GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



WAHL'S HONEY AND BEE DEMONSTRATION EXHIBIT IN THE ROCHESTER INDUSTRIAL PARADE. 



HANDLING BEES ON A FLOAT IN A 

 COMMERCIAL PARADE. 



A Form of Advertising that Pays Weli. 



BY LOUIS F. WAHL. 



So much has been said through the bee 

 journals about advertising honey that I have 

 decided to add a word to the discussion. In 

 Rochester, N. Y., there was a parade, Octo- 

 ber 19, of historical and industrial floats, 

 which in every way was a triumph of art. 

 There were 122 floats, each one representing 

 some phase of Rochester industry. As much 

 as seven hundred dollars was paid by some 

 of the department stores in the decorations 

 of their floats, the main object being to ad- 

 vertise. It was estimated that 100,000 peo- 

 ple gathered to view the procession as it 

 went by. I will describe my honey-float, 

 as shown in the engraving, and tell some- 

 thing of its cost. 



In the first place I paid .$1.50 for second- 

 hand lumber. The painting of the signs 

 cost $3.78; the oilcloth, $3 24; the carpet, 

 SI. 50; cheese-cloth. $2.25, making the total 

 cost of material $12.27. The best part of it 

 is that all this material can be used again for 

 other purposes. It took my brother three 

 days to do the carpenter work, and Mrs. 

 Wahl did the trimming. 



The rack or floor of the float was 12 feet 

 long, 7 feet wide, and jus*: cleared the 

 wheels. At each corner a 2x3-inch post, 9>2 

 feet long, was placed, the lower end extend- 

 ing 2/2 feet below the floor. To the bottoms 

 of these posts a strip was bolted, on which 



to tack the oilcloth so the wind could not blow 

 it against the wheels. Also on the tops 

 some strips were fastened for holding the 

 signs. The color of the trimmings was that 

 used throughout the whole parade — laven- 

 der and white. 



During the parade, two boys in front, each 

 sitting on a bee-hive, were eating comb hon- 

 ey, illustrating the fact that "the proof of 

 the pudding is in the eating." My niece, 

 who stands at my left in the illustration, did 

 the uncapping; the young woman in the cen- 

 ter changed the combs, while Mrs. Wahl did 

 the extracting. 



To hold the attention of the crowd we had 

 a wire-cloth cage (the one which I used a 

 few years ago for demonstrating in a de- 

 partment store). Inside this was a colony 

 of bees, and during the parade I took out 

 the combs, bees and all, held them up so 

 that all could see, and also scooped up the 

 bees with my bare hands. I doubt if half of 

 the crowd noticed the float which followed 

 ours. I could see people looking and pok- 

 ing one another, and exclaiming about the 

 bees One policeman stepped up close to 

 the cage, then rushed back, brushing him- 

 self as though twenty stings had reached 

 him at once. When we reached the court- 

 house, where the mayor and the officials of 

 the Chamber of Commerce were sitting, re- 

 viewing the parade, they all took off their 

 hats and cheered us. Although it was so 

 cold, cloudy, and windy (about 40 degrees 

 Fahr.), that we had to be bundled up to 

 keep warm, the bees did their part well. If 

 sills rest directly on the ground, but the plat- 



