1S78 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CTLTURE. 



327 



mexce. I do not know what kind of grape 

 sugar they used in France, but I am sure 

 that that made by tlie Davenport Ghicose 

 Co., is wholesome and free from the impuri- 

 ties mentioned. Another friend writes as 

 follows : 



It is my positive conviction that whoever is inter- 

 ested in "bees or honey," as well as the health and 

 morals of community, should let glucose, grape 

 sugar, and kindred abominations severely alone. I 

 hope you will do so, and not allow this business to 

 do as many another iniquity does, entice, not by its 

 silver, but by its yoW litiinQ. Oh, consistcncj', thou 

 art a jewel. D. P. Lane. 



Koshkonong, Wis., Sept. 5th, 1878. 



Tliank you, friend Lane, for your kindly 

 caittion, but I think a great deal more of 

 pradkal exiwriments than of "positive con- 

 victions," and of real work in the apiary 

 than long articles in the papers. Look back 

 and see how much space has been wasted in 

 writing down Italians, extracted honey, fdn., 

 and the like, and but a short time ago, it was 

 stated in the newspapers that the coffee A 

 sugar of commerce was adulterated with 

 poisonous articles. The matter was only a 

 sensational scare, and one did not need to be 

 a chemist to show its ittter absurdity in less 

 than .5 minutes. If anybody can put any- 

 thing in Avliite sugar that will not affect taste 

 or color, and is perfectly soluble in water, I 

 should be pleased to see a sam])le. The pa- 

 pers used to say that imitations of gold were 

 made that would stand aqua fortis as well 

 as the genuine article; and the only way I 

 coaild think of, to silence those who talked 

 so loudly about it, was to offer to purchase 

 all such imitations, at the current price of 

 gold. None has ever been brought that 

 ■would stand the test. 



Now, my friends, I appeal to you ; shall I 

 J)e swayed and frightened by what others 

 say, or shall I keep on in my own way of 

 building greenhouses, house apiaries, lamp 

 nurseries, and foundation machines, that I 

 may know from faithiul and expensive ex- 

 periments whereof I speak V .Shall I consult 

 Tyndal and Agassis as to how bees build 

 their combs, or shall I give you in Glean- 

 ings the results of my own work witli hcesf 



No doubt, friends l^adant, Muth, and per- 

 haps Newman too, are sincere ; I cheerfully 

 foi-give them all, in any case. But what 

 then ? The pickpocket in jail, last Sunday 

 at the close of our Bible class, begged pit- 

 eously for me to get him some tobacco ; he 

 was sincere, most un(iuestionably, and I pit- 

 ied him from the bottom of my heait. while 

 I felt pretty sure that a refusal would result 

 in his calling my professions of Christianity 

 nothing but hypocrisy. Some of you may 

 say I should have given him the tobacco ; it 

 is possible vou are right, and that I erred in 

 judgment, but I certainly shall not give him 

 any tobticco, though he should call me names 

 f rojn ]Monday morning until Saturday night ; 

 but if I can help him in any right way, I 

 ho4)e I may be all the more ready to do it. 



liAKGE SECTBCNS VERSUS §:yiAliL. 



FRIEND BCTLER'S EXPERIENCE IN THE MATTEH. 



fjp THINK I once told you that I did not like 414 

 j\ x4i.i sections, and I have not changed my mind. 

 =~J I have been aware, for many years, that the 

 smaller the package used for surplus honey, the 



smaller the crop would be. Years ago, I found 

 that, when honey was abund;uit, and the hives well 

 stocked with bees, three 10 lb. boxes would be 

 tilled and rerdy for market, just as soon as three 

 6 lb. boxes, and the same i-ule will apply to 5*8, 

 and 4^x4^4 sections. 



This spring, we had on hand, from last year, 

 1,.500 Sx6 sections. They are arranged in cases of 

 33 to a case, and when well filled, overrun .50 lbs. 

 to the case. 



Our cases to hold 4^x4^ sections hold 40, in 4 

 rows, and occupy more surface than the 5x6. Now 

 then, in e%"ery single case where the stocks were 

 equal, the 5x6 sections were filled first ; and if the 

 position I take is a fair and square one, my loss 

 in honey has been 10 lbs. for every ease of the 4J4 

 x4^4 sections used. 



Mr. Editor, you may not be able to swallow this 

 whole dose, but I venture to predict that, if bee- 

 keepers have not already satisfied themselves, on 

 this point, they will soon do so. 1 have tested the 

 matter in 40 or 50 cases, and know that the result 

 will be the same, when tested on stocks of equal 

 strength. 



Besides the loss of honey, we have other objec- 

 tions to the small sections. They are seldom fin- 

 ished up around the frame, as nicely as the larger 

 ones, and they certainly cost 40 per cent mone 

 than the 5x6 sections. All I ask is that bee-keep- 

 ers test this fairly and report. 



Who will be the lucky man to introduce penny 

 packages for the market? Jas. Butler. " 



Jackson, Mich., Aug. 14, 1878. 



P. S. It is our intention to deal only in facts. 



J. B. 



Why, my friend, you are simply demolish- 

 ing the position of I)oolittle aiul others, con- 

 cerning the use of a single tier of sections 

 over the frames, instead of two tiers. Those 

 who have so strongly advocated only one 

 tier of boxes over the frames would better 

 ponder on your remarks ; but your position 

 does not touch the small sections scarcely at 

 all, as I see it. If I am right, you have not 

 even tried them in frames, as they are in- 

 tended to be used. I, too, two seasons ago, 

 discarded so shallow a space for surplus, es- 

 pecially with i)owerful colonies. Let us put 

 the question in this way. Let the bees into 

 an upper story of a L. or Simplicity hive, 

 and let them till the whole space solid, like 

 an old fashioned honey box ; perhaps th^' 

 would till it quicker, than if the upper stofy 

 contained a set of light frames, but I think 

 the difference would be very little. One sea- 

 son, a great part of our suii^lus was comb 

 honey built in full frames, as I have befoje 

 told you. The result was so satisfactory, 

 that I determined to have all my comb honey 

 built in that way, but Avith divisions in the 

 combs, so that they could be separated into 

 1 lb. '•chunks'' of honey, without any leak- 

 uig and daubing. That is exactly what our 

 frames of sections tuicomplisli. Instead of 

 puttering witli 5 or even JO lb. boxes, our 

 honey is all built in a 50 lb. box, or in other 

 words, a whole upper story. As thousands 

 of tliem have this season been hUed, the peo- 

 ple will soon determine if tliei^e is any mis- 

 tiike in tlie mattex. 



1TJOS.E ABOtT Q^EKNS' VOICES, ETC. 



fHE post master as well as the express agent at 

 this place, frequently called my attention bo 

 , the piping of queens, and they not being bee 



men, asked me what it was and what it meant. I 

 answered it was the voice of the queen, but why 

 they thus called, I was unable to explain— did not 

 know whether it was on account of alarm, distress, 

 or of fear. 



On opening hives I have frequently seen them 

 take hold of the top of cells and pipe their veculiar 

 '"zcep," several times, then move an inch or two 



