AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



789 



three or four sticks, y^ inch square anfl 

 six inches long, directfy over the cluster, 

 placing them about two inches apart. 

 Lay the cake of sugar on these sticks, 

 and over this place a cloth sufficiently 

 large to cover the entire top of the hive. 

 An old grain-sack makes a very good 

 covering for this purpose. Over the 

 cloth place two or three thicknesses of 

 old paper, and tuck all down snugly in- 

 side of the hive. After this is done, put 

 on the hive cover. It will be necessary 

 to not leave the edges of the cloth or 

 paper exposed to the rain or snow, as 

 this would attract moisture into the hive. 

 The idea is to make the covering above 

 the bees perfectly tight, so that there is 

 no upward draught. 



As I said before, the cluster always 

 forms on the combs below the food, and 

 as it moves upward, it consumes the 



food immediately above it until it 

 reaches the top of the frames, when the 

 bees will find themselves in contact with 

 the sugar candy. The warmth and mois- 

 ture arising from the cluster will keep 

 the sugar sufficiently soft so the bees 

 can eat it without any trouble. I have 

 never known a colony of bees, thus pro- 

 vided with sufficient sugar to take them 

 through the cold weather, to die or to 

 come out in the spring diseased. 



This method of preparing winter food 

 for bees is so simple that it has been a 

 wonder to me that more people did not 

 practice it. As soon as the warm 

 weather sets in, in the spring, if the 

 bees have not consumed all of the sugar, 

 it should be removed and made into a 

 thin syrup, and fed to the bees to stimu- 

 late brood-rearing. 



Emerson T. Abbott. 



The flational Bee-Heepers' Union 



10th flnnaal H^port, 



In making this, my Tenth Annual 

 Report to the members of the National 

 Bee-Keepers' Union, I am glad to state 

 that the Union has everywhere exerted 

 such a soothing influence, that now the 

 enemies of the pursuit are very cautious 

 in commencing a suit against bee-keepers. 

 Lawyers have read in their Law Journals 

 reports of trials which have resulted 

 disastrously to the complainants, leaving 

 them to pay the costs, and they generally 

 discourage such litigants unless they 

 have well-filled pocket-books, and they 

 discover a chance to make libei'al fees. 

 Even then, many of them will not under- 

 take a case which gives no promise of 

 success. Quite often they advise their 

 "would-be clients to send to the Bee- 



Keepers' Union for documents, and when 

 such are received and read, the arguments 

 of Judge Williams and the decision of 

 the Supreme Court of Arkansas are so 

 convincing, that they quite willingly 

 nurse their wrath, and permit their bee- 

 keeping neighbors to enjoy their rights 

 and- privileges. 



THE W^OODBERRY CASE. 



The Woodberry case in California, 

 mentioned in my last Report, has not 

 been heard from since then. It was 

 evidently killed by the liberal distribution 

 of the legal documents furnished by the 

 Bee-Keepers' Union. Indeed, the good 

 work done in that State is fully attested 

 by one of our members, Mr. Fred M. 

 Hart, of Traver, Cal., when sending his 



