44 



THE AMERICAN BEE KEEPER. 



Fehniar 



snow drifting over the hives he men- 

 tally questions the possibility of hav- 

 ing neglected anything in their prepa- 

 ration for the ordeal. 



Noting this condition of affairs as it 

 exists at this date in Western New 

 York, is it any wonder that such im- 

 portance is attached to climatic influ 

 ences, as accounting for various con- 

 flicting results and experiences in bee- 

 keeping, when crntrasted with the fol- 

 lowing extract from a private letter, 

 just received from a friend in Dade 

 county, Florida: "My bees are work- 

 ing fine now. Some of the hives are 

 nearly full of new honey; so I will 

 have to begin extracting soon." 



It is difficult to realize that within 

 this short distance, in our own coun- 

 try, the air is today as balmy as June 

 and ringing with the merry hum of 

 bees; birds caroling in shady bowers, 

 and gaudy butterflies flitting among 

 the endless profusion of wild flowera 

 that characterize the "Flowery Penin- 

 sula." 



We doubt not that an accoun!: of Flor- 

 ida bee-keeping, and the life of a mi- 

 gratory "bee-man" in that land of sun- 

 shine, would be of interest to our read- 

 ers, and the editor will improve the op- 

 portunity when it is offered, to "fill in" 

 with accounts of his rambles in Florida 

 and other bee-keeping countries. 



It is our wish to present in The Bee 

 Keeper each month some bee-keeping 

 scenes, which we will do if our readers 

 will kindly send photos of their api- 

 aries, together with a statement of 

 their methods and experience, to be 

 published in connection therewith. 

 Starting upon our new duties February 

 1st, the work of getting out the Febru- 

 ary number was necessarily under- 

 taken on "short notice," hence some of 

 the improvements contemplated must 

 follow later; and in the absence of any 

 pictures of apiaries belonging to our 

 readers, we present in this number a 

 winter scene in Florida. 



The apiary shown was established at 

 New Smyrna, on the east coast of 



Florida, by the present editor of Th 

 American Bee Keeper, in 1894; and it 

 brief history will afford subject matte 

 for future descriptive articles, whicl 

 in connection with other engravings 

 will appear in these columns. Ye ed 

 itor and his paternal assistant wer 

 engaged in a tour of inspection whe 

 the "snap" was taken. Our bachelo 

 quarters were pitched in the bull din 

 shown in the background, which serve 

 also as a workshop. 



SURPLUS FOUNDATION. 



A point in favor of using full sheet 

 of foundation in the sections was mad 

 by J. A. Green at the Chicago conver 

 tion of the Northwestern: "If you hav 

 a small strip in the top the consume 

 can tell it; if not, nine times out of te 

 he can't detect it." 



If there is really a perceptible diffei 

 ence between a natural septum and on 

 of pure, refined beeswax of ligfi 

 weight, which in a ge^ieral sense i 

 very doubtful, to associate the two i 

 one section, is to invite the attention c 

 the consumer to the contrast. 



Thanks to the skillful efforts of ou 

 leading manufacturers of foundatior 

 the uniform quality, low price and su 

 periority of their goods, the da 

 when nearly every bee-keeper in th 

 land seemed to think it his duty to ow 

 a foundation mill, and to use exclusive 

 ly his own crude, irregular and off 

 color foundation from top to botton 

 has fled, and the talk of "fish-bone, 

 which resulted from this amateu 

 work, will incidentally pass away wit 

 the decline of the practice. Home 

 made foundation was one of those "ad 

 vance steps" in which theory and prac 

 tice failed to tally. ■ That it was a ver; 

 popular, though false, idea of econom 

 is attested by the affectionate embrac 

 of retired paraphernalia and cobweb 

 to be seen in the extreme rear of ever; 

 modern bee-house attic. 



fi 



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 The Bee Keeper. 



