March 5, 1903. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



151 



under all circumstances. If we use Alley's brood-strips \vc 

 can select quite young larviv, not larger than the eggs, or 

 we can select even eggs Ij'ing flat on the bottom of the cells, 

 which are very near to hatching. 



Artificial cell-cups will not produce better queens than 

 natural ones ; their advantages are that we do not need to 

 cut any brood-combs or to destroy any larva:- as with the 

 Alley method; they bear rougher handling, but I can't see 

 any necessity for rough handling. The disadvantages are : 

 We can't transfer quite young larva-, just hatched from the 

 egg ; as some royal jelly is necessary for this method we 

 must destroy some queen-cells already started, the whole 

 process taking more time and labor than the Alley-strip 

 method. The Alley cells must be started in a queenless 

 colony ; with the Doolittle artificial cups this is not neces- 

 sary, but the most queen-breeders do it, so one of the advan- 

 tages of artificial cells is lost. Grafting the cells takes 

 more experience, and is more diflicult for the beginner 

 than to prepare the brood-strips. What method a bee-keeper 

 will prefer depends entirely upon how great or little he esti- 

 mates the different advantages and disadvantages. After 

 trying all the different methods I went back to the Alley 

 strips, and can't help believing that if the artificial cell- 

 cups are preferred it is merely a case of fashion. 



If the cells are nearly ripe, they are generally intro- 

 duced to nuclei, or we let them hatch in a nursery and intro- 

 duce the young virgin qneens. If the latter plan is used, 

 the queen should remain in the nursery as short a time as 

 possible — the younger the queen the easier it is to introduce 

 her safely, and a young queen kept in the nursery for some 

 days is always spoiled more or less, and sometimes she will 

 be a dead queen. For these reasons I use the nursery as 

 little as possible — I would rather form new nuclei, if I hap- 

 pen to have more good cells than I need. 



The size and strength of the nuclei are of importance, too. 

 For more than 40 years, once in a while somebody recom- 

 mended using quite small frames, and to use 2 or 3 of them 

 and a few bees to form a nucleus. The greatest disadvan- 

 tage of these small nuclei is, that too large a percentage of 

 young queens are lost. I tried the plan a few times in dif- 

 ferent years, and never was satisfied. The nucleus should 

 have at least 2 or 3 of the regular frames and enough bees 

 to cover these frames. On the other hand, the nucleus 

 should not be too strong. In a 2 or 3 frame nucleus the 

 queen is found at once ; if 6, 7 or more frames are covered 

 with bees it takes, sometimes, considerably more time and 

 labor. If my nuclei are getting too strong I divide some of 

 them, and if I should get more than I need for queen-rear- 

 ing I unite with some other one, or strengthen them in an- 

 other way, and work them for estracted-honey production. 

 To get the queens fertilized in an upper story over an ex- 

 cluder does not work satisfactorily even if a double excluder 

 is used. When I expected tlie young queen was laying eggs 

 I found she was missing. As far as I know the plan is 

 abandoned. If we use a wire-cloth in place of the excluder, 

 we have in fact a separate nucleus which could just as well 

 be placed on another stand. The only advantage is, that 

 this nucleus is warmed somewhat by the strong colony in 

 the lower story, and both can be united at once, if the 

 nucleus is not needed any more. For this reason the plan 

 seems good in a Northern climate, if queens should be 

 reared early in the spring. 



I rear ray queens in February, March, and some in 

 April. In May our main honey-flow commences, and at 

 that time I make forced swarms for comb-honey produc- 

 tion. By this manipulation I can get a large number of 

 combs containing capped brood only. If I use these brood- 

 combs for stretagthening the nuclei I can give them a hive 

 full of them at once, and in a short time I will have a strong 

 colony, and can get a crop of extracted honey from it 

 the same year. Bexar Co., Texas. 



I The National Association I 



Why Not Help a Little — both your neighbor bee-keep- 

 ers and the old American Bee Journal — by sending to us the 

 names and addresses of such as you may know do not now 

 get this journal? We will be glad to send them sample 

 copies, so that they may become acquainted with the paper, 

 and subscribe for it, thus putting themselves in the line of 

 success with bees. Perhaps you can get them to subscribe, 

 send in their dollars, and secure for your trouble some of 

 the premiums we are constantly offering as rewards for 

 such effort. 



The Premiums offered this week are well worth working 

 for. Look at them. 



N. E. France the New General Manag-er. 



Editor American Bee Jooknai., Chicago, 111.— 



Dear Sir : — N. E. France, Platteville, Wis., General 

 Manager and Treasurer-elect of the National Bee-Keepers' 

 Association, has qualified by furnishing a bond as required 

 by the Constitution of said Association. He is, therefore, 

 duly qualified to perform the duties of such office. 



Very respectfully, W.F.Marks, 



Feb. 17, 1903. Cfiairiiian Board o/ Directors. 



The above notice ends the General Managership mud- 

 dle, one of the most unfortunate and inexcusable pieces of 

 mismanagement we have known for a long time. Of course, 

 Mr. France was in no wise responsible for the mismanage- 

 ment nor the questionable methods resulting in his election, 

 and he condemns them as strongly as any one possibly 

 could. It certainly will not be pleasant for him to serve 

 under the circumstances, as he knows that unfair means 

 were employed to put him in his new position. We believe, 

 however, that he will serve the Association to the best of 

 his ability during the rest of this year. 



Producer's Name on Honey-Packag-es. 



As several articles have appeared in the papers on this 

 topic, I wish to say a word. 



I go to any grocery store and buy, if you please, any 

 kind of goods, such as canned fruits, vegetables, fish, 

 breakfast foods, or any other article on the shelf. Each 

 package has an attractive wrapper with flashy colors, als) 

 the name and address of the producer or firm said goods are 

 prepared for. Go where I will, the same brand sells for the 

 same price. Suppose I decide that some particular firm 

 puts up the goods that suits me best. I find I can depend 

 upon that brand, it makes no difference whether I buy it of 

 Smith or Jones of my city, or X Y Z of any other city. 

 Remember the producer's name is on each package. Sup- 

 pose I want to buy that brand from the producer, and save 

 the profit of the middle man. I write the firm for goods or 

 prices, and what do I get ? My letter is returned to their 

 local dealer to supply the order, and a reply to me from the 

 producer that their business is done only through their local 

 agents, that they sell direct to wholesale jobbers or the 

 local agents. 



All kinds of producers and manufacturing industries, 

 after careful testing every means of marketing and the pro- 

 tection to their business, have found this the only safe way 

 to do business. By this method the producer, as soon as his 

 produce is in marketable shape, can dispose of the entire 

 crop, get his cash, and at once devote his entire time and 

 money to producing the next crop. Marketing is a business 

 that demands more skill and business tact, and the whole- 

 sale jobbers have worked every possible means of market- 

 ing. It may seem to me as if, when I buy a can of goods, 

 the price I pay is enough to pay profit to each dealer and 

 the producer also. This is partly true, but, the facts are. 

 by these careful business methods and sharp competition 

 the goods are now sold much cheaper than would be pos- 

 sible vfith any other method. 



You say. What has all this got to do with the name on 

 the bee-keeper's honey-packages? I ask. Are we bee-keep- 

 ers, or our honey, better than others ? and is there any bet- 

 ter marketing method? Is it not time that we learn to 

 market our goods with attractive labels and our name 

 thereon, and also the National Honey Exchange stamp as 

 the jobber ? Then our honey, except for home market, as 

 soon as ready for market, will go to the nearest warehouse 

 to be graded by an expert, and stamped what the contents 

 are. It may be produced by A B of N. Y., or X Y Z of Cali- 

 fornia. The National stamp is a guarantee of the purity 

 and kind of honey. Then, under one grand, united system 

 we can produce the honey and be a partner in the profits of 

 the middle-man, also getting better prices, and avoiding 

 overstocking one market and the next town going without. 



