208 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 15. 



and waited for the manufacturers to get them 

 out until we have lost the best of the market, 

 no doubt, as it has been my experience that the 

 first honey put upon the market usually sells 

 for the highest price; and, furthermore, we 

 have arranged to ship our honey together by 

 freight, to save expense, rather than ship sep- 

 arately by express. But here we are— mine is 

 ready, while yours is not, and is liable not to be 

 for some time if you have to order more cartons 

 made, which I can see no other way for you to 

 do under the circumstances. It is very unfor- 

 tunate, to say the least, as it is a damage to us 

 both, especially to yourself." 



"Now, Manum, what would you advise me 

 to do?" 



" Why, Charles, I would telegraph the parties 

 that these cartons are too small, and to make 

 you another lot at once." 



" Yes, that is my only way out of the scrape; 

 and in the mean time you might as well ship 

 your honey at once, and not wait for mine; and 

 I will see the station agent on my way home 

 and countermand the order for the freight car, 

 as you will doubtless ship your honey on the 

 butter-car to day." 



"All right, Charles; that is our best way out 

 now, as the matter stands. Hereafter, Charles, 

 I think it will be policy for us to order our car- 

 tons early in the season, and of the old firm. 

 They have always been prompt and reliable. 

 Suppose we order one or two thousand more 

 than we need the present season. They are 

 not very expensive, and are something that 

 will keep without shrinkage. I have learned, 

 Charles, by sad experience, that it is bad policy 

 to leave an old and reliable firm— such as the 

 A. I. Root Co., for instance— and dodge off on 

 some side branch, expecting great things. 

 Nine times out of ten the tender branch will 

 let us down with a Uuid, as you have just been 

 let down." 



"Yes, that is right, Manum— just right. I 

 want to know what you are doing with those 

 pieces you have piled up here on your bench." 



" Oh! these are for winter ventilators, to take 

 the place of quills; you know that quilts are 

 more or less a bother. To begin with, the bees 

 will cover them with propolis in a year or two 

 so that they are no betier than enameled cloth 

 or boards, to allow the escape of moisture; and, 

 furthermore, the bees gnaw holes through them 

 in so short a time that I find it quite an expense 

 to renew them every two or three years; and, 

 again, If the wind blows— as it usually does— 

 when packing or unpacking the bees, these 

 cloths will be scattered all over the yard if left 

 on the ground or a hive; and, also, by the use of 

 quilts, when putting them over the frames the 

 whole brood-chamber has to be uncovered, 

 thereby disturbing the bees and permitting the 

 warmth to give place to cold air, since we have 

 always chosen a cool day to pack the bees, ow- 

 ing to the fact that, in a cool day, they are 



more apt to be compact and at the bottom of 

 the frames, making it much more convenient 

 covering them with the quilts than in a warm 

 day when the bees cover the top-bars. But 

 with an arrangement made thus I can not only 



MANUM S WINTER VENTILATOR. 



pack my bees in less than half the time that it 

 would take with quilts the old way, but they 

 are much better, as they will last a lifetime, 

 and cost no more than cotton sheets — called 

 quilts. To use them, all I have to do is to sepa- 

 rate the two honey -boards two inches apart 

 and place these ventilators between them and 

 cover all with the thick cushion." 



"Yes; but, Manum, suppose one does not 

 have his honey-boards— cover to brood-chamber 

 — in two parts as you do; how can he use these 

 ventilators? " 



"Oh! just simply by shoving the board to 

 one side and placing the ventilator at one end 

 instead of in the middle of the brood -chamber; 

 and besides, Charles, they can, in case of emer- 

 gency, be used as feeders. By placing them 

 with wire screen downward the space can be 

 filled with moist sugar, which would keep a 

 starving colony alive for a day or two, or until 

 they can be fed more abundantly." 



" In this case, then, what are you going to do 

 with your old quilts?" 



"Charles, when I visited our friend J. E. 

 Crane last spring I learned what to do with 

 them, whereby I am putting them to good use 

 by Using them for smoker-fuel. I can tell you 

 that, with my Crane smoker filled with well- 

 propolized rags, I can drive bees home or mad 

 dogs out of the streets." 



Bristol. Vt. 



REPORT OF THE CALIFORNIA STATE BEE- 

 KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION. 



By J. H. Martin. 



The California State Bee-keepers' Associa- 

 tion held its annual session in the new Cham- 

 ber of Commerce, Los Angeles, on the 5th and 

 6th of February, 1895. After the preliminary 

 routine the subject of marketing honey was 

 taken up for general discussion. The trend of 

 the discussion was toward cooperation and the 

 establishment of exchanges for the purpose of 

 handling honey. Fruit exchanges were prov- 

 ing a success, and why not have success in the 

 sale of honey also? 



Mr. Mclntyre seemed to have an exchange of 

 his own, which was working satisfactorily, as 

 he always sells his honey for not less than 6 cts. 



