March, 1914. 



American "Bee JonrnalJ 



remove the monotony, here and there 

 is a summer-fallowed land, or a rare 

 neglected spot where the red poppy 

 and the blue centaurea spread their 

 contrasting colors. 



But I am lingering too long. We 

 must hasten to other scenes. Our next 

 trip will run us clear into Switzerland, 

 by way of Lyon and Albertville. On 



the 29th, we took the train again. We 

 passed down the Saone, through Ville- 

 franche, the home of the famous 

 Verniorel, who invented the sprayer 

 and nozzle known to horticulturists 

 and vineyardists the world over. He 

 has a large factory there. An hour 

 later we were in Lyon, the silk center, 

 and the metropolis of the Rhone valley. 



.'\NOTiiER Experimental Apiary at Gergv. 



Comb Honey by Parcel Post 



BY ALLEN LATHAM. 



IT IS PERFECTLY feasible to send 

 small shipments of comb honey by 

 parcel post, if the limited experi- 

 ence of the writer is reliable. As 

 with eggs, the article must be per- 

 fect and a special method of packing 

 followed. To be sure, I have sent only 

 a dozen or so of packages of comb 

 honey through the mails, but I have 

 yet to hear of one of them being in- 

 jured e>i route. 



Two styles of packages have been 

 tried. At first the sections were packed 

 in tin pails with excelsior. This is 

 easy but rather expensive. Only three 

 sections can be put into a 5-quart pail. 

 I have to charge ^lA)" besides the pos- 

 tage on such a package. Then single 

 sections in smaller pails were tried. 

 Postage on such in 1st and 2d zones 

 was G cents. These were sent for 40 

 cents including postage. Seeking a 

 cheaper package I tried pillowing a 

 section with excelsior. This method 

 appears to work excellently, and a sec- 

 tion thus packed will fall to the floor 

 from a table without injury. From 1 

 to 2 inches of excelsior is put all about 

 the section and the whole wrapped 



securely in strong paper. 



Sections to be sent by mail should 

 be chosen with care and prepared in a 

 special way. No section which is not 

 solidly filled with honey should be 

 chosen. Those with rows of sealed 

 cells next the wood are best. The sec- 

 tion should first be wrapped in a good 

 quality of paraffin paper, then slipped 

 into a carton. The carton is then 

 wrapped in a good quality of paper, 

 care being used that in case of break- 

 age no loose joints be left for escape 

 of honey. 



A bed of excelsior is prepared about 

 10 inches in diameter, the section laid 

 upon this and then covered with a 

 similar blanket or bed of excelsior. 

 Strings are then tied about the excel- 

 sior to hold it in shape while it is 

 wrapped. One should not trust such a 

 package with carelessly tied and in- 

 sufficient string. String this package 

 with at least two windings each way, 

 one winding a little way in from each 

 corner. Bind all windings together, 

 and then if the paper gets torn the 

 package will not become disintegrated. 



This method of wrapping calls for a 

 charge of 10 cents per section, involv- 

 ing labor chiefly. As most of such 

 sections are sent out by the purchaser 

 to a friend, either as a Christmas oflfer- 



ing or sweet gift, the cost, 40 cents, 

 postpaid, is not prohibitive. 



Not more than four or five sections 

 should be sent together by mail. The 

 increased weight causes more disatrous 

 results if the package receives rough 

 handling. If one wishes to send more 

 than four sections, he will do well to 

 send such by express. One of the best 

 ways to send by express is to pack sec- 

 tions in a box in excelsior and tie a 

 cloth or rope handle to the box. I have 

 also tacked to the bottom of a heavy 

 shipment shock absorbers made of 

 burlap and excelsior. But if one is to 

 ship more than two dozen sections, he 

 will find that a barrel is the ideal pack- 

 age. The barrel receives a different 

 sort of handling from the box. I have 

 always had success shipping honey in 

 barrels, even without excelsior beyond 

 a layer at the bottom of the barrel. I 

 have shipped as high as 180 sections in 

 one barrel by express and over 200 by 

 freight. 



All the suggestions in this article 

 have to do with shipping sections with- 

 out the use of shipping-cases. If one 

 is to ship the regular cases he had best 

 use the well-known and well-tried 

 methods now in vogue. My own trade 

 is largely to the consumer, and for such 

 there is absolutely no need of the regu- 

 lar shipping-case. 



Norwichtown, Conn. 



"A Season's Work" 



BY F. \V. HALL. 

 {Read lit the Iowa Beekeepers meetins. ; 



I WISH to give you a "season's" 

 trip through my bee-yard and get 

 you back in time to take the eve- 

 ning train home. I will have to 

 hasten and stop only at the impor- 

 tant points of interest. Taking the 

 bees out of the cellar may seem a very 

 commonplace affair, but in reality it is 

 an important proceeding. I have about 

 400 colonies in six yards. Each yard 

 has a wintering cellar over which there 

 is a bee-tight building in which the ex- 

 tracting is done, and in which the su- 

 pers are stored when not in use. 



When the time comes to get the bees 

 on the summer stands, with the help of 

 another man I spread four or five 

 thicknesses of newspaper on the quilt 

 and place the cover over the papers, 

 stuff the entrance with fine blue grass 

 or an entrance closer, except a small 

 space, and with two hives on a 

 "stretcher" or "carry-call," it is but a 

 short time until we have them all on 

 the summer stands. As we place them 

 on the stands, if they appear too light 

 or need any other attention, we place 

 a mark or stick of some kind on the 

 cover. .After all are out, those having 

 been marked with a stick on the covers 

 are given a comb of honey from the 

 honey-house, or adjusted according to 

 their needs, when we are ready to 

 drive to the next yard. 



A few days later, when the weather 

 becomes suitable, all are examined for 

 queens and fixed according to what 

 seems to be best for them ; not forget- 

 ting to keep close watch for any sign 

 of disease, sticking a small peg painted 

 red into the ground at the /f/V siWe of 

 lite entrance, where we find suspicious 



