THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



19 



one point that I overlooked, viz., the con- 

 dition of the colonies and the arrange- 

 ment of the hives. A populous colony of 

 young bees, with a good, thick quilt or 

 cushion, over the frames, (no cover) can 

 warm and dry the inside of the hive, ex- 

 pelling the moisture, and making them- 

 selves comfortable, when a weak colony 

 would suffer from cold and dampness. 

 The strong colony may be compared to 

 the sturdy horse or ox, the weak colony 

 to the calf or Iamb. 



Comb Building in the Open Air. 

 A swarm of bees is not always able to 

 find a hollow tree, or other suitable 

 cavity, in which to make its home, and, 

 as the bees hang on a limb awaiting 

 events, they begin building comb, and the 

 result is that the colony bee jmes es- 

 tablished in the open air. Mr. A. H. 

 Guernsey, of Ionia, Michigan, found such 

 a colony last fall when hunting bees. It 

 was on a limb 40 feet from the ground, 

 and occupied over two feet of the limb; 

 some of the combs being over a foot in 

 diameter. He climbed the tree, wrapped 

 a sheet around the colony, sawed ofT the 



limb, and lowered it to the ground. He 

 then took the novel exhibit to a gallery 

 and had it photographed, with the results 

 as herewith shown. The bees are now 

 in winter quarters— in the cellar I should 

 presume. 



Liection of officers for the National re- 

 sulted as follows: President, Geo. W. 

 York, Chicago. Ills.; Vice President, W. 

 D. Wright, Altamont, N. Y.; Secretary, 

 Louis Scholl, New Braunfels, Texas; 

 General Manager, N. E. France, Platte- 

 ville, Wisconsin; three Directors, J. E 

 Crane, Middlebury, Vt.; E. F. Atwater, 

 Meridian, Idaho; and R. A. Morgan, 

 Vermillion, So. Dak. More new men 

 elected at this election than have been 

 in a long time. Let us remember the old 

 adage that it is the "new broom that 

 sweeps clean." 



Frank Coverdale, of Iowa, in renewing 

 his subscription to the Review, writes as 

 follows: "I like the Review because it 

 holds forth large hopes for the keeper of 

 bees; helping many who are groping 

 along in a half hearted way; setting 

 them up on a higher plane; and furnish- 

 ing knowledge which leads onward 

 towards more income; which is the vital 

 essential towards which all must look. 

 1 have again, despite the very poor 

 season, secured a big plenty of comb 

 honey to keep the wolf from my door — 

 all by "keeping more bees," and fussing 

 less." 



Michigan State Bee Keepers' Associa- 

 tion will hold its annual convention in the 

 parlors of the Hotel Wentworth, corner 

 of East Michigan and Grand Avenue, 

 Lansing, Michigan, February 23rd and 

 24th, next. A good program is in course 

 of preparation; and liberal premiums 

 will be given for best honey and beeswax. 



The Association annual booklet sells 

 members' honey at an advance over 

 market price. This is no experiment. 



