THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



309 



the names and addresses of those who 

 produce honey, thus enabling consum- 

 ers to buy direct. A man in New 

 York could be sent the New York list 

 of members. One in Illinois, the Illi- 

 nois list, etc. Consumers could then 

 correspond with the members nearest 

 to them, and thus save freight. This 

 feature might prove one of the most 

 profitable that the National could 

 adopt, and I have in mind the making 

 of a motion that the General Manager 

 make a trial of this feature. Before 

 doing so, I would like to have sugges- 

 tions fiom anyone who has any ideas 

 to offer on the subject. 



*«^«^^rf»«»u» 



THE FIRST CASE OF "EXPERT" ADVICE. 



The first man to accept my invita- 

 tion to send in a description of liis 

 business, and allow me to advise him, 

 is Mr. Frank Stoflet, of Auburndale, 

 Wisconsin. After reading his letter 

 and sending a reply, I secured his per- 

 mission to publish both the letter and 

 reply. His letter is as follows: — 



Auburndale, Wis., July 14, 1904. 

 Dear Editor of Review — 



Reading your editorial in the Re- 

 view about advising bee-keepers, made 

 me feel that you are just the man I am 

 looking for. I am intending to make 

 the bee business my life-work, and I 

 feel as though you could help me on 

 many points. 



I am lame, and not able to do very 

 heavy work. My education is not very 

 good; so I concluded I would follow 

 the bee business, as it seemed to me to 

 be quite profitable. 



I got my first bees in 1898 when I 

 was 19 years old. I was out hunting, 

 and, on going home, I found a small 

 swarm clustered on a tree. In 1899 

 they cast a big swarm, and in 1900 I 

 increased to five colonies. (I might 

 better state here that I live at home.) 

 Then my folks bought a farm in Wood 

 County, and I moved my five colonies 

 along up to Wood County from Dane 

 County, a distance of over a hundred 

 miles, in a freight car with machinery 

 and stock. Then we moved them five 

 miles in a wagon over rough roads. 

 That winter I wintered them in a root 

 cellar covered over with planer shav- 



ings. Thej' came out in the spring 

 extra strong, and all swarmed, and I 

 sold $55.10 worth of honey from them, 

 and increased them to fourteen colo- 

 nies. This was in 1901. 



The following winter I wintered 

 them in a newl}' dug cellar and lost 

 all but one colony. I bought four col- 

 onies, and I increased to fourteen and 

 got no honey. Then I built a repos- 

 itory above ground, with double walls, 

 having two and a half feet of planer 

 shavings between the walls. The 

 fourteen colonies came out fair in the 

 spring, and that year (1902) I in- 

 creased to forty colonies, and sold 

 something like $50. worth of honey. 



In 1903 I increased to eighty-three 

 colonies, and sold 1500 pounds of comb 

 honey to R. A. Burnett & Co., at 12>^ 

 cents per pound 



Last winter was so long and cold 

 that 35 colonies ran out of stores and 

 starved to death in spite of anything I 

 could do. 51 colonies came out alive 

 and in fair condition. I now have 105 

 colonies, and my best colony has 64 

 sections of white honey sealed. 



Bees here commence their first work 

 on willows, then come gooseberries, 

 cherries, thorn apples, raspberries, 

 white clover and basswood. We also 

 have an abundance of fall flowers. 



I began my first queen rearing this 

 spring, using wooden cell-cups. 



I have the common mixed up strain 

 of bees. I have been trying to learn 

 which strain of bees is best. I am 

 working hard now on this problem. 



Last year I made a change in hives 

 from 10-frame to 8-frame, and to supers 

 with IVs plain sections and fence sep- 

 arators. 



After I located here, a farmer start- 

 ed to keep bees. He has about the 

 same number I have, and his yard is 

 one mile from mine, and then no more 

 within five or six miles. 



I read the American Bee Journal, 

 Gleanings and the Review. I doubt 

 if there is any one who loves to handle 

 bees better than I do. 



I do not write because I feel as 

 though I was on the wrong road, al- 

 though it is possible I am. I write 

 because there's lots to learn about bees, 

 and 1 am anxious to learn, and I feel 

 as though you could put many things 

 in a light that I never dreamed of. 



M)^ brother is going to build a cellar 

 this summer, and, instead of building 

 one myself, I am thinking of winter- 

 ing my bees in his cellar, as I haven't 

 the means to do much building this 



