1907 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1149 



it is put into the crate to protect the outside 

 against dust and coal smoke. 



If some of the bee-keepers could see their 

 honey when it arrives at its destination they 

 would be more careful in preparing it for 

 shipment. 



Having our honey crated as above describ- 

 ed, the next thing is to put on the top of the 

 crate our "caution label," which is a large 

 colored label having on it the picture of a 

 hand with the words, "Comb honey, handle 

 with extra care, and load with finger point- 

 ing to end of car." The label is put on so 

 that the bumping of the car will bring the 

 concussion against the wood of the section 

 instead of sidewise of the combs. 



Having our honey put up in this condition 

 it will, barring accidents, arrive at its desti- 

 nation in perfect condition, and w 3 shall have 

 a pleased customer and one who will stay 

 with us year after year. We have customers 

 on our list that have been with us for the past 

 ten years. The way to hold your customers 

 is to stand back of your goods with a repu- 

 tation for square and honest grading; and in 

 case of any misundei'standing, show a dispo- 

 sition to come more than half way. While 

 we aim to have evex*y section of our fancy 

 grade come under our direct observation, 

 yet sometimes, in employing help to grade 

 our honey, a few sections may get into the 

 fancy grade that really do not belong 

 there; and whenever we receive complaint of 

 off-grade honey in our fancy grade we ask 

 our customer to present his bill, and kindly 

 thank him for calling our attention to the 

 matter, assuring him that we are as anxious 

 to make good any mistake on our part as he 

 can possibly be to have us do so. We have 

 had just one case of this kind in ten years, 

 and it is needless for us to say that that par- 

 ty is still a valued customer. Our motto is, 

 when you get a good customer stick to him. 

 In shipping honey we always guarantee safe 

 arrival of our honey by freight, and we have 

 never yet been asked to make good any loss 

 from breakage, nor have we ever received 

 notice of any breakage or leakage of our 

 honey since we adopted the above method 

 of packing. The report has always l^een, 

 ' ' Honey arrived in perfect condition. ' ' Deal- 

 ers like to buy from shippers who are not 

 afraid to guarantee safe delivery of their 

 honey, since there is a great risk in shipping 

 comb honey unless properly packed and 

 crated. 



To be continued. 



APROPO.S of derricks for lifting and weigh- 

 ing hives, the rather celebrated Kidder, in 

 his book published in 1868, shows an ar- 

 rangement almost precisely similar to Mr. 

 Hand's device. He recommended it for 

 weighing hives Similar devices were used 

 before Kidder's time. The July number of 

 U Ajrii-nlletir {Va.v\%) contains a tripod device 

 very similar to Mr. Hand's, but arranged 

 with a very ingenious steelyard for purposes 

 of weighing. 



IF I WERE TO START ANEAV, WHAT 



STYLE OF FRAME, SUPERS, 



AND OTHER APPLIANCES 



AVOULD I ADOPT? 



The Simplest Arrangements the Best ; Avoid 

 Complicated Fixtures; the Value of Pro- 

 tection for Comb-honey Sujiers. 



BY WM. M. WHITNEY. 



[Our correspondent explained in a letter that he had 

 been unable to find time to write this article sooner — 

 hence the delay.— Ed.] 



This question, I suppose, is intended to in- 

 clude hives as well. If this supposition is 

 correct it greatly extends the scope of the 

 inquiry "and intensities the interest of bee- 

 keepers in the investigation of the subject. 

 When we stop to reflect on what this ques- 

 tion includes, taken in its broadest sense, the 

 difference in climatic conditions, whether in- 

 door or outdoor wintering is practiced, 

 whether the apiary is run for extracted or 

 for comb honey or both, etc., we are confront- 

 ed with a problem, which, to solve intelligent- 

 ly, requires an experience possessed by few, 

 if any, in all this broad land. 



My bee-keeping, while having been in dif- 

 ferent localities between the 41st and 43d 

 parallels, has been under much the same 

 climatic conditions; hence, so far as personal 

 experience goes, it has been substantially the 

 same from the beginning, and has been con- 

 fined to outdoor wintering. Wanting some- 

 thing to occupy my mind and take my atten- 

 tion while convalescing from sickness about 

 eleven years ago I got a couple of colonies of 

 bees, subscribed for Gleanings and the, 

 American Bee Journal; got the ABC, and 

 Langstroth by Dadant, to which authors 1 

 have added from time to time, and commenc- 

 ed studying the bee. It was my purpose to 

 do whatever I had in hand to do, as well as 

 I could under existing circumstances. While 

 following general directions given in books 

 and journals, like many others I have tried to 

 do some experimenting on my own account. 



As a general proposition, were I to com- 

 mence bee-keeping anew, what kind of hive 

 would I use? One might be inclined to say, 

 as Dr. Miller sometimes does when an un- 

 pleasant question is presented, "Yes," and 

 dismiss the subject. "Many men of many 

 minds;" and many hives of many kinds. 

 You pay your money, take your choice. A 

 colony of bees will do just as good work in 

 a log gum as in the l)est hive on the market 

 if they have room enough; but, not being 

 easily manipulated, or, in other words, it be- 

 ing impossible to produce desirable results 

 with primitive appliances, all sorts of devic^es 

 — good, bad, and indifferent — have been offer- 

 ed to the bee-keeping public. 



From my experience, observation, and 

 from what I have read , I have a choice among 

 the hives oft'ered to the public. It is my be- 

 lief that, on general principles, and for all 

 ordinary woi'k, the eight to ten frame l^ang- 

 stroth hive-body, according to locality, and 

 whether comb honey or extracted is produi-- 

 ed, is the best hive on the market. It meets 



