192 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



for the first time, perhaps, that your bees 

 annoy them by hanging about watering 

 troughs, drains and pump-spouts. Make a 

 place or places, some rods from your hives, 

 where the bees can drink safely, and keep 

 them always supplied. It is well to toll 

 them to their trough by putting pieces of 

 comb, and sweetening the water at first. 

 A little salt thrown in every day keeps the 

 water sweet, and some claim, is beneficial 

 to the bees. 



While honey is not secreted in flowers, 

 be cautious about opening hives, lest rob- 

 bers are attracted. The morning from 7 

 o'clock to 11 is tlie time in this month to 

 open hives, safely. 



Queen raising may proceed now to even 

 better advantage than at any other season, 

 if care is taken to make every nucletis self- 

 supporting ; by this we mean that each 

 queen-rearing hive should have young bees, 

 old bees, brood at all times, and plenty of 

 honey. 



Queens may be exclianged now, poor 

 ones killed, either impure or not prolific ; 

 and young ones given to them. We never, 

 hoAvever, take a queen from a full colony 

 until we can give it one that we are sure is 

 a better one. We would not put a queen 

 into sucii a colony until we had tested it in 

 a nucleus. 



The care which we recommend, in order 

 to keep the colony raising brood, is really 

 the first step towards successful wintering ; 

 a subject of vital interest now to bee-keep- 

 ers, and on which we shall have much to 

 say in succeeding numbers. E. S. T. 



Sees and the Centennial Fair. 



Mr. J. 11. AVePiS in his communication 

 for this number says " nearly every interest 

 that can be mentioned except bee-keeping, 

 has been referred to committees preparatory 

 to the Centennial Fair to be held in Phila- 

 delphia 1876, etc." 



He is in error in supposing that the bee- 

 keeping interest has been neglected. At 

 the meeting of the National Society at 

 Louisville, last December, a committee was 

 appointed fconsistingof Gen. Adair, of Ken- 

 tucky ; Mrs. E. S. Tupper, of Iowa ; and 

 J. W. Winder, of Cincinnati ; with the 

 President of the Society, ex-offlcio ; and 

 authorised to appoint sub-committees where 

 ever they deemed proper. The fiuestion as 

 to wliether bees sliall be allowed at tlie 

 Fair is still an open one, except in observa- 

 tion cages ; but tlicre are multitudes of 

 other things — honey extractors, arlific-ial 



comb, choicest honey in various forms, 

 queen shipping cages, etc.j to say nothing of 

 hives, out of which a most valuable and 

 instructive as well as interesting exhibition 

 may be made. This committee will report 

 at the Pittsburgh meeting, doubtless, and 

 receive aid and counsel as to future prepar- 

 ations. 



Honey Dealers. 



We have published the articles from 

 Messrs. Bird and Kruschke, complaining of 

 our honey markets and merchants, with 

 great reluctance. We do it " under pro- 

 test "hoping that no one will feel that we 

 desire to be unjust. Our columns are open 

 to anything that the accused may have to 

 say, as to their reasons for the seeming un- 

 fair dealing. 



We can say ourselves for them, that 

 times have been hard ; honey as a luxury 

 which people can do without, has been 

 slow of sale, and it takes time to turn it 

 into money. AVe know that if Mr. Winder 

 has made no return.s "for a few months" 

 as Mr. Bird saj^s, it is because he has 

 received no money from his sales, on 

 which to report. 



Joseph Dutfeler writes to us that he is 

 willing to publish a card to the eflect that 

 Mr. Perrine paid him in full for his honey, 

 even though it was all burned, and he had 

 no insurance on it. We have made collec- 

 tions of Baumeister »fc Co. for parties and 

 have the promise of money from them, for 

 others, as soon as they can pay it. 



Those who send honey to market es- 

 pecially from a distance must remember 

 that expense and time must be expended 

 by the consignee to get it into market. One 

 firm tells us that they have received 1230 

 lbs. of honey from California. The first 

 bill paid by them Avas $57 freight charges ! 

 Finding it impossible to sell it in bulk, 

 they went to the expense of $100 for glass 

 jars and tumblers, and took the trouble to 

 put it into them. It will sell now, and 

 at a profit ; but the consignees, doubtless, 

 will begin to grumble before they receive 

 their returns, and then be dissatisfied with 

 scanty i)rofits. 



Our advice to those who have honey to 

 sell is to sell it out-right, if possible, even 

 if at a less price. If this is not possible, 

 send it to dealers of established reputation, 

 take receipt for exact weight and until 

 returns are made, exercise charity and pati- 

 ence. In some places where you think 

 there is no sale, a liome market may be 

 secured by taking the trouble to put your 

 honey into attractive shape. 



