THE AMERICAN BEE JUURNAL. 



231 



tute therefor, bees will not, and I 

 might say cannot, rear brood. What 

 the further developments of the the 

 past winter raay be, before the bees 

 can have a cleansing flight, I cannot 

 say. The ground here (March 25) is 

 still covered with snow and ice. On 

 ten mornings this month, the mer- 

 cury has been at or below zero ; on 

 March 21 it was 20-" below, and at no 

 time, I think, has it been above 34° in 

 the shade. 

 Youngsville,N3 Pa. 



ror tbo American Bee Journal. 



Over-Productioii— Marketing Honey. 



A. D. STOCKING. 



On page 88, Mr. Heddon brings for- 

 ward nothing to disprove the ideas 

 which I advanced on page 55, but 

 simply says that " in a few years he 

 will see the error of his ideas," etc. 

 If I am wrong I have good company, 

 for I notice that several abler writers 

 than l,have given the same views that 

 I have with regard to over-production 

 and the honey market ; and his ref- 

 erence to the market reports only 

 proves the correctness of my views as 

 to the fallacy of sending all our 

 honey to large market centers. Prob- 

 ably 80 per cent, of the honey sent to 

 Chicago has to find its market within 

 the city, and not 20 per cent, enters 

 into the country markets; and it is 

 probably about the same with all 

 other large honey centers. I may be 

 in error as to this, but one thing is 

 certain, but very little honey finds its 

 way into the country from these large 

 honey centers, and this being the 

 case, it is an easy matter to overstock 

 the market and depress prices. 



1 have always contended that " sup- 

 ply and demand " control the markets 

 for all products, and honey is no ex- 

 ception. I also claim that there can 

 never in fact be such a thing as over- 

 production in any thing until that 

 product is brought within the reach 

 of every consumer of the same. All 

 commercial products have their large 

 central markets, and from these are 

 distributed all over the country, by 

 representatives of these several mar- 

 kets, and thus a market is created. 

 Not so with our honey ; it is sent to 

 some central market, and but little 

 effort is made to extend the market 

 into the country. Who has ever seen 

 a rejiresentative of the honey market 

 soliciting orders through the country V 

 I never have. 



I am well aware that honey is not a 

 " modern commodity," and I am also 

 aware that history teaches us that 

 honey was used by the ancients as a 

 common article of food, and that ex- 

 tensively, and that it v.'as a staple 

 article of commerce. I realize that 

 " honey is a luxury forever," and it is 

 one of the best God-given luxuries 

 ever bestowed upon the human 

 family. But it is no more a luxury 

 than sugar, syrups, tea, coffee, and 

 many other things that are looked 

 upon as necessaries. I do not think 

 that the people need educating so 

 much as to the qualities of honey as 

 to the benefits to be derived from its 



more extensive use as food, both on 

 the table and in the preparation of 

 pastry, to the exclusion of the grossly 

 adulterated sweets upon the markets; 

 and also that it should no more be 

 considered a luxury than sugar, etc. 

 There is no reason why honey cannot 

 be made as staple an article of com- 

 merce as sugar, and also that it 

 should not be produced and put upon 

 the market at a price to bring it 

 within the reach of the poorer class 

 of consumers. 



It is too true that the people con- 

 sume large quantities of the adulter- 

 ated sweets to the exclusion of honey, 

 and it will continue so long as the 

 people who are aware of the adultera- 

 tions and their evil effects upon the 

 human system, continue to buy and 

 use the same and take no steps to 

 stop the manufacture and sale of these 

 adulterations. The bee-papers are 

 doing all they can to this end, but 

 they are read by but a small part of 

 the people, and but little is seen in 

 the general newspapers about the 

 matter. I believe that if the bee- 

 keepers throughout the country would 

 unite their efforts, and through our 

 organizations and conventions adopt 

 measures to have this question pre- 

 sented fully to the people through the 

 newspapers, both city and country, 

 that very soon so strong a sentiment 

 will be created that our legislatures 

 will be compelled to enact the neces- 

 sary laws to put a stop to this ne- 

 farious business, and its sale must be 

 prohibited as well as its manufacture ; 

 and I believe that in no other way can 

 they do more to advance their own 

 interests than in this direction. 



I have not been through as many 

 stages of bee keeping as many others, 

 and never expect to ; I am only a 

 student as yet, and not a teacher. I 

 have read and studied a great deal 

 with my eyes open, and have learned 

 a great deal, and expect to learn a 

 great deal more from the reports and 

 experiments of our old leaders. I 

 think that there is a great deal to be 

 learned yet, and some things yet to be 

 learned by the graduates in the science 

 of bee-keeping. There is more theory 

 and speculation advanced than is es 

 essential to successful bee-keeping,and 

 many of the young bee-keepers can 

 lead the older ones in some things, 

 and I think that their views and ob- 

 servations should not be ignored or 

 ridiculed. Many of the AUG pupils 

 have accomplished results which are 

 surprising, and contrary to the theory 

 of many of the older ones, and I hope 

 none of them will be deterred from 

 expressing themselves through the 

 periodicals, from fear of the criti- 

 cisms of the older heads ; for it is an 

 old saying that " a child can ask ques- 

 tions that a wise man cannot answer." 

 I simply present my ideas for the 

 benefit of others, believing that there 

 is no one but can present something 

 that will be beneficial and of interest 

 to some other one. 



Ligonier, (^ Ind. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



How my Bees Have Wintered, etc. 



REV. M. MAHIN, D. 1). 



^^ The Mahoning Valley Bee -Keepers' 

 Association, will hold its next meeting- at 

 Newton Falls, Ohio, on Thursday, May 28, 

 1885. E. W. Turner, Sec. 



Last fall I had 37 colonies of Syrian 

 and Italian bees, which I prepared for 

 winter as follows : I made winter 

 passages in all the combs, so that the 

 bees could pass through from side to 

 side without going under or around 

 the combs. As my frames have top- 

 bars one inch wide, I put square 

 wooden strips about % of an inch 

 square between the top-bars, so as to 

 make the tops of the frames close 

 fitting ; but these pieces were put in 

 rather loosely so that a little air could 

 pass through between them and the 

 top-bars. Then I spread about a 

 square yard of burlap or coffee-sack- 

 ing over the section-case on the top of 

 the hive, and letting ihe cloth bag 

 down into the case, I tilled it half full 

 or more with sawdust or chaff ; and 

 folding the edges of the cloth over 

 the sawdust or ch^ff, I then put the 

 cap on. There is no packing around 

 the bodies of the hives, all of which 

 front to the north, though if I could 

 have done so without too much 

 trouble, I would have preferred to 

 have them front to the south in the 

 winter. The entrances have been 

 carefully kept open. 



The result of this management is, 

 that there have been no accumula- 

 tions of frost and ice in the hives, 

 notwithstanding the exceptional se- 

 verity of the weather ; and if it had 

 not been that two strong colonies 

 consumed all of their stores, and 

 perished with hunger, I would have 

 lost only one colony out of 37. The 

 34 that are left are, on the whole, in 

 good condition. I have never before 

 had so good success in a very cold 

 winter. My method of wintering 

 may not be the best, but with me it is 

 a success, and I am content with it. 

 I think that most of the bees owned 

 by the small beekeepers in this re- 

 gion are dead. One has lost 4 out of 5 

 colonies, and another who had about a 

 half dozen, has lost all. I have not 

 heard from those who make some pre- 

 tense of taking care of bees as they 

 ought to be taken care of. 



I have been supplying myself with a 

 lot of very cheap and convenient bee- 

 feeders, by taking mutilated fruit- 

 cans, and melting the tops off. All 

 that is needed now, is to tie a piece 

 of thin muslin over the mouth of each 

 can, after filling it with honey or 

 syrup, and it is ready for business. 

 Now lay a couple of small sticks across 

 the top- bars of the frames, and invert 

 the feeder on them, and pack some- 

 thing around and over it to keep the 

 warmth in, put on the cap, and your 

 bees can " snap their fingers " at 

 hunger and frosty nights. Four of 

 my colonies that were short of stores 

 are in that condition at this hour. A 

 more costly feeder has some advan- 

 tage over this, perhaps, but the differ- 

 ence in the cost is greater than the 

 difference in the value. Almost every 

 family has plenty of old fruit-cans 

 that can be utilized in this way. Glass 

 fruit jars answer very well if the up- 



