Kcb. 20, 1902, 



AMERICAN BEE JOUPNAL 



121 



It would be an iiijusticL- even if Uic producer was willing 

 to stand it. 



1 observe the Root Company is very careful to buy by 

 weight only, and I fail to see why this system should not 

 be good. To sell by weight is practical and entirely satisfac- 

 tory. Each party knows what he is selling, each what he 

 is buying. If the Colorado people sell by the case, but 

 guarantee each case to weigh 2i pounds or any other ninn- 

 ber of pounds, then they practically do sell by weight and 

 not byithe case. 



What is the motive, any way, to lump off our honey? 

 Is it to take advantage of the purchaser? I cannot see any 

 justice in selling honey by the case regardless .of weight. 



Ontario Co., N. Y. 



Damp Bee-Cellars and Safe Wintering of Bees. 



BV G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



A correspondent writes thus : "My bee-cellar seems very 

 damp, so much so that the floor is quite sticky, and the 

 moisture has collected in drops on the overhead wall. The 

 bees, however, appear very quiet, and, as far as 1 can judge' 

 are doing w-ell so far. Will this dampness do any particular 

 harm, or accumulate to a sufficient extent to injure the bees 

 before it is time to put them out in the spring? Please give 

 us your views on this matter in the American Bee Journal." 



I am glad to have the correspondent say that his bees 

 "appear very quiet," for quietness is the essential quality 

 for safe wintering, for with it always comes the least con- 

 sumption of stores, and with a minimum consumption of stores- 

 comes the least possible exhausted vitality and the greatest 

 longevity during the spring and early summer days. Under 

 such circumstances I have had'individual bees by the thousand, 

 in one colony, live from the first of September till July 1st 

 of the following year, or for a period of ten months, this 

 being known by a change of queens on or about the tenth 

 of the preceding August. 



Now, I wish to say to each and every one, that, so long 

 as bees are quiet, no matter where they are — whether in 

 the cellar, in a room above ground, or on the summer 

 stand — they are wintering in the best possible condition, 

 and should be left undisturbed, no matter if the place where 

 they are is dripping wet, or so dry that you may fear the 

 bees are suffering from v\-ant of water. 



Many seem to suppose that a cellar in which bees aro 

 wintering should appear absolutely dry in all of its parts, 

 and, if it does not, or shows a condition of things similar 

 to that described by our correspondent, they become fearful 

 of the final results, often taking the bees out too early in 

 the spring, or putting them into another cellar or room 

 which exhibits more dryness. Allow me to say once more, 

 "Don't touch them as long as they are quiet, until the time 

 of putting out comes, no matter what all or any of the other 

 conditions may be. 



From all the experience of the past I am convinced that 

 the temperature of the bee-repository has more to do with 

 safe wintering than any other one thing, and especially is 

 this the case where the repository is affected with damp- 

 ness as is the one our correspondent describes. Should the 

 temperature in such a repository sink to near or quite the 

 freezing point, it will be found that the bees will no longer 

 be quiet, but will become uneasy, and go to roaring, and 

 running out of their hives, should such a temperature con- 

 tinue long ; but if the temperature can be kept from 44 degrees 

 to 48 degrees, all things will continue as they were when 

 he reported, unless some disturbing element enters in beside 

 the moisture. 



As I was in my bee-cellar a day or two ago, perhaps I 

 can better illustrate what I wish to say by telling how I found 

 things there Janury 12, 1902; and as far as I could see 

 the bees were wintering unusually well. I found the tem- 

 perature at 46, and the overhead wall very damp, so much 

 so that the water was running down the flag-stones which 

 formed the roof, from the condensation of moisture on them. 

 Then the sawdust on the floor, the farthest from the doors, 

 jvas so wet that I could nearly squeeze water out of it, 

 while near the door end it is barely moist enough to be 

 pliable to the hand. This sawdust has a flour-sack full 

 added to it every two or three weeks, so as to keep the 

 dying bees from molding or being mashed on the floor, and 

 the reason for going in on January 12 was to add another 

 sack full. 



The moisture which runs down from the stone roof is 

 caught by the mason-work walls, and as the top of these 



slopes out and away from the inside of the cellar, it is car- 

 ried to the outside of the wall rather than staying inside 

 Some may call this cellar absolutely wet, but such is not 

 the case, for the hives and all about them (they do not 

 touch the wall or the floor of the cellar) appears as dry as 

 in summer, and will so long as the colony of bees remains 

 alive inside. Hut shoulQ any colony die, then the combs and 

 honey take on moisture very similar to the flagging; and if 

 any colony should die very soon after being put in, the combs 

 would become quite moldy by the time the bees should be 

 put out ; but as 1 have not lost an average of two per cent in 

 this cellar during the past 12 years, it is very few combs 

 indeed that have become thus wet and moldy. 



Perhaps some of the readers of the American Hce Jour- 

 nal would like to know how the bees appear. They are 

 so quiet that often 1 stand with a lighted candle in front 

 of a colony, holding the candle within 12 to 15 inches of 

 the bees for two or three minutes, and I could not see 

 that a single bee moved at all ; but a little breath from my 

 mouth upon them at the end of this time, will make them 

 all- raise their abdomens and thrust out their stings; and 

 if I continue after this to stay longer, they will soon begin 

 to crawl about and some of those coming from the inside of 

 the cluster attempt to fly to the light. Some of the stronger 

 colonies have nearly as many bees hanging below the combs 

 as it would take to make a fairly good after-swarm, while 

 the weaker ones show only the points to their abdomens 

 standing out all along in rows between the bottoms of the 

 combs; and if very light in bees a few are up so far on 

 the combs that no bees are seen from the bottom of the 

 hive. 



For cellar-wintering I like the Dr. Miller bottom-board 

 very much, as it catches the most of the dead bees, as well 

 as to allow ample space for the stronger colonies to hang 

 below the combs all they desire, besides giving full and 

 ample ventilation, from the bottom, for all the wants of 

 the bees. Then, to any lover of bees, these bottom-boards 

 give a chance to see the clusters whenever said lover enters 

 the cellar, and where a colony clusters below the combs, or 

 in the shape of those first and second described above, it 

 is something so enchanting to look upon, that it becomes 

 almost bewitching, and it is with reluctance that I leave 

 the cellar every time I go in. 



The viewing of a cluster having from two to three 

 quarts of bees hanging below the combs — somthing like a 

 swarm in June, all perfectly motionless, and each bee lap- 

 ping over its neighbor like rows of shingles on a roof, 

 right in the center of the winter, with the mercury from 

 10 to 20 degrees below zero outside — is a sight to make one 

 feel very cheery, and that is apt to give almost any one what 

 is called a "bee-fever." In fact, I find that I have a touch 

 of that disease myself, whenever I go into the bee-cellar, 

 although I have kept bees now over 32 years. 



Onondaga Co., N. Y., Jan. 17. 



The Honey Crop of 1901— Marlteting, Etc. 



BY B. A. HADSELL. 



The following clipping is taken from one of the best 

 agricultural papers in the United States; 



MARKETING HONEY THROUGH DIRECT SALE. 



It is the commission man selling the lowest who does 

 the business and who establishes the price of our products. 

 The honest commission man — the one who would get full 

 value— is not in it. He is at the mercy of the most unscrupu- 

 lous member of the craft, and we are no better than their 

 slaves. I want you to understand me, and I will repeat — It 

 is the commission man who sells the lowest who establishes 

 the price. 



Stop selling honey through commission men. and then 

 see what the dealers who will buy for cash will pay. If they 

 cannot get our goods on commission they must pay cash. 

 Having money invested in it, then and not till then, will they 

 try and sustain prices. I have asked many city dealers of 

 whom they purchased their farm produce and they inva- 

 riably said through commission houses, and gave for their 

 reason that they could in that way buy cheaper than of 

 the farmer. I remember one instance in particular, where 

 the dealer, with a knowing wink and laugh, said he would 

 rather let the commission man settle with the farmer, and 

 then his conscience would be clear. W. F. Marks. 



The above explains why we do not receive a fair price 



