152 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



Septemher 



no complaint of dishonesty or misrep- 

 resentation Is against any member. As 

 soon as complaint Is received it will at 

 once be investigated, and if the mem- 

 ber is guilty he will be expelled. Ap- 

 plicants for membership have their 

 names forwarded to each member for 

 investigation before they are received 

 into the Union by ballot. 



There are (or have been in the past) 

 breeders and dealers who have ordered 

 queens, promising to pay, but not do- 

 ing so. After getting as many as pos- 

 sible from one breeder, another would 

 be "worked," and so on. The constitu- 

 tion provides that each member shall 

 report all such cases to the secretary, 

 (who also invites all others, iiaving 

 knowledge of such cases, to do like- 

 wise), who shall notify the members 

 that such persons do not pay. 



It is intended that the queen buyer 

 shall have the utmost confidence m the 

 members of the Union. As each mem- 

 ber knows that he would be expelled 

 for any crookedness, it is not reason- 

 able to suppose that a member would 

 invite the ruin of his queen trade by 

 dishonorable methods, even if he were 

 not honest by nature. The Union has 

 a "trade mark." Each member has the 

 right to use same as a guarantee. 



All queen breeders whose reputations 

 are spotless are eligible to membership. 

 While members may reject an appli- 

 cant, no one but the members know 

 who have applied for membership. 

 While the Union does not intend to re- 

 flect on outsiders, it believes that it 

 will be to the interest of all to join and 

 help to extend the usefulness of the 

 Union, as, by organization, it is possi- 

 ble to accomplish much more than the 

 members can by individual effort. So 

 come on, brethren, and help us. 



As the organization was effected by 

 correspondence, it was thought best to 

 adopt the constitution as drafted and 

 make the minor changes afterward. In 

 some points it will probably be 

 changed soon. 



I omitted above to say that the Union 

 is in no sense a trust, as each member 

 regulates his prices to suit himself. 



One of the objects of the Union is to 

 improve the honey bee. An association 

 whose interests as a whole (as well as 

 individually) are to increase the queen 

 trade is the one from whom we would 

 naturally expect the most improvement 

 in the honey bee. By inter-change of 

 ideas and working in accord along the 

 same line, much more should be ac- 

 complished than by each working in- 

 dependently. 



Port Orange, Fla. 



Care in Winter and Spring. 



Written for the American Bec-KiXjier. 



BY FRED S. THOEINGTON. 



§T is my habit when I can do so to 

 provide my bees with plenty ol 

 stores (sealed honey preferred) 

 when they are placed in winter quarters 

 in the fall. I aim to give them enough 

 food to last them until they can gather 

 honey from the blossoms in the spring. 

 But as some colonies may fall a prey 

 to robbers and be robbed of some of 

 their stores, and as some use more 

 honey than others, I keep watch of 

 them during the winter and early 

 spring and give them food at any time 

 they may need it. I determine this by 

 the appearance of the bees when out 

 flying, and by gently lifting the hive at 

 the back end, so it is free from the 

 stand, letting the hive rest on the fing- 

 ers of one hand while the front rests 

 on the front end of stand. By lifting the 

 hive in this manner one gets nearly all 

 the weight, or enough to determine 

 when the colony is running short of 

 stores. 



As there is but a small amount of 

 brood in the hives during the winter 

 months, a good portion of the weight, 

 aside from that of hive, frames and 

 comb, will be honey. If one knows the 

 weight of an empty hive he will soon 

 learn the rest by a little practice, and 



