a feeler has 

 the trick of making a mountain out of a 

 molehill. That a difference can be detect- 

 ed by careful inspection with the eye and 

 spoon, is also of little consequence. Honey 

 is almost invariably eaten with bread, 

 when the extra wax, perfectly harmless in 

 the alimentary canal, is unnoticed. 



Bj' the use of comb foundation we get 

 evener comb. It is attached better to the 

 side and bottom of the section, and room is 

 more rapidly provided for storing. The bees 

 are less likely to swarm, there being more 

 of an inducement to go into the supers. 



Now as to the comb foundation. I regret 

 that, in the report of the Ontario Bee-keep- 

 ers' Association convention, page 37, Amer- 

 ican Bee Journal , through some one's slip 

 a decidedly wrong impression is g-iven of 

 what was said bj' me about the Weed foun- 

 dation. I distinctly said that I had not 

 found other section foundation more accept- 

 able to the bees. In fact, so far the contra- 

 ry is my experience, and I hope no one will 

 use that incorrect statement as evidence of 

 the superiorit}- of other makes. 



The Weed foundation has, for brood or 

 sections, the advantage over any other I have 

 so far used, of staj'ing better where it is at 

 the beginning; less sagging-, or none at all. 

 It is stronger; less weight per sheet in the 

 brood will answer — a great saving. I fill 

 the sections, the sides just hanging free; 

 also the bottom; no starter needs to be used 

 with this foundation, you can depend on it. 

 The great objection I have to the ordinar}' 

 foundation put upon the market is that it is 

 not large enough to fill properly the section 

 or frame for which it is made. B3' the close 

 of this season the amount of brood founda- 

 tion I expect to have used for the last year 

 and this (this includes surplus combs) I ex- 

 pect will have reached close to 10,000 sheets; 

 so I back up in practice what I advocate. I 

 have 100 comb honey supers holding 36 sec- 

 tions each. Every section, last year and 

 this, will have a full sheet of foundation. 



Brantford, Canada. 



BULK HONEY IN MEXICO. 



Can.1ied Honey Nat Saable; Gasoline for Killing; 

 Wax.wDrms in pace of Bisu'phide of Carbon. 



BV W. B. GEHRELS. 



After reading- Mr. Hyde's article on bulk 

 comb honey, page 143, Feb. 15, I should 

 like to give some of our experience in that 

 line. The way we fasten foundation in 

 shallow frames is by using- a wax tube to 

 run a little hot wax in the groove of the 

 frame after the foundation is inserted; and 

 for frames that have a comb-guide we sim- 

 ply use a roller foundation-fastener to fas- 

 ten the starters on. After the first starters 

 are put in we seldom use foundation ag-ain; 

 but when cutting out the honey we leave 

 half an inch of comb for a starter, the bees 

 seem to work faster on this than on founda- 

 tion, and get the combs just as straight. 

 Where the frames are filled several times 

 in a season this will be quite an item in 

 saving foundation, besides saving time. At 

 the end of the season we cut out the comb 

 honey, leaving only half as much for a 

 starter, stack them up, and let the bees 

 clean out the honey. 



If wax-worms should get in the strip of 

 comb left, use bisulphide of carbon to kill 

 the worms. A neighbor told me that gas- 

 oline would kill wax-worms by using it the 

 same way as bisulphide of carbon — name- 

 I3', by closing a stack of supers tight and 

 letting a quantity evaporate by setting it 

 in the supers in an open vessel. Both bi- 

 sulphide of carbon and gasoline should be 

 handled carefully on account of their in- 

 flammability. 



My experience is not the same as Mr. 

 Hyde's in selling candied honej-. I have 

 sold large quantities of honey in Texas, 

 mostly in San Antonio, and the greater part 

 of m3'^ customers alwaj's objected to candied 

 honey, either comb or extracted. Nothing 

 has caused me more trouble than people 

 objecting to honey after it was candied. 

 It certainlj' spoils the looks of honej', es- 

 pecially when it is in glass. Most people 

 never stop to think that this gray-looking 

 stufT is hone}' in the jars. For the winter 

 trade, give me section hone}', and good ex- 

 tracted that I can liquefy. I like to have 

 some of each kind — sections, chunk honej', 

 and extracted; for in this way I can suit 

 almost anybody who likes honey, at almost 

 any time. 



In selling hone}' to groceries, especially 

 wholesale stores that buy to resell in bulk 

 and ship, I often found the need of a small 

 cheap jar or tumbler that would seal tight, 

 and could be retailed for 10 cents apiece 

 after being filled. The ordinary ';-pint 

 jelly-tumbler answers the purpose for the 

 home city trade; but there is no way of 

 sealing it tight enough to ship with safety. 

 The empty jars ought not to cost over 3 cents 

 apiece, and ought to be in cases holding 2 

 dozen in a case. If any one has a jar of 

 this size, '3 pint, and description, he could 

 find a ready market for it. 



