340 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



October 



extracting room and the honey, as it 

 was thrown from the combs, ran 

 through the strainers into the big 

 tanks below. A wagon could be 

 driven up to the storage room and 

 the filled honey-cases slid into the 

 conveyance. I am almost tempted to 

 say that the wagon could also run by 

 gravity down the mountain thirty 

 miles to the Salinas plain, but it was 

 not down grade all the way. 



Mr. Niver built after his own ideas 

 a gigantic extractor to take sixteen 

 frames at a time. It was automatic 

 and built in sections that it might be 

 taken apart, tank and all, and 

 shipped without much trouble from 

 place to place. I have learned since 

 that he has abandoned this invention 

 for the general 8-frame power ex- 

 tractor, of which I shall write more 

 ai another time. 



I was told that the honey-flow in 

 this location was poor; the elevation 

 was considered too much for success- 

 ful nectar secretion. They had two 

 other apiaries in different directions 

 further off and lower down the moun- 

 tains. At one of these in particular, 

 the flow was very satisfactory, and 

 at this point th^y hoped to establish 

 the major portion of their colonies 

 in future years. They also complained 

 that the bees in this location devoted 

 much time and labor uselessly to the 

 gathering and storing of pollen. So 

 great was the accumulation of pollen 

 in the combs that the space for honey 

 storage was greatly curtailed. The 

 pollen would dry hard in the combs 

 and was useless to the bees or to 

 man. In order to rid the hives of this 

 accumulation, the pollen-infested 

 comb was cut out and discarded, or, 

 when practical, was put into the 

 wax-rendering pot and made into 

 beeswax. This pollen was mainly 

 gathered from that useless and unor- 

 namental shrub, Chamiso, or, botan- 

 ically, Adenostoma, found far too 

 commonly all over the hills and 

 mountains along the Pacific. VVhoIe 

 hillsides may be seen covered with it. 



Oakland, Calif. 



Advertising 



By W. S. Pangbmn 



MUCH has been written of late 

 regarding both local and na- 

 tional advertising of honey. 

 The subject is a live one and should 

 demand the attention of every pro- 

 gressive beekeeper. Most articles 

 that have appeared have been in- 

 structive and have furnished food for 

 thought. 



Whik we may not all agree as to 

 how to advertise, we can at least 

 agree that it should be done, that 

 honey may receive the prominence 

 it should along with other foods, and 

 beekeepers may find a ready sale for 

 all they produce at remunerative 

 prices. 



Organization is another live sub- 

 ject, and should be boosted and en- 

 couraged by every beekeeper who 

 produces honey for the market. In 

 fact, it is absolutely necessary if we 

 are to place our business on a level 

 with other lines. 



It would take an enormous sum to 

 make much of a showing at national 

 advertising if printers' ink was the 

 only method used. It would be very 

 hard to raise this sum for that pur- 

 pose alone, as some of the older bee- 

 keepers already know. It would be 

 another hard proposition to get bee- 

 keepers in general to contribute 

 freely to a fund for this purpose, un- 

 less they could be made to see some 

 direct benefit from the advertising, 

 and this would be another problem. 



I have practiced personal adver- 

 tising by signs. The signs are put up 

 principally on the main auto roads. 

 A good place for a neat sign is at a 

 railroad station, where it can be 

 easily read from the car window, 

 giving your name and address. 



It may take a few jars of honey to 

 get some of the signs where wanted 

 and where the party getting the 

 honey can look after them, but it will 

 pay. The small signs such as "Eat 

 Honey," "Hot Cakes and Honey, O! 

 How Good," "A Reminder, Eat 

 Honey," are strung out one, two or 

 three in succession. Then one reading 

 "Honey! Nothing Finer! Write for 

 Prices. W. S. Pangburn, Center Junc- 

 tion, la.," appears. The latter in- 

 forms the prospective customer 

 where the honey may be obtained. 



There is no limit as to the distance 

 these signs may be strung out from 

 the apiary. Just load up Henry's 

 "Lizzie" and start out, or any other 

 "Lizzie" that you happen to have, 

 and if you haven't any, sweeten up 

 with a little honey your neighbor 

 who has one and get him to take you. 



This method of advertising, fifteen 

 or twenty years ago, would have 

 been time wasted, but not so now, 

 with the auto traffic, both state and 



interstate. Other business lines are 

 adopting this plan of advertising, as 

 one will see by the signs as he trav- 

 els over the country. They are paint- 

 ed everywhere, even on large bould- 

 ers in the fields. 



The signs need cost little more 

 than your time. I use boards from 

 shipping boxes, dressed on one side. 

 Put cleats across the ends to keep 

 them from splitting and warping, and 

 to hold the boards of different 

 widths together in making the larger 

 signs. 



Give them one coat of blue tur- 

 pentine lacquer, and the next day 

 they are ready to letter. Turpentine 

 lacquer is very thin and covers a 

 lot of surface. It is usually cheap if 

 your paint dealer doesn't ask too 

 much profit. 



The last I bought cost me $1.00 per 

 gallon at wholesale, but it is higher 

 now, on account of the war. The 

 lacquer is also handy to coat over 

 cans that have become somewhat 

 shady. While it is not as durable as 

 pure lead and zinc paint, it is much 

 cheaper and will last probably as 

 long as the sign. 



A little precaution should be taken 

 in putting up the signs to avoid fac- 

 ing them south. In fact, no sign that 

 is expected to give service for any 

 length of time should face the south, 

 as all sign colors are necessarily 

 delicate and should be protected from 

 the sun as much as possible. 



One should not put too much 

 money in signs to be placed along 

 the roadsides, as they are the target 

 for many a shotgun, and must neces- 

 sarily be cheap. 



I use blue lacquer, and letters in 

 yellow. This makes a sign that can 

 be read at a long distance, and these 



ilES PRYAL AND DAUGHTER AND MR. AND MRS. NIVER. TAKEN 

 THE PRYAL GARDEN. 



