May, 1908. 



American l^ee Journal 



operation for him is all right, but, as to 

 the bcc-keeper who can dispose of his 

 honey in the neighborhood of where it 

 was produced to good advantage, no co- 

 operation is necessary for him. For the 

 bee-keeper who has to rely on the whole- 

 sale houses, ship long distances, or send 

 to a foreign country to dispose of the 

 product, co-operation should be bene- 

 ficial. But, sir, when it comes to the 

 question of ways and means, there is 

 where the shoe pinches. Would the 

 profits to be derived from co-operation 

 be sufficient to warrant those of the ■ 

 class which I have just mentioned in 

 going to the expense of entering into a 

 body corporate in Ontario? I would 

 say, I think not. Of course, some of 

 the very large honey-producers in South- 

 western Ontario, who are reasonably 

 sure of a surplus crop to dispose of 

 every year, may think different, and may 

 be right in thinking so. But have not 

 they already opened up a market — and a 

 good market, too — for their supply of 

 honey across the sea? Mr. McEvoy 

 says they have. 



And now, sir, as I may not be called 

 upon to touch this subject again, I would 

 advise all honey-producers, without ex- 

 ception, to look closer after the home 

 market, by trying to get their honey, as 

 mucli as possible, from the apiary direct 

 to the table of the consumer, without the 

 intervention of the middleman, and al- 

 ways to aim at producing the very best 

 article possible, and you will be sur- 

 prised how the home market demand 

 will increase, to the benefit of both 

 producer and consumer ; and, in a word, 

 co-operation between producer and con- 

 sumer could and would exist, without 

 the kind offices of a well-paid official 

 to live on the fat of the land. 



x'rescott Co., Ont. W.J.Brown. 



The following is also taken from the 

 Farmer's Advocate. I am acquainted 

 with the circumstances mentioned, and 

 can vouch for accuracy of figures 

 given : 



■ Farmer Bee-Keeper and Alsike. 



When we consider what a palatable 

 and wholesome food is honey, and how 

 little expense and labor is involved in 

 securing and caring for a few colonies 

 of bees, it seems passing strange that 

 so few farmers take up bee-keeping. 

 The bees work for nothing and board 

 themselves ; and, besides storing a large 

 quantity of surplus honey for the fam- 

 ily and for sale, do a valuable work for 

 the farmer by pollenizing his clover and 

 fruit bloom. In one neighborhood, where 

 bees are kept, farmers sold up to $75 

 worth of alsike clover seed per acre 

 last year, largely owing to the work of 

 the bees, and one bee-keeper in the same 

 section sold $3,000 worth of honey. 



Bottom Starters in Sections — Founda- 

 tion. 



A pcrusrd of wliat the Editor and 

 Mr. E. F. Atwatcr have to say touch- 

 ing bottom-starters in sections (page 

 loi), moves me to say that for some 

 people bottom-starters are a decided ad- 

 vantage. But for those who cut the 

 foundation fairly accurate and hang it 

 the right side up. Ijottom-starters are 

 a useless bother, and a worrying waste 

 of time. I tried llu m on a pretty large 



scale for several years, marking the sec- 

 tions so there could be no mistakes 

 made. At the same time, in the same 

 yard, and in every other respect under 

 the same conditions, I had about the 

 same number built without bottom-start- 

 ers. And so far as I could see there 

 was no difference in the finish of the 

 sections. The foundation should be cut 

 pretty accurate, just so that it will swing 

 clear of the section and leave about 3-16 

 of an inch space below for sections 4^ 

 inches deep. A taller section needs more 

 space under the foundation. 



Right here I want to mention the 

 fact that all the foundation I ever saw 

 was stronger one way than the other. 

 That is, it would sag less if hung one 



way than the other. This is a point that 

 no one can afford to ignore. Often 

 when the weather is cool the outside 

 of the outside sections is sadly neg- 

 lected. This will cause the foundation 

 to curl outward, besides being unfinished 

 when the others are completed. Dividers 

 properly made and properly used correct 

 all this, if the other conditions are right. 

 If slats are used in the construction of 

 dividers the spaces between the slats 

 should be 1-5 of an inch. The dividers 

 provide room for lots of bees to keep 

 up the necessary heat for comb-building 

 and capping, without which it is im- 

 possible for the zcork to keep pace with 

 'Mork where the heat is right. 

 Alvmer (West), Out. S. T. Pettit. 



outhern 



nfteedom # 



Conducted by LiiL is 11. .-^L 



"Well Enough for a Man." 



Men do not know how to comment on 

 woman's doings in bee-keeping, I admit, 

 so Miss Wilson is quite right (page 106) 

 in calling my comment, "well enough^ 

 for a man." But how could I have been 

 expected to do better under the circum- 

 stances? The circumstances are these: 



There's "a woman" here at our house 

 who helped me produce and market over 

 10 tons of honey last season. She it was 

 that put nearly all the foundation in the 

 frames — some 6000 in number — and the 

 work was done so deftly and quickly 

 that it did not take long to finish the 

 job. And she didn't have anybody to 

 look after all the other things either — 

 did all of the things herself. 



We use spoons with a "crooked neck" 

 and a "triplicate frame rack" that will 

 be described some time, that enables 

 fast work being done. All this had 

 something to do with my comment. I 

 don't mean to cast any reflections on 

 anybody, either. 



Those Cyprian Bees. 



Several times I have been asked to 

 describe the different races of bees, es- 

 pecially since my experience with 8 dif- 

 ferent races has extended over several 

 years and in different localities, but time 

 has not allowed it except in a very brief 

 way. Upon this, one correspondent com- 

 ments as follows, and describes the 

 " Cyps " very much like I have found 

 them : 



Dear Mr. Scholl -.—At last, on page 

 42, we have the long-promised discus- 

 sion of the different races of bees! But 

 how brief. Anyway, a few crumbs "is 

 better than no bread." I'm still sticking 

 to the "Zips," or more properly, they 

 still "stick it" to me. Last spring I 

 was going through a hive of "Zips," 

 watering their candied combs of honey, 



and " all went merry as a marriage bell," 

 and I was just thinking "what fools these 

 mortals be" — the little Cyprians are busi- 

 ness-like, and tend to their own affairs, 

 allowing others the same right, and 

 "don't sting at all." 



About that time, just as I was taking 

 hold of a frame, one of the innocent 

 little "misses" interposed herself between 

 finger and frame. Her sting wasn't very 

 long — not over a yard — and her poison- 

 sac wasn't very hot — not hotter than 

 cayenne pepper seasoned with molten 

 iron — and so out of consideration for 

 the bee (sting and poison-sack) I gently 

 and hastily (and I've since thought not 

 gently enough, and too hastily) let the 

 frame drop. In doing so, another inno- 

 cent little miss was crushed under the 

 end, and 20 dozen or 200 million dozen 

 others were jolted just ever so little. 

 I had but one thickness of hickory shirt 

 on my back and arms. There was a hole 

 in the top of my hat large enough to 

 insert the end of my finger. The hy- 

 brids had never found it. 



The "Zips" are the wisest and most 

 business-like that ever I saw, felt, or 

 dreamed of, and meddlesome withal. 

 They have the most perfect system of 

 wireless telegraphy, and rapid fire com- 

 munication. One Cyprian found that 

 hole ; instanter, it was reported to half 

 the bees in that hive. It seemed they 

 were disturbed, and I was the cause of 

 it. I thought nothing but that the dis- 

 turbance should cease, and as soon as 

 convenient. So without taking time to 

 replace the frame, super, and cover- 

 board, I hastily retired to a patch of tall 

 weeds. The Cyprians didn't seem, with 

 all their wisdom, to understand that I 

 was anxious to cease disturbing them. 

 Not till I had stood on my head in the 

 grass— that seemed to quiet all that were 

 inside my hat. 



I ran my hand through my hair, and 

 the bee-stings — it reminded me of a 



