1917 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



341 



colors are used largely on that ac- 

 count. 



But you say, "I am no sign painter." 

 Very well, get a set of Rcc's adjust- 

 able l)rass stencils with lyj-inch let- 

 ters, which will do very well, and 

 anyone who can daub can make a 

 very good looking sign ; at least it 

 wilt do in lieu of something better. 

 If you wanted "Honey" in larger let- 

 ters, which would be still better, you 

 can have a stencil made for the 

 word "Honey," and you have a pretty 

 good outfit for the work. 



While a stencil sign does not pos- 

 sess the air of a hand-painted one, it 

 will do very well. The signs that are 

 placed at the stations, near, and in 

 the city limits should be made some- 

 what better, and of your best lumber 

 from the shipping boxes. I paint 

 them with white paint, then letter in 

 red, but sometimes use green on the 

 lettering to give a little better dis- 

 play. It draws more attention than 

 black on white, and that is what we 

 want. 



A lot of these signs can be made at 

 odd times, and a stock of them kept 

 on hand, and when going any dis- 

 tance with your car (I use a Ford) 

 load in a few and replace any that 

 may have been destroyed, or put up 

 an occasional new one. Don't be 

 afraid of putting up too many. 



This plan qf advertising is not in- 

 tended to take the place of all oth- 

 ers, and to be the remedy for all the 

 ills of advertising honey, but it ap- 

 peals to a certain class, and can be 

 worked out by the beekeepers them- 

 selves, right in their immediate vi- 

 cinity, helping to advertise honey na- 

 tionally, reaping the benefits of the 

 advertising in their local community, 

 and quite likely capturing some tran- 

 sient trade, also. If every bee- 

 keeper would put this plan into op- 

 eration it would cost little, accom- 

 plish much, and we would see results. 



The plan I have described appeals 

 mainly to the traveling public. 



Use little red stickers, also, giving 

 the food value of honey, which, in 

 the writer's opinion, are more valua- 

 ble, because they are educational and 

 give a good reason why one should 

 eat honey. The writer uses them, but 



A DWELLING IN FIGHIG, MOROCCO. WITH TWO COLONIE.S OF BEES 



(See Text.) 



has them printed on the envelopes to 

 avoid so much licking, for the glue 

 used on some of the stickers is a lit- 

 tle off flavor. 



Do not wait for the National or the 

 U. H. P. to come down in your local 

 market and boost your honey, but 

 boost it yourself, and thereby help 

 the National to accomplish some of 

 the big things it has up its sleeve, 

 and incidentally push your own busi- 

 ness up a notch. 



Center Junction, la. 



Bees of Norocco 



WE are in receipt of a letter 

 from Mr. Bernard, treasurer 

 and corresponding secretary 

 of the "Nahla" Association of Bee- 

 keepers of Algeria, who is a retired 

 comptroller-general of the railroads 

 of Algeria. Mr. Bernard encloses 

 with his letter some views of Fighig, 

 Morocco, the terminus of a colonial 

 railroad. Fighig is the center of a 



great date-producing region. It is 

 located near the head of the Zous- 

 fana river, which runs to the Sahara 

 desert and loses itself in the sands. 



The bees of Fighig, which are very 

 gentle in disposition and of yellowish 

 color, are often kept within the 

 home. The accompanying photo- 

 graph shows the second story of a 

 dwelling open on one side. The ter- 

 race or flat roof, made of palm-tree 

 trunks covered with packed clay, is 

 supported on three sides by solid 

 walls and on the fourth side by the 

 pillars shown in the photo. To hive 

 the bees, sun-dried bricks have been 

 laid between the pillars in a double 

 row. with the split half of a palm 

 tree for roof. On each side of this 

 small slabs have been laid vertically 

 and covered with the same clay that 

 is used for making the bricks, which 

 is called in Spanish "adobe," and in 

 Arabian "toub." The two holes which 

 are noticed at the left of one pillar 

 and at the right of another, are the 

 entrances for the bees. The combs 

 are built lengthwise, and this direc- 

 tion is secured by fitting a comb in- 

 side in the proper direction as "bait." 

 Mr. Bernard writes : 



"The Fighighians are very fond of 

 their bees. I had great difficulty in 

 buying some. As I used a little smoke 

 to drive the bees into a small hive in 

 which I had placed some combs, the 

 proprietor seemed inclined to con- 

 sider me as a barbarian. It was with 

 his hands that he handled the lag- 

 ging bees, and although they stung 

 him he did not appear to care. 



SOME OF PANGBURN'S COLORED SIGNS TO BOOST HONEY SALES. 



About Wintering Bees— Some 

 Englisii Methods 



By A. H. Bowen. 



DESPITE the usual mildness of 

 an English winter, here in the 

 West the well of knowledge 

 on how best to avoid winter losses is 

 still an inexhaustible one, and the 



