340 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



Our customers are asking us to fur- 

 nish this g^uarantee, and we in turn are 

 asking those who furnish us honey or 

 beeswax to give us the same guarantee. 

 No producer or jobber should hesitate 

 to furnish such a writing : for the 

 moment he hesitates, that moment his 

 goods will be under suspicion. 



GENERAL EFFECT OF THE LAW. 



There are many provisions of this 

 law; but those already given are the 

 principal ones that relate to bee keep- 

 ing. Suffice it to say, its general pro- 

 visions apply equally to all products, 

 medicines, and liquors. No more can 

 a medicine be sold under an innocent 

 name and contain some powerful poison 

 unless the exact amount of such poison 

 as well as any other ingredients be 

 stated on the label. Thou'-ands of 

 people have died as the result of liqnor, 

 cocaine, strychnine, and other deadlj' 

 poisons administered in medicines hav- 

 ing an innocent name. 



The effect of this provision of the law 

 is going to be to drive a lot of danger- 

 ous proprietary medicines out of the 

 market. As soon as the dear public 

 knows what these innocent-sounding 

 medicines are, it will leave them 

 severely alone, and it ought to. 



This national pure-food law may 

 rope in some innocent bee-keepers 

 and other well-meaning persons; but 

 it is their business to ktioiv the law, 

 and Gleanings has taken this oppor- 

 tunity to inform them. 



Every pound of honey that one buys 

 of somebody else should be covered by 

 a guarantee, else the purchaser may 

 assume a great risk; and, further, the 

 label shall not be misleading in any 

 manner whatsoever. 



WINTERING BEES IN CLAMPS. 



Have a Sandy Hillside; Use Plenty of 



Straw; Give no Ventilaiion; and 



Protect in the Spring. 



I look upon Mr. E. D. Townsend as 

 about the most successful, extensive, 

 practical bee-keeper there is in Michi- 

 gan—perhaps he stands at the head — 

 and anything from his pen is always 

 helpful to the man who is making a 

 business of bee-keeping. It may be a 

 little late to put in practice, this fall, 



some of the ideas given in his article 

 appearing in November 1st Gleanings, 

 but some of them will come handy next 

 spring, while the general principles 

 brought out are suitable for application 

 at any time. Here is what Mr. Town 

 send says : 



It is hot this morning, August 20 — a 

 morning the least suggestive of zero 

 weather and the wintering of bees; but 

 it was so last year, and winter fol- 

 lowed, so we will prepare as usual. 



With a pencil and a roll of paper I 

 have wandered down to the Pine Lake 

 bee-yard, three-fourths of a mile south 

 of the town. Long before I reached 

 the apiary the low hum of the bees 

 could be distinct!}' heard; then a little 

 later that well-known (to bee. keepers) 

 aroma of the buckwheat was evident; 

 then the birds are gathering in flocks 

 preparatory for that southern flight to 

 winter quarters. In the distance the 

 katydids could be heard chirping. 

 The leaves are turning golden, as in 

 fall. These and many other indica- 

 tions give evidence that the season is 

 nearing its end, and we cannot help 

 asking. "What has the harvest been ?" 

 Yes, I live in town, and have no home 

 yard, so my experience for the last six 

 years has been wholl}' with out-yards. 

 Then I had another reason besides 

 writing for coming out to one of my 

 yards I said the buckwheat was in 

 bloom. Yes, and it has been for the 

 past ten days — a two or three pound 

 flow per da}', and during all this time 

 there have been no surplus receptacles 

 on the hives. The consequences are, 

 the brood-nests are just bulging out 

 with this early August buckwheat 

 honey for winter stores. It would do 

 your heart good. Editor Root, to raise 

 the covers oft^ some of the 400 colonies 

 here near Remus and see the great fat 

 combs of honey the bees are storing 

 and sealing for their winter supplies; 

 for 3'ou know those York State bee- 

 keepers tell us that this early buck- 

 wheat honey is fine for wintering bees, 

 and from what e.xperience I have had 

 with it I am satisfied it is all right; 

 but I do not want any aster or lite un- 

 sealed fall honey left in the hive for 

 winter stores; so as fast as the stronger 

 colonies — in fact, as fast as any of the 

 colonies get their combs sealed up full 

 of this earlj' buckwheat honey — we 

 gave them upper stories to catch this 

 latter end of the flow or that part of the 

 honey that is undesirable for winter 

 stores. 



