84 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



Those who have lost bees should not 

 be discouraged, but, instead, g-o to 

 work and build up again; at the same 

 time making a resolve, deep, long and 

 wide, never to be again caught as thej' 

 have this time. Don't take chances 

 that can be avoided. Don't "hope the 

 coming winter will be a mild one." 

 Instead, make every preparation for a 

 winter like last winter. If it doesn't 

 come you will be just as well off — if it 

 does, you will be much better off. 



There is no industry in which a man 

 can so rapidly recover his loss as in 

 that of bee-keeping. The hives and 

 combs are left, and only one season, 

 sometimes less, is required to re-stock 

 them. I have never forgotten that I 

 one year, bj' the use of foundation and 

 plenty of queens, built up three colo- 

 nies to 33, and wintered them success- 

 fully. When cholera gets into a herd 

 of swine and sweeps it away, it is a 

 dead loss. The same when floods 

 drown out crops. When bees die in 

 winter, as I have already explained, 

 the hives and combs are left, and it 

 takes but a short time to re-stock them. 



There is still another point, I have 

 always noticed that a severe winter, 

 when there was plenty' of snow and 

 cold, was usually followed by a good 

 honey season. The man who winters 

 his bees then has the advantage of 

 producing a big crop at a time when 

 prices are likely to be high. We may 

 talk and advise as much as we please, 

 there will always be careless bee- 

 keepers who neglect their bees; so, 

 learn to winter your bees every ivinter. 

 You can do it. If the loss of the 

 past winter spurs you on to take 

 better care of your bees hereafter, so 

 as to avoid future loss, it may have 

 been a blessing in disguise. 



Cellar-wintering is the thing- for this 

 Northern climate. There is no ques- 

 tion of it. Bees can be wintered out of 

 doors, even in Northern Michigan, but 

 the cellar is much safer and more 

 economical. 



HOW SHALL THE MEMBERS OF A BEE- 

 KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION BE INDUCED 

 TO REMAIN MEMBERS YEAR 

 AFTER YEAR? 



For _vears the meeting of the National 

 Association was simply a local gather- 

 ing of bee-keepers in that part of the 

 country in which the convention was 

 held. A few of the more prominent 

 bee-keepers, the editors of some of the 

 journals, and a few^ supply-dealers, 

 also attended, but the great mass of 

 each convention lived within 100 miles 

 of the place of meeting. These men 

 came in, paid their dues, then the next 

 year they dropped out, and a new set 

 came in from a new locality and took 

 their places. There was no perma- 

 nency of membership, and but little 

 permanent good accomplished. Final- 

 ly some motives, some selfish motives, 

 were found for inducing members to 

 remain as members, even if they did 

 not attend the annual convention once 

 in ten years — or perhaps never. The 

 members were given help when unjust- 

 ly prosecuted; the money was used to 

 prosecute adulterators of honey, to aid 

 in securing desirable legislation, and 

 the like. Good, substantial induce- 

 ments were offered a bee-keeper to be- 

 come a member, and to remain a mem- 

 ber. Since then the Association has 

 flourished as a green bay tree, and be- 

 come a power for good. 



The same trouble, in holding mem- 

 bership, applies to local or State As- 

 sociations. We now have one induce- 

 ment to offer a member of a local as- 

 sociation, and that is a membership 

 in the National at one-half what it 

 would cost him to join the National 

 direct. But we need something more 

 than this, and the Michigan State As- 

 sociation has discussed this subject 

 quite extensively during the last two 

 conventions that it has held. Two 

 plans have been favored, one that of 

 buj'ing supplies as an Association, 



