332 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 1 



[Your method of rendering wax is an old 

 one; and while it is infinitely better than no 

 press at all, it will lose quite a percentage of 

 wax which will necessarily be left in the slum- 

 gum, Ijecause the outfit is too light to give 

 pressure sufficient to remove the wax still 

 left in the residue. The leather hinge on the 

 end is too weak. A strong iron hinge with 

 wide boards would give better results. The 

 device might extract all the wax, providing 

 one would take time enough to heat alternate- 

 ly the slum gum and then squeeze it. The op- 

 eration would have to be repeated a good 

 many times before all the wax would be re- 

 moved. 



Your warm cover with dead-air space is 

 along the lines of the best modern practice. 

 Our readers will remember, perhaps, that we 

 have been advising making our comb-honey 

 supers warmer by putting on an extra cap. 

 Mr. R. F. Holtei'mann, of Brantford, Ont., 

 makes a sort of double cover, something 

 along the line here shown; but he uses in 

 addition a felt covering for greater protec- 

 tion. Mr, Grant Stanley, in the article which 

 follows, has discovered that it is quite an ad- 

 vantage to give the supers extra protection. 

 See what he has to say. — Ed.] 



THE PURE FOOD LAAV 



A Honey-buyer's Opinion Concernin;cr Jts 

 Effect on Prices. 



BY FRED W. MUTH. 



RUBBER BANDS FOR HOLDING TRANSFERRED 

 COMBS; SUPER-COVERS. 



Mention was made at the Jenkintown 

 meeting that rubljer bands for holding combs 

 in position in transferring were not as good 

 as splints, for the reason the bees hollow out 

 the comb under the bands. In transferring 

 with the rubber bands, or with any other 

 fastening, for that matter, the colonies should 

 be examined in two or three days after being 

 transferred; and if the bees have fastened the 

 combs to the frames the bands should be re- 

 moved. If properly used, rubber bands ai'e 

 far ahead of any thing else. 



In removing a super of filled sections re- 

 cently, I left the bee- escape board on top of 

 the next super iinder the cover. This super 

 remaining on the hive was just nicely started 

 by the bees, and I did not look at the colony 

 again for about a week, when, to my sur- 

 prise, I found these sections all filled and 

 sealed ready to come off. Such a nice super 

 of clean sections filled out right on top of the 

 hive as they were gave me no small thought. 

 Now. with still more experimenting on this 

 line I am of the opinion that more honey, 

 and of neater appearance, can be secured by 

 the use of super-covers on top of supers un- 

 der the roof. This board rests fiat on the 

 super with just a bee-space between the 

 board and the sections. The bees will not 

 build comb in this space, nor will they daub 

 the tops of the sections with glue, which they 

 surely will when a cloth cover or mat of any 

 kind is used. Another thing, the bees will 

 seal this board down tight to the super on 

 all sides, keeping out light and currents of 

 air. This makes the super warmer than it 

 otherwise would be. 



Nisbet, Penn. Grant Stanley. 



Complying with your I'equest relative to 

 the new pui'e-food law, asking our opinion 

 as to its effect upon the price of honey, fu- 

 ture prospects, etc., we wish to say, in the 

 first place, the new law will compel those to 

 display honesty who have not done so here- 

 tofore. On the other hand, our opinion and 

 prediction differ widely from the sentiment 

 generally voiced regarding the advance in 

 prices. We deem it foolish even to think 

 that prices will steadily advance on account 

 of the pure-food law. We are aware that 

 prices have advanced some in the past sev- 

 eral months; but this is in sympathy with the 

 prosperity that prevailed in the past year in 

 all lines of business. 



You will agree with us that these are pros- 

 perous times when you take into considera- 

 tion the present fearfully congested condi- 

 tion of the transportation companies for the 

 past year. They find themselves almost help- 

 less on account of not having sufticient roll- 

 ing stock nor power to move their freight. 



It is this prosperity that has instigated an 

 increase in the consumption of honey, and 

 consequently higher prices. Just as soon as 

 conditions have become settled, and business 

 has fallen into its regular channel, the honey 

 market will find itself in its usual place. 



Furthermore, in our opinion, it is wrong 

 to inflate the mind of the bee-keeper (which 

 will be the result of the publications in the 

 bee journals) so that he will expect to obtain 

 exorbitant prices for his product in the fu- 

 ture. 



Within the past few weeks several of our 

 good customers have concluded to discontinue 

 the use of honey on account of the advanced 

 prices that we were compelled to ask. Nat- 

 urally, there will be more honey than is need- 

 ed for those who have heretofore used little 

 or none, and it stands to reason there will be 

 an accumulation, or "choke-up," and down 

 goes the price; for, strictly speaking, honey 

 is not a necessity, which fact has been prov- 

 en by our customers, who have discontinued 

 its use on account of the high price. 



Cincinnati, O. 



ANOTHER BUYER S VIEW. 



It is somewhat premature to give any opin- 

 ion as to the workings of the new law, with 

 reference to the sale of extracted honey; but 

 in our opinion it will curtail the consumption 

 of adulterated honey; and while, perhaps, 

 the first few months the public may not use 

 much honey on account of the higher price 

 of the pure article, it eventually will come 

 to it, especially after it has ascertained the 

 difference between adulterated honey and 

 the pure article. In our opinion, the new 

 law will be a benefit to the honey trade. 



Chicago, 111. S. T. FisH]& Co. 



[See editorials elsewhere. — Ed.] 



