1ST6 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



213 



HOW E FASTEN COMBS IN TKANSFSJK- 

 KENG. 



|M^|AKE No. 10 wire ni\d cut (diiiwiially across so as to 

 make a sharp jMint) into sialable lengths so thut 

 when bent into this Ibrni 



Ml 



"1: 



it will catch under the bottcin bar and hook over the top 

 bar. It' some are made longer ii!id marked and kept in a 

 bundle by themselves, their usefulness will su^^^est itself 

 •without further explanation. To use ; prepare your frame 

 l)y hool ins on as many as yon wish on one side; lay in 

 your fcnib, hook on (he upjwr side, and it is done in a 

 twinkling', and they can be taken off as quickly without 

 disturbins; th e bees. The idea i.s oris^inal with me. I have 

 used them three years and am satisfied that they are better 

 even than Xovice's transferrin? clasp. Try them and be 

 convinced. J. 31. Hill. 

 ^ — • ^ »— <^^" — • 



SPORITS OF NATURE. 



PiROF. >. J. COOK :— Yesterday in answerinc; ques- 

 tions for the Bee-Keepert:' Magazine, I had occa- 

 sion to comment upon a curious specimen of bee, 

 \iz., a worker bee to all appearance, with perfect drone 

 eyes and winr/s. Last oveninsr while haiviling bees, I 

 found a specimen of worker, with the wines and abdomen 

 of a drone. V/hat shall we call these specimens ? Preaks 

 of nature, or a ne v developement ? Please make some 

 comments in one of the Bee Journals. I send you the 

 ^^I>ecimen which I found, by this mail. 



.T. H. ^^''ellis, Canajoharie, N. Y., .July 25th, 'TG. 



ir.iMl SIR. EDITOR :-Our friend J. H. Nellis, of Can- 

 ajoharie, N. Y., sends me a curious bee. The general ap- 

 pearance is that of a worker, and such it is called by Mr. 

 Nellis, but the thorax including wings and abdomen are 

 those of a drone. He speaks of another worker with 

 drone eyes and wings. The insect sent to me was pos- 

 sessed of regular drone organs, and thus v^-as a drone, 

 with some worker characteristics. 



These curious insects, which are not infreiuently no- 

 t iced by good observers, not only among bees but other 

 insects, are called HermapJirodiies ; but mcorrectty so, 

 :i.s a true hermaphrodiU: possesses both male and female 

 organs, perfectly developed in the same individual, as il- 

 histrated in our common sn.ails, and many other of the 

 lower animals. Am.ong insects there are no true her- 

 maphrodites, as only one set of organs are fully devel- 

 '>].ed. The sex can usually be told by noting the peculi- 

 :rity of that part of the body to which are attached the 

 --enital organs. Thus the insect in question had a drone 

 shaped abdomen, and proved to be a male. 



Such cases are by no means confined to animals low in 

 the scale of animal life, but are rarely met with in the 

 very highest. 



Such cases of false hermaphroditism are not to be ro- 

 irarded as normal, but as malformxtions, or if we believe 

 in evolution, we may regard them as explained by the 

 law of atavism, in which case peculiarities occur, not af- 

 ter some generations, but after some millions of genera- 

 tions. Such cases are of exceeding interest to science, 

 iikI should be brought to notice by all who are close 

 •uough observers to detect them. A. J. Cook. 



CAX WE sell ITOXET FOR 10 CTS. PEJK LB. ? 



^jr-X your Juno number, H. E. Curry, of Cincinnati, O., 



Ji states that he sold 2000 lbs. of extracted white clover 



honey at from 25 to 3Cc per lb. "Will Mr. Curry be 



good enough to explain, through Glea>'ixgs or ofho^-- 

 wise, how bee-keepers in general, can secure oven oiw- 

 half as much, for a like quality of honey ? 



Last year I sold a very white and choice article of hon- 

 ey, (mostly white clover, but containing, I suppose, ;;, 

 sprinkling of linden) in Cincinnati, at 10 cts. "What I re- 

 tailed at home, of course, paid me much better. I now 

 have a barrel of white clover honey, all put up just prior 

 to the advent of linden lilossoms, which I should bo glad 

 to sell at 15c. I can afford it at that, and I can not affonl 

 it at 10 cents. 



My experience in this matter is jiarallel with li'.at > 1 

 nearly all bee-keepers in ^Michigan. Can you, Mr. Editor ; 

 can you Mr. Curry ; can any one ; will any j^erson suigesi 

 any hojiorable course by which we can securo a fair 

 equi\a'lent for our choice machine extracted honey? 



G. E. CoEBi>-. M. D. 



St. Johns, 3Iich., July 2-lth, 1S70. 



We presume Meucl Curry put his honey in 

 very neat attractive jars, with a very neat and 

 tasty label, and retailed it himself, in the city 

 of Cincinnati; which is probably one of the 

 best markets for choice goods, that we have. 

 At first glance, it looks entirely unnecce.=.sary 

 that honey that is retailed for 25c., must be 

 purchased in bulk from the producer, for 10 or 

 12 cents ; yet wc believe such is found to be 

 the case by almost every one who undertakes 

 to handle it in large quantities. The same 

 thing is transpiring in regard to other arti- 

 cles all about us, and perhaps it will contri- 

 bute to our cheerfulness, to accept it pleasant- 

 ly, and not feel unkindly toward our neigh- 

 bors, even if they do charge 50 per cent tor 

 handling some of the staple articles of food. 

 We can all retail our honey, or at least a large 

 part of it, if we wish ; but after selling barrels 

 in that manner, v/e think you will most of you 

 decide to allow the retailer such a profit as he 

 thinks right, providing you have plenty of oth- 

 er bnsiness to occvj)!/ your time. If one has 

 things conveniently arranged for it, wc 

 think it a very pretty business to sell honey 

 at retail. And even if we sometimes have to 

 weigh out a half or even a quarter of a pound 

 at a time, if it is all done good naturedly and 

 pleasantly, it is not so very much of a bother 

 after all. After the honey season is over, your 

 extractor will do very well to retail honey 

 fi'om. Place it on a convenient table elevated 

 just enough to have the honey gate come over 

 the mouth of a quart jai-, while the jar stands 

 on a pair of scales. Adjust the scales for the 

 amount of honey wanted, and with a little 

 practice you can give the exact amount of 

 honey v»':inted without wasting a single drop. 

 Our neighbor Rice, of Seville, sells at r'-c, as 

 that is just one cent per oz., and is very easy 

 to "reckon." Well now, cannot we sell honey • 

 in this way at 15c. and make a very comfort- 

 able living at it? If we can sell 

 it by the barrel at 10c. and do nearly as 

 well ; and cannot bee-keepers as well ail'ord 

 honcj' at 10c. by the barrel, as farmers can 

 wheat at .^1.00 or less per bushel, and as well 

 as they can sell many other products at the 

 price they do ? May I venture to suggest 

 that we are oftentimes less happy when we 

 get great prices for our work than when we 

 are obliged to honestly earn every dollar we 

 get, and work hard for moderate pay. The 

 question asked as to how wc arc to sell our 

 honey, might with equal propriety be asked in 



