1040 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 15 



know I'm guilty of plagiarism in writing 

 that, because it was said on p. 1002. But 

 it's important enough to be said over again. 

 When I read, "not much hotter than you 

 can bear your hand in," I said, "That's 

 pretty cool, Bro. Aikin." I put a thermom- 

 eter into a dish of water, put my hand in 

 the water, and poured in hot water till it 

 was too hot for comfort. I found I could 

 hold my hand still in the water at 122°. 

 The washwoman happened to be here, and 

 she could stand 145° for any length of time. 

 I could stand 145° for about two seconds. 

 So instead of saying " not much hotter " I 

 now prefer to say "no hotter." Another 

 point: If the heating is done before any 

 granulating occurs, I think the results will 

 be better than if the honey be first allowed 

 to granulate. [I think there is something 

 in this. — Ed.] 



SuPERSEDURE CELLS are sometimes start- 

 ed over larvse in worker-cells, page 1012. 

 That's new. Have you seen that, Mr. Ed- 

 itor, with a laying queen still in the 

 hive? [I based my statement on the ob- 

 servations of our Mr. Phillips, who has 

 been running some 550 colonies for queen- 

 rearing for us this season, and he has also 

 had a large experience with his own bees in 

 Jamaica. He distinctly remembers that 

 supersedure cells have been started over 

 larvae in worker cells, while the laying 

 queen is in the hive, although he admits 

 that such a combination is not common. 

 He says: Dr. M. will notice by referring 

 again to the footnote that a rule is set forth, 

 and it is that bees working under the su- 

 persedure impulse proceed with the build- 

 ing of cells as in swarming. Like most of 

 the other rules that apply to bee-keeping, 

 however, it admits of variation. Defective 

 queens which the bees are trying to super- 

 sede may be of all kinds — -some fairly pro- 

 lific, others barren; some defective through 

 old age, others as a result of an accident. 

 If it were certain that queens being super- 

 seded would continue laying until the day 

 of their death, and the bees were left undis- 

 turbed to proceed by nature's plan, then 

 the raising of queens from " />r^-construct- 

 ed " cells might be said to be invariable. 

 But this is not the case: Queens sometimes 

 stop laying altogether before they die, and 

 if, as intimated in the footnote in question, 

 the supersedure cells are removed as fast as 

 they are built, and the fecundity of the 

 queen ceases, the only resource left to the 

 bees is to make "/>o5/'-constructed " cells 

 the same as a queenless colony. The only 

 question is, would such a queen be called a 

 " laying " queen? That the editorial com- 

 ment is correct I am certain. — Ed.] 



Years ago we bought lumber and made 

 our own hives. Gradually the thing has 

 changed until nearly every one has decided 

 that he can buy hives, etc., cheaper than 

 he can make them. Now that there has 

 been an advance in prices, bee-keepers are 

 advised to go back to the old way, p. 1003. 

 Let's see: Suppose that, five years ago, it 



cost me 10 per cent more (as I think it did) 

 to make my own supplies than to buy them 

 ready-made. Suppose that there is now an 

 advance of 40 per cent in the cost of labor 

 and material, and that there is an advance 

 of 40 per cent in the price of the ready-made 

 stuff: Is there any change whatever in the 

 relative situation? And will it not cost me 

 now 10 per cent more to make than to buy, 

 just as it did five years ago? I don't see 

 the logic of saying that, because every thing 

 has advanced, now is the time for us to do 

 our own manufacturing. If the per cent 

 advance in price of supplies is sufficiently 

 greater than the per cent advance in price 

 of labor and material (say 45 per cent or 

 more), then it may be worth while for me to 

 think of making my own supplies; other- 

 wise, not. [I have referred the answer to 

 this Straw to Mr. Calvert, who fixes the 

 prices on goods that we sell. He says: 

 Your reasoning is all right. The trouble 

 with the one who ventured the advice that 

 bee-keepers better have their hives made at 

 the local planing-mill, is, I fear, that he 

 was counting on buying his lumber at the 

 same old price. If so, he has reckoned with- 

 out his host. I have just made a compari- 

 son of bills for lumber, both for hives and 

 sections, paid five years ago, with those 

 paid during the past six months, and I find 

 th it 40 per cent must be deducted from pres- 

 ent prices of lumber, and in some cases 45 

 to 50 per cent, to bring them down to the 

 level of prices paid then. The difference in 

 labor is not quite as much. I find, also, 

 that, by deducting 40 per cent from present 

 prices on hives, sections, frames, and ship- 

 ping-cases, the remainder corresponds very 

 closely to the list prices of five years ago. 

 The advance in prices of supplies has sim- 

 ply kept pace with the advance in cost of 

 material. We have bought within the past 

 year over five and a half million feet of lum- 

 ber, and ought to be in position to know 

 what such material costs as compared with 

 former years. — J. T. C] 



On page 528, Mr. Editor, you said, 

 "Now, is it hard to suppose that a three- 

 story hive, run for extracting, might aver- 

 age 70,000 bees?" I replied, p. 579, "Noth- 

 ing very hard about it for me ; but how 

 about a certain edllor who not so very long 

 ago was trying to convince me that such a 

 thing was an impossibility?" You then 

 said, "I can not recall to what you refer. 

 I have advocated strong colonies .... and 

 last year I had several three stories high, 

 and one or two four stories. If some of 

 them did not have 100,000 bees it would be 

 strange." I thought I would refresh your 

 memory by giving you the page to which I 

 referred, and began leafing back, saying 

 all the while, " Oh! but won't I roast you, 

 my fine fellow, when I fling in your teeth 

 just what you said?" I leafed back to 

 March 1, through four months, but didn't 

 find it. Leafed it over again. Didn't find 

 it. Instead of roasting you, I began to 

 feel chilly myself. It was July, and I was 

 very busy; but I patiently hunted over the 



