62 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 



one size frames. I have studied some, on a 

 Simplicity hive with chaff ends, hut there 

 are complications in the way of having the 

 stories fit nicely on the top of each other, 

 that seem to me to render it not desirable to 

 try to make them thus. Our friend, W. R. 

 Whitman, of New Market, Ala., has been 

 writing on the subject, and lias offered some 

 good suggestions in regard to the matter. A 

 2 story Simplicity hive, to hold 20 frames, 

 costs— hive alone without any frames— about 

 SI. 20. A 2 story chaff hive to hold 21 frames 

 costs $2.50. Taking into account the extra 

 number of frames the latter holds, we rind 

 the difference in expense of the two kinds of 

 hives to be just about $1. 00; the expense of 

 painting, inside furniture, and preparing for 

 winter will be about the same with either. 



friends, that there shall be no mistake in the 

 queens we send you, and we therefore take 

 the greatest pains to mark plainly, the hives 

 containing the imported stock. 



HONEY ON COMMISSION. 



I started in the spring' with 18 stands of bees, and 

 have, at present, 38 stands, an increase of 20, this 

 year. 



I sold my honey for $50, at a very low price, or it 

 would have brought me $75. I don't think I will 

 sell honey on commission again, but will try to sell 

 it myself. John Boerstleu. 



Monterey, 111., Dec. 17, 1878. 



P. S.— The "Home of the Honey Bee" is a very 

 good one, and I hope that you and all the boys and 

 girls that work for you may be kept as busy, 'during 

 the next year, as your bees. J. B. 



SHIPPING QUEENS IN THE WINTER. 



I wrote to you to send me an imported Italian 

 queen, if you thought there was a probability of 

 her getting through safely. I received thebeesdur- 

 ing a snow storm, when everything was frozen, and 

 from the date of your postal, you must have had 

 freezing weather when you started her. How then 

 could you think the bees could stand the exposure 

 ot an express handling without freezing? Of course, 

 you could expect nothing else, and you must have 

 been experimenting at the expense of your pat- 

 rons. 



Well, the queen and court were duly received, in 

 very cold weather, and though benumbed by cold, 

 the goodly quantity of bees kept them all alive but 

 three. I opened them in a close, warm room, on a 

 window pane, and gave them a lunch of fresh honey 

 which, with the warmth of the room, restored them 

 completely. 



I recaged the whole group, displaced a black 

 queen, and the imported lady is safely ensconced on 

 top of the frames, under the quilt, where 1 will 

 watch her until she has acquired the proper scent of 

 the hive, when I shall cautiously liberate her. I 

 fear, however, that my anxiety to save the queen 

 will cause me to do something that will jeopardize 

 her. 



Please write me particulars. Is she without doubt 

 an Italian imported queen? If so, how long since 

 she left Italy? Did you change the nucleus in which 

 she was imported, or did she come in the present 

 cage? 



Enclosed, I send the $1.00, as your part of the bus- 

 iness is full and complete, as far as the life of the 

 queen is concerned in safe arrival, but I think it 

 was a risky experiment. Geo. B. Peters. 



Council Bend, Ark., Dec. 1, 1878. 



Not at the expense of my customers, friend 

 P., for all shipping of queens, in any weath- 

 er, is at my own expense. I bave lost none 

 as yet, by shipping in cold weather. How 

 natural it is for each one to ask if the queen 

 is undoubtedly from Italy. I have, a few 

 times, shipped the queens in the original 

 boxes received from Italy; but as we have 

 had bad luck with such shipments, even af- 

 ter they were opened and examined, we now 

 take every queen from the original package, 

 and introduce her to a hive, and keep her 

 there until she lays, before we dare ship her. 

 I know, full well, how anxious you are, my 



that the press costs, 

 book ink, worth 40c. 

 lbs. of paper. This 



PRICE OF BOOKS AND JOURNALS. 



Why is it that in this land of printers, ink, and pa- 

 per, the price of books has not declined in the same 

 ratio as other commodities? 



Undoubtedly, this question is a "new departure" 

 from questions generally asked you, but it is one 

 which will interest your readers generally; so, if 

 you see fit, give us an article upon the subject. Be- 

 ing a proprietor of a printing establishment, you 

 are well informed, I suppose. C. R. Billings. 



Randolph, Wis., Nov. 25, 1878. 



I have often thought of this matter, my 

 friend, and I have once or twice decided to 

 write upon it, but feared to awaken unpleas- 

 antness. Better paper than is used in any 

 common books can now be bought for about 

 12|c. per lb. Our new press will print about 

 500 lbs. of the A 13 C books, in a day. I 

 should think $10.00 a day ought to pay the 

 pressman, and the interest on the money 

 It takes about 1 lb. of 

 per lb., for every 100 

 will bring the cost of 

 the printed book, all ready for the bindery, 

 at about 15c, per lb. Three girls, at an av- 

 erage expense of $3.00, will bind in paper 

 covers and finish 100 lbs. in a day. This 

 brings the cost of finished books, in paper 

 covers, at about 18c. per lb. 



It is rather a hard matter to estimate the 

 cost of the author's work, or of the compos- 

 itor's; for after the book is once done, thou- 

 sands of tons can b? printed, if they are in 

 demand, at no additional cost. Hooks that 

 are not in good demand may have to be sold 

 at a good many dollars per lb., to pay expen- 

 ses. I think an author should be able to get 

 his ideas put into hook form, and in good 

 shape too, for a price not exceeding 25c. per 

 lb. He certainly ought to be willing to fur- 

 nish them to booksellers, at least so it seems 

 to me, for 35c. per lb. This is the rate I have 

 fixed on the A B C books, and Gleanings 

 too (as you will see by weighing them), to 

 those who buy to sell again. A fair price, 

 at retail, seems to be universally agreed up- 

 on, as about 50 per cent, above cost. If you 

 think this too much, go into the business 

 yourself and sell cheaper. If the books are 

 to be sent by mail, enough is added to cover 

 postage. 



By weighing Gleantngs or the ABC 

 books, you will see that 50c. per lb., postage 

 not included, is just about what you have to 

 pay. Whether you pay more or less for oth- 

 er books, you can easily determine by throw- 

 ing them on the scales. Books bound in 

 cloth, according to the above calculation, 

 should retail for about 60c. per lb. I would 

 not spend time in arguing as to whether they 

 can be sold cheaper, but rather set to work 

 and do it cheaper. Such arguments are the 

 only ones the world can never get over. The 

 multitudes of boys and girls who are want- 

 ing something to do, might be set to making 

 books ; folks nowadays, do not require years 

 to learn trades as they once did ; our young 

 artisans will copy almost everything they 

 see, if you give them time, and we have one 

 here, who makes a very fair book, even if he 

 is not a book binder. 



