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THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



of those who bought and paid cash 

 for honey, reduced the prices from 

 18 and 20 cents per ptjund, to IG 

 cents per pound. Tiiis of course 

 was very damaging to the ship- 

 per and to those who had bought 

 and i)aid cash for the honey they 

 had in stock. 



If beekeepers will put up with 

 such imposition they must expect 

 to suffer the consequences. We do 

 not believe in shipping honey to be 

 sold on commission anyway. 



BEE NOTES. 



Several of the colonies in our 

 apiary weie caiiying in pollen as 

 late as Nov. 4, notwithstanding 

 tlie fact that the temperature has 

 been as low as 24° several times 

 this fall. If pollen that has been 

 "frost-bitten" in the spring will 

 produce dysentery, will not the 

 same apply to pollen gathered late 

 in the fall? 



Our bees are all packed on the 

 summer stands for winter. No 

 filling of any kind was placed be- 

 tween the outer and inner hives. 

 The space is left clear. We are 

 not satisfied that sawdust or chaff 

 packing is of any advantage. The 

 honey-boards were removed, a pas- 

 sage way arranged so the bees can 

 pass over or under the frames 

 during the winter, and then a heaver 

 duck-mat w^as placed on, and a 

 thick chaff-cushion placed upon 

 the mat. The cushion was large 

 enough to completely fill the case 

 above, the brood-chamber, and 

 thus all upward ventilation checked 

 about the inside of the case. Not 

 a colony of our bees will be placed 

 in the cellar. 



It may not be of any great im- 

 poilance whether the snow is 

 brushed from the top of the hives 

 or not ; nevertheless, we make it a 



practice to remove it, and think 

 the saving to the hive alone pays 

 for the trouble. Then again, "if 

 the hive has a flat roof and is in- 

 clined forward, all the water from 

 the melting snow will drop towards 

 the entrance. On several occasions 

 last winter when a snow storm was 

 followed by a light rain and the 

 weather suddenly turning cold, the 

 entrances to the hives were com- 

 pletely closed, and salt had to be 

 used to open them. When such 

 a storm occurs during the night, 

 of course the best thing must be 

 done. If the sun does not thaw 

 out the entrance, salt must be 

 applied. Too much salt should not 

 be used, as salt and snow combined 

 will keep the temperature at a low 

 degree as long as the two are pres- 

 ent. 



Bees should be given a chance 

 for a flight as late in the fall as 

 possible. We would not pay ten 

 cents per colony to have our bees 

 insured to winter, provided they 

 can have a flight at any time dur- 

 ing the month of January. 



We make it a point to give them 

 a flight during the winter at any 

 time when tiie sun is shining bright, 

 the weather calm and the tempera- 

 ture at 45° or higher. Some ^avf 

 bees will drop on the snow, l)ut the 

 general good to the apiary will 

 more than offset for the loss of a 

 few bees in that way. AVhen the 

 bees do fly in tlie winter, we make 

 it a practice to clear all the dead 

 bees from the bottom-boards. 



From Kansas Farmer. 



A bee-hive nimle with the brood apnrtments 

 aiul surplus tlep;irtments in one solid body is 

 a nuisance; so are also all side-opening hives. 



In making j-our chaff-hives, arrange tliem 

 so that you can remove tlie upper stoi-y. 

 Thiri will allow the chaff to encircle entirely 

 the upper part ol' the hive containing the 

 bees. 



The apiary never fails to attract attention 

 and hence it follows that visitors are numer- 



