JULY 15, 1912 



433 



)DFTrD[i^ 



J. E. Crane, Middlebury, Vt. 



Mr. Holtermann's suggestions on page 

 228, April 15, as to using wires in brood 

 foundation is to the point when he says the 

 wire should be placed where there is the 

 most sag in the combs at the top. It is rare 

 indeed that we find cells out of shape for 

 more than two inches below the top-bar, 

 whether there are wires below this point or 



not. 



* « * 



Some very wise person has remarked that 

 you can't tell by the looks of a toad how far 

 iL will jump, and it is true. The same might 

 be said of many inventions relating to bee- 

 keeping. You can't tell bj^ the looks of 

 them how far they will jump nor whether 

 they will prove to be of permanent value. 

 There is Hand's bottom-board that I saw in 

 actual use at Prof. E. L. Baldwin's, at De- 

 land, Fla. Prof. Baldwin was much pleas- 

 ed with it, and it seemed as though it might 

 prove to be a success. Certainly the bees 

 of that hive were working with an energy 

 unsurpassed by any other colony in the 



yard. 



* * * 



Railroads get their share of abuse for 

 their heavy freight rates and methods of 

 business; but have we stopped to realize 

 their immense value in transporting prod- 

 ucts that otherwise would be of little value, 

 and conferring a benefit on both the pro- 

 ducer and consumer? I am reminded of this 

 as I see the enormous amounts of fruits 

 and vegetables shipped from the South 

 during the winter months to the cold North 

 that otherwise would have to go without 

 them. Picking up a can of cream with 

 which to flavor my coffee at the dinner- 

 table to-day in southern Florida, I noticed 

 it was put up in the opposite corner of the 

 country, Seattle, in the State of Washing- 

 ton, four thousand miles away; and yet it 

 was as sweet and delicate in flavor as if it 

 had come from a creamery this very moi'n- 

 ing. Great as are the problems and abuses 

 of transportation, the blessings are even 



greater. 



* * » 



On page 190, April 1, Wesley Foster 

 makes out a strong case against our pos- 

 tal laws and a pretty bad one against our 

 express companies. I believe, however, 

 some allowance should be made for the 

 size of the United States when we consider 

 the immense distances packages have to be 

 carried in this country as compared with 



the distance covered by most of the nations 

 of Europe. For instance, the area of the 

 United States, not including outlying por- 

 tions, is not far from nineteen times that 

 of Germany or France, while the rate on 

 parcels is only tweh'e times as great. Switz- 

 erland, with its one cent a pound, is only 

 about one third the size of the State of 

 New York. So far as the express companies 

 are concerned it looks as though they were 

 willing to take all they can get; and their 

 avaricious nature should be curbed by some 

 vigorous legislation that would compel them 

 to do to others as they would like to be 

 treated themselves — 38-per-cent dividends ! 



* ■* * 



PUTTING THE BEES THAT SW^ARM BACK WITH 

 THE PARENT COLONY. 



Mr. Doolittle, p. 227, Apr. 15, tells how 

 to increase and secure a crop of honey, and, 

 incidentally, how not to increase too much 

 when relying on natural swarming. In 

 caring for a yard of bees for Mr. 0. 0. 

 Poppleton during a large part of last 

 March, not wanting much increase, I hived 

 the new swarm in a hive, and left it for a 

 few days until it had gotten over its swarm- 

 ing fever, and then dumjoed the bees back 

 into their own hives, or some other that 

 had recently swarmed. This seemed to work 

 very satisfactorily. Scarcely a colony so 

 treated swarmed again. 



* * * 



THE EFFECT OF TOO MUCH COLD WIND. 



Page 191, April 1, J. L. Byer gives some 

 interesting notes on the wintering of bees 

 and the effect of shade and wind. In look- 

 ing over a yard recently for foul brood the 

 proprietor said his bees had wintered very 

 badly. Coming to one side of his yard, 

 "These," said he, "are almost all dead," 

 and I found them so, as not one in five was 

 alive. In another part of the yard he said, 

 "Now, these are pretty fair," and, sure 

 enough, they were almost all alive. What 

 made the difference when the season last 

 year was the same for all? Just this: 

 Those that were pretty fair were to the 

 soutli and leeward side of his honey-house, 

 while those that were nearly all dead were 

 at one side where the wind swept around 

 the house and blew even harder than in the 

 open fields ; for if we block a current of air 

 or water it will move faster around the ob- 

 struction than where there is none. I like 

 a little circulation of air, for it keeps the 

 temperature more even — but not too much. 



