216 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



In the first place, the Board of Di- 

 rectors should employ the very best 

 talent, that the money will allow, to 

 write short, readable articles, adapted 

 to the public taste, and these articles 

 should have as their main object (al- 

 though that need not appear on the 

 surface) the healthfulness and deli- 

 ciousness of honey. Incidentally, the 

 canards about artificial comb honey 

 should be combated with good sound 

 arguments. 



Suppose we had 25 or 30 articles of 

 this kind prepared by our very best 

 men, paying them liberally, so that 

 they could take pains to get the matter 

 into the very best shape, then let some 

 man like Ernest Root or Dr. Miller or 

 Bro. York be sent to these "boiler 

 plate" houses, with the articles on 

 hand, and make arrangements for their 

 publication. It is not likely that there 

 would be much, if any, charge, for 

 their publication, as they would be 

 really good, readable matter, such as 

 these houses are glad to get. 



It might be well, also, to have half a 

 dozen magazine articles prepared, 

 illustrating them with good photos., 

 and into these articles weave the same 

 ideas in regard to the healthfulness 

 and purity of honey, and the folly of 

 the so-called Wiley lie. 



It would not cost very much to carry 

 out this scheme, and, it seems to me, 

 for the amount of money that we have 

 to spend, we would get more out of it 

 than in any other wa3'. Suppose we 

 start that way and see how it pans out. 



fc»u»'»^^'ii»»." 



Have a Colony on the Scales. 

 This year, for the first time, have I 

 had a colony on the scales, and it is 

 well worth the cost simply for the sat- 

 isfaction of knowing exactly, each day 

 what the harvest has been. And this 

 knowledge is sometimes of real, prac- 

 tical value. The demonstration that 

 bees make, the flying about, in and out 

 of their hives, is not always, I have 



found, a sure indication of the amount 

 of honey being gathered. Sometimes 

 they are working steadily, in a quiet 

 sort of way, yet they are bringing in 

 big loads of honey. Of course, an ex- 

 perienced man gives a close guess, when 

 working in the apiary, as to the 

 amount of honey coming in, but the use 

 of scales shows that at least one man 

 can be badly fooled. 



If you have given all of the colonies 

 super room, and the flow continues 

 light, say, only two or three pounds 

 per day, you will know, without even 

 opening a hive, that no more room is 

 needed. If the yield runs up to seven 

 or eight pounds, and continues two or 

 three days, it is a sure indication that 

 more room will be needed on some of 

 the colonies. A colony on the scales 

 allows the operator to "feel the pulse" 

 of the apiary, so to speak. 



A colony is always from one to two 

 pounds lighter in the morning than in 

 the evening, caused, I suppose, from 

 the evaporation of the nectar during 

 the night. Then, after the bees go out 

 to work, and are in full flight, the 

 weight drops to another two or three 

 pounds. If the yield is good, the scales 

 will begin to balance again iibout 

 noon. 



The largest yield that I have had in 

 one day was 9% pounds — the smallest 

 two pounds. One day it was cold and 

 the wind blew hard, and there was a 

 loss of two pounds. 



By the way, I have noticed that the 

 wind is a very serious obstacle to the 

 gathering of honey. Possibly it has 

 some eff^ect upon the secretion of 

 honey. It certainly hinders the bees 

 in their flight. There has been no 

 good yield on a windy day. 



If you haven't a hive on the scales, 

 put one there. You can get a pair of 

 platform scales for only $3.00, and it 

 is worth the cost, simply in the pleas- 

 ure and satisfaction of knowing each 

 night, exactly how much honey has 

 been brought in. 



