1883 



OLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



.59 



inches wide, 1 inch thick. "We Lore one hole VA in., 

 then bore one % of an inch. We nail a thin board 

 on one side, and then pour hot wax into the ?i hole, 

 which prevents the wood from absorbing the mois- 

 ture. We next bore one hole into the other end 

 with a '^s bit, boring it into the edge, and just far 

 enough to let the tip end of the bit come through. 

 We pour hot wax into this hole, holding it there un- 

 til the wood absorbs the hot wax, then pour the rest 

 back into the melting-pan. We then pack some cot- 

 ton trimmings of cloth into the last-named hole; 

 pour in water until the trimmings are thoroughly 

 wet; then dip the cork into hot wax, and cork it up. 



We make an opening into the cage so the bees can 

 get the water. We have had great success with this 

 cage. I think that, when the candy is properly 

 made, and out of granulated sugar, that almost any 

 kind of cage will do. Granulated sugar has been 

 the most satisfactory with us. Some of the queen- 

 breeders say they haven't lost a single queen in the 

 mails. That beats us. We lost several before we 

 began to use granulated sugar. If we could get a 

 cage that would carry everj' queen through all right 

 to our customers, without the loss of a single queen, 

 wouldn't we be fixed then? and we could sleep well 

 at night, after caging queeas all day and sending 

 them out, knowing that every queen would go 

 through safely. We shall cage our queens 24 hours 

 before shipping them (or some of them at least), to 

 see whether it makes any difference. They would 

 be reduced in weight and size; they would not tum- 

 ble about in the cage as much as they would to just 

 cage them right out of the hive, heavy with eggs, 

 and clumsy. The mail-bags are roughly handled. 

 We have seen the mail ag-en,t on the cars throw them 

 out on the ground, and it is very heavy. Such han- 

 dling is enough to kill the poor little bees. We want 

 a cage that will protect the queen, no matter how 

 roughly they are handled. 



We are going to try our hand on a cage the com- 

 ing season, for long distances, and cage our queens 

 24 hours before shipment; will not cage them in our 

 mailing-cages until ready to ship. There Is no bus- 

 iness that we delight In more than rearing queens 

 and shipping them; and one of the greatest pleas- 

 ures in it is to have a nice good queen to fill all or- 

 ders as they come, by return mail; and it is a great 

 pleasure to us to receive cards from our customers, 

 saying the queen arrived all right and in good order, 

 and in due time, and that they are well pleased with 

 them, and give satisfaction in every respect. 



Kirby's Creek, Ala., Jan. 15, 1883. T. S. Hall. 



I have just been puzzling over the way to 

 fix the Good candy for our queen-cages 

 next year. Very small glass bottles, with a 

 large mouth, do very well ; but we have 

 much trouble in fixing them securely in the 

 cage, because of the varying sizes we find in 

 any thing made of glass. As wax is the na- 

 tural receptacle for food for the bees, I pre- 

 sume a waxed hole will be as good as the 

 bottle, and very likely cheaper; yet, for 

 some reason or other, we have alwsys made 

 slow work where we are obliged to use 

 melted wax, to say nothing of the daubing 



gretty sure to happen, unless expensive 

 elp handles it. I don't like to have the 

 honey soak into the wood, because it doesn't 

 look tidy and nice, and I don't want the 

 honey to be absorbed from the sugar, so as 

 to leave it dry, either. We shall see. 



THIi: ^VRITERS FOR GLEAMNGS. 



TAKING A LOOK AT THEIR FACES. 



W HAVE for many years felt like having 

 H on the pages of Gleanings a view of 

 ' some of those whom we learn to know 

 so familiarly month by month, but I have 

 been a little doubtful about getting engrav- 

 ings at a moderate price that I would want 

 to use. We have recently found an engrav- 

 er, however, who, £ think, will do very well ; 

 and now, friends, I take pleasure in intro- 

 ducing to you, to commence with, our old 

 and well-known friend 



w. z. nuTcniNsoN. 



He gave me his photograph at the conven- 

 tion, and also that of the twins. I haven't 

 got the twins with him this time, but we 

 are proposing to have them meet the little 

 folks in our next Juvenile, if our friend 

 the engraver has good "luck" with them. 

 You see, you would now all of you know 

 friend H., if you should see him come in at 

 a convention, even if anybody didn't say, 

 " That is W. Z. H." 



HOW SHAIili WX: GET OUR COMB HONEY 



STORED AND MARKETED WITH 



liEAST EXPENSE AND I<ABOR? 



SOME ITEMS OF EXPERIENCE FROM OUR FRIEND 

 BYUON WALKER. 



ROM numerous articles in the different bee 

 journals, it seems that the matter of packages 

 for storing and marketing comb honey is at- 

 tracting not a little attention just now. Having 

 raised and marketed about 50,000 lbs. of honey, put 

 up in a variety of ways, in the last half-dozen years, 

 I venture to offer a few thoughts on this subject. 



As the bulk of my honey crop is usually taken in 

 a few short weeks, often late in the season, when 

 most bee-keepers are busy preparing their honey 

 for market, and their bees for winter, I find it very 

 necessary, In handling my apiary of about 150 colo- 



