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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 15 



will enforce it. Adulterated California 

 honey is being- sent East with the result 

 that California extracted is getting a bad 

 name in some markets. I hope to put the 

 facts in my possession before the National 

 Association if I can get the consent of the 

 parties who have given me the information. 



SQUARE OR TALL SECTIONS. 



"We have several times advised our read- 

 ers that it would be money in their pockets 

 to have their honey put up in tall sections 

 — at least for some of the Eastern markets. 

 There are some local markets in the East, 

 and a good many perhaps in the West, 

 where this is an exception of course. Here 

 is a private letter which was written with 

 no idea of anybody seeing it but us, from 

 perhaps the largest honey-buyers or honey- 

 handlers in the city of New York — Hildreth 

 & Segelken. The extract from the letter 

 speaks for itself: 



We note one lot of square sections from Mr. 



with the wooden side and isinglassed front. He is 

 making a mistake in putting vip his honey in this 

 shape, and we wrote him so long ago. Besides, he 

 has his name stamped on every comb. }'o« ought to 

 impress upon him the fact that he should drop t/ie 

 square section and all its attachments, and put his 

 honey up another season in the 4 "as section or the 

 3%x5, whichever he chooses, as either one finds read- 

 ier sale than the square section, especially the way he 

 puts them up. Hildreth & Segelken. 



New York, April 30. 



We buy large quantities of comb honey 

 every season; and the simple fact is, that 

 tall sections always move off faster than 

 square ones. The question as to the style 

 of sections is not a matter of opinion or 

 preference or notion. We have "a condition, 

 not a theory, ' ' to deal with. Manj' bee-keep- 

 ers in the East, notably Hetherington and 

 Doolittle, have been producing honey in 

 these tall sections for some twenty years 

 back, and they know a good thing when 

 they see it — likewise the buyers to whom 

 they sell. Honey in 4x5 sections in our lo- 

 cality goes off better than honey in 3>sx5 

 sections. The former is a little better pro- 

 portioned, has a thinner comb and a larger 

 surface. 



THE PROBLEM OF SUITABLE LUMBER FOR 

 SECTIONS. 



Timber suitable for making sections is 

 getting to be more and more scarce. For- 

 merly basswood was used by the furniture 

 and box makers; but now it is being used 

 by the planing-mills for making doors and 

 door-frames, window-casings, and general 

 house-furnishing. The scarcity of pine has 

 made a heavy demand for basswood, and it 

 will not be many years before many bee- 

 keepers will have to begin to think of some 

 other wood for sections; and yet there is 

 nothing else that fills the bill, for one-piece 

 sections at least. 



One difficulty now is that bee-keepers are 

 demanding so called snow-white sections for 

 honey. Wood slightly on the cream order 

 15 just is good, and even better, because it 

 helps to show off the honey by contrast. 

 The idea that white basswood is tougher 



and stronger than good cream lumber, is 

 an error. The time will come, is bound to 

 come, when bee-keepers will be glad to get 

 even cream sections, and at a great advance 

 in price. 



The fearful slaughter that is now being 

 made in our forests, and which has been 

 made without any effort to replace these 

 valuable timbers, is going to put hardships 

 on future generations. There are vast areas 

 in Maine and Michigan where the land is 

 good for nothing but to grow pine-trees; 

 and yet no effort has been made by the 

 State or national government to set out 

 young trees to supply the wants of future 

 generations. If we could grow pine and 

 basswood as we can wheat and corn, the 

 problem would be very simple. 



Since writing the foregoing, the follow- 

 ing has come to hand, and will explain 

 itself: 



I agree with you on this white-section business be- 

 ing a fad. We use only No. 2 sections, and have done 

 so for years, getting premiums on honey at our State 

 fair the same as those that use the No. 1. There is ab- 

 solutely no difference when the honey is put on the 

 market, so far as dollars and cents are concerned. 

 Commission men sell our honey for as much as any 

 honey put in No. 1 sections. Customers never look at 

 the section. Sometimes I think the cream color is 

 preferable to the white, showing the white honey to 

 better advantage, making or giving more of a con- 

 trast. H. G. ACKLIN. 



St. Paul, Minn., May 9. 



CLIPPING QUEENS' WINGS — HOW TO DO IT. 



To the veteran it may not be necessary to 

 give any special instructions. But even 

 some of these may be surprised to see that 

 some other veteran's waj' of doing it is bet- 

 ter than their own. The problem of clip- 

 ping, to the beginner, especially if he has 

 never accomplished the feat, seems very 

 difficult; and for his benefit especially I 

 show the method that I ordinarily employ. 



After finding the queen on the comb I 

 smoke the bees just enough to make them 

 stick their heads in the cells. This gets 

 many of them out of the way. Then I 

 reach for the queen. It must be one quick 

 grab. To chase after her with the fingers, 

 occasionally touching the wings, makes her 

 nervous as well as yourself; and the result 

 is, she will start on a run, and then you 

 may as well give up the job if you do not 

 wish to run the risk of maiming her. At 

 another time, when she stands in the center, 

 several bees caressing her, make one grasp 

 for the wings with the right hand, just be- 

 tween the abdomen and the thorax. Do 

 not be afraid of crushing the wings; but be 

 careful to avoid pinching or punching the 

 queen on to the comb, and especially squeez- 

 ing her soft abdomen.* If you catch her 

 right she will be as shown in Fig. 1. She 

 will bend the abdomen over, and reach with 

 her hind legs around behind in the effort, 

 just as shown, to push the fingers away. 

 With the left hand, catch hold of her be- 

 tween the thumb and fore finger in such a 



*The beginner should first practice on drones, then 

 on worker bees. After acquiring the knack he can 

 venture on a queen. 



