478 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 15. 



be strong colonies in eight, nine, or ten frames, 

 without bottoms, or at least wire cloth held 

 about two or three inches below the frames by 

 a wooden frame the size of the hive-bottom. 

 The hives should be tiered as described in A. I. 

 Roofs circular, with a folded gunny sack be- 

 tween the tops of the frames and the top-board 

 of each hive. The lower tier of hives should be 

 two feet from the floor of the cellar, which 

 should be dry and dark. Light, and extremes 

 of temperature, have more to do in rendering 

 bees restless than bushels of fruit anri vegeta- 

 bles. They should be put away as described 

 above by the middle of October, and allowed to 

 remain as quiet as possible till the 1st of March, 

 not later than the 15th, if there are some nice 

 days so they can fly. When on the summer 

 stands at this early date they should be pro- 

 tected against sudden changes of temperature 

 by a " case " made by driving, for each hive or 

 each group of hives — for groups I prefer the 

 way pictured in Gleanings last fall — four 2x2 

 oak posts in the ground so they will, when 

 boarded up on the outside like a house, leave a 

 space of six or eight inches from the walls of 

 the brood-chamber of the hive or group as the 

 case may be. The fronts of hives should be 

 nearer the case wall than other sides, in order 

 to get an exit for the bees with least travel for 

 them and least work for the apiarist or carpen- 

 ter. There should be a cover that will shed 

 rain. With packing I think this-would be the 

 best plan to obtain early breeding. Remove 

 the packing and leave the case for protection 

 against heat in the summer and cold in the fall. 

 Bees will work better in hot weather, and fin- 

 ish better in cool, if in a protected case like the 

 above. Though the bees are removed from the 

 cases to the cellar, the apiary retains much the 

 same appearance in winler as in sumniei-. 



A. B. C. 



HINTS TO ADVERTISERS. 



S. F. TKEGO OFFERS SOME SUGGESTIONS AND 

 CKITICISMS. 



I noticed your " hint to advertisers," on p. 

 360. May 1. I will say that the cut in our ad. 

 that you refer to is not my invention, but was 

 designed by C. W. Harper, Columbus, O. The 

 wording and displaying of an ad. is far more 

 important than many think. You can not buy 

 your space, scribble a ffw hasty lines to fill it, 

 and expect to make big sales; for if you do you 

 will surely be disappointed. An ad. must be 

 carefully worded to induce the public to "shell 

 out;" but woe to the man who makes them 

 "shell out" and then does not live up to what 

 he claims in his ad. He may g^t along for a 

 time, but he will surely disappear from view in 

 time. 



You mention the W. T. Falconer Co.'s " A 

 New Hive " as being a good catch-line. I con- 

 sider it good; but could it not have been better 

 If it had actually referred to some new hive? 

 You see. as it is," the reader is deceived into 

 reading it, in the hope of learning of some 

 new hive. Now. suppose he is a beginner, and 

 does not know of the high standing of the firm 

 mentioned. My theory is, that he would think 

 something like this: "Now, that fellow has 

 fooled me into reading his ad.: what might he 

 do if I send him my money ?" We will suppose 

 he turns to p. .'534. The first ad. says. " What 

 stood the test . . . for 15 years?" You can 

 almost see that new bee-man reach for pen and 

 paper in his haste to get that free illustrated 

 catalogue that Hilton offers. , 



I think that, if I had written that ad. for the 



Falconers, I would have put the words, " We 

 made them," for the catch-line, and then in 

 capitals put " Section-cases used in New York 

 exhibit at World's Fair (using larger type for 

 "World's Fair"). I think I had better letup 

 on this firm or they may think I want to run 

 their business; but, gentlemen, I don't. I have 

 all I can do to run my own. I consider Nebel's 

 "Monkey" very catchy: but they are over- 

 working the poor fellow. Suppose I had read 

 their ad., " Don't monkey your time away, but 

 order your supplies early;" then a week later 

 I want queens, and in looking over the adver- 

 tisements of queens I see their " Don't monkey 

 with cross bees," but 1 think it is the same old 

 monkey " monkeying his time away," so I pass 

 it by, as the "cross bees "is in small type. I 

 see in the A. B. J. they fix it this way: 



Don't Monkey with ^^ROf 



which I think is much better. 



As a general thing, if the ad. is changed 

 every issue it will pay better. Any one who 

 does 150.00 worth of advertising in a year 

 should read Printer's Ink. published at 10 

 Spruce St., New Y'ork, at 12.00 per year (week- 

 ly). It is to the advertising profession what 

 Gleanings is to the bee-keeping — " the top of 

 the pile." S. F. Trego. 



Swedona, 111. 



BEE-VEIL FOR LADIES. 



HOW TO MAKE ONE. 



All the year I have tried to find time to tell 

 you how I made a bee-veil that has been a com- 

 fort to me, and perhaps others would like it. 

 Take a piece of cheese-cloth, 60 inches long 

 and 27 wide; sew the ends together. On one 

 side make a two-inch hem, and make two rows 

 of stitching, half an inch apart, to run an elas- 

 tic cord through to fit a hat-crown. On the 

 lower edge the hem need not be so wide — just 

 sufficient to admit an elastic % of an inch wide. 

 Take a piece of fine black brussels-net veiling, 

 15x12, and sew it on about three or four inches 

 from the top; cut away the cloth below. This, 

 of course, is to look through. In some I put 

 about the same-sized piece of a coarser quality 

 of net in the back, to let the air pass through. 

 The elastic ribbon for the lower hem should be 

 32 inches long, or long enough to fit the shoul- 

 ders snugly of the person it is for. After it is run 

 through the hem, the ends must be securely 

 fastened. Stick a pin in the center of the lower 

 hem in the back (after the elastic has been run 

 through and drawn up), and on each side, about 

 four inches from the pin, sew on a piece of 

 elastic, eight inches long, or long enough to 

 reach under the arm and fasten on a button in 

 front. I sew a piece of muslin on the ends, in 

 which to make the button-holes. The buttons 

 should be near the arms in front. I make mine 

 to fit comfortably, yet tight enough so that no 

 bee can crawl under; for I don't want to be in 

 a cage with a bee, even if I do think lots of 

 them. 



One great comfort with this veil is. that one 

 can easily run the handkerchief under the elas- 

 tic, to rnop the brow — a thing I have to do 

 pretty often when working with bees. When I 

 know they can not crawl down my neck, nor 

 strike me in the face. I feel pretty safe while 

 working with them. I fasten my sleeves closely 

 around my wrists, and never fear their sting- 

 ing my hands, yet they sometimes do; but I 

 can't work with gloves on. 



London, O., May 6. Mks. "Vinnie Phifer. 



