April 10, 1902. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



231 



and in its place will be co-operation. Wliat a grand transi- 

 tion this would be I 



We wondered if all the readers noticed what care Mr. 

 <Jrccn has taken to know exactly what he is doinf,' before he 

 sells his houey /ly f/ie sec/ion ? lie will not trust even his 

 own practical eye to detect the difference of weight in the 

 sections, but he puts the case on scales, which are properly 

 balanced and weighted, and then proceeds to put the sec- 

 tions in the cases situated on the other end of the beam 

 until such a time as he lias adjusted the sections to got a 

 given ciuantity of pounds in the case ; then he proceeds to 

 sell it by the section ! Prudent Mr. Green — he knows ex- 

 actly what he is doing, and if his customer should question 

 his statement he is ready to verify by placing the contents 

 upon scales, knowing that it will bear him true evidence of 

 good faith and intelligence on his part. 



What do you make of this paragraph where he says : 

 "There are great and undeniable advantages in buying 

 and selling by the case, or by the section, which amounts to 

 the same thing. Grocers almost invariably sell honey by 

 the section if its condition will at all admit of it ; and after 

 they have once experienced the advantages of the plan, 

 they generally prefer to buy as well as sell by the piece." 



Then he immediately qualifies the proceeding by the 

 following short paragraph : 



"To enable them to do this advantageously, there must 

 be a certain uniformity, not only between sections in each 

 case, but between the different cases." 



Is this not tantamount to weighing the honey for the gro- 

 cer. And what overworked tradesman does not want to get 

 as much done for him as it is possible to obtain ? In other 

 words, the groceryman trusts Mr. Green, whom he knows 

 to be an intelligent and trustworthy person ; therefore, this 

 becomes practically a local matter. Mr. Green sells that 

 which he himself manipulated to a man who has, by prior 

 experience, learned to trust Mr. Green, and he is as safe in 

 doing so as any mortal can be in trafficking one with an- 

 other. 



Notice how fully Mr. Green proves this statement in 

 another paragraph, where he says : 



" This year I put up SO cases for this trade ; 40 of them 

 weighed exactly 22 pounds net each, and the remainder 20 

 pounds net. For another purpose I put up a number of 12- 

 section cases, each of which weighed exactly 9 pounds net." 

 Then he particularly calls our attention by saying : 

 "Notice, I say, these were exact weights, as exact as your 

 grocer weighs when he weighs out sugar or coffee, and that 

 each section was uniform in appearance, with no extra-light 

 or heavy section in the case," and which he proves by weigh- 

 ing them as they come from the storage-crates. 



Now please tell us, did Mr. Green sell his honey by 

 weight, or did he sell it by the section with out knowing 

 what the section weighed ? Seems to us this question is not 

 a hard one to answer. 



We think it would be only fair to say that at the present 

 time we have on sale a car-load of comb honey from Colo- 

 rado, that the owners desired to sell by the case, but they 

 would not guarantee that the cases would average any 

 given weight, for they said some were heavier and some 

 lighter; but they wanted to sell it for so much, and the 

 buyer take his chances. They were unable to do so, and 

 now it is being sold by weight. 



We find that some producers have been painstaking and 

 their honey runs quite uniform ; again, there are others who 

 have put in sections that weigh seven ounces, and some 

 that weigh fifteen, with others ranging between these two 

 extremes. 



This is the very thing that is to be feared by adopting 

 the plan of buying and selling honey by the case. The care- 

 ess and unscrupulous seller will take advantage of the hon- 

 est and careful ones' reputation, and say, " If Mr. Jones 

 can get S3. 00 for his case, I don't see why I shouldn't get 

 53.00 for that is the market price." While competition is 

 the plan upon which society is organized, we must needs 

 have weights and measures to keep the ignorant constantly 

 informed of his duty to his fellows. When the world is run 

 on the much higher plan — that of love, which Mr. Aikin has 

 brought into his article under the term of " co-operation " — 

 then there will not be the necessity for misrepresentation 

 to get a living ; for the just will have taken the place of the 

 false, and our evolution to greater and even higher possibil- 

 ities than the human race has hitherto dreamed of will be 

 dawning. That this panacea for all trouble may be reached 

 it is first necessary to eliminate selfishness. We know that 

 this idea, with perhaps the majority of people, is yet Utopian 

 — in that this world can be run on, " Do for your neighbor 

 rather than for yourself." Cook Co., 111. 



A Beginner's Lc.s.son in Sprints Feeding. 



WHIIvK admitting- that stimulative feeding is a two- 

 edged sword (as some have called it), liable to cut the 

 wrong way, if carelessly handled, it is exceedingly 

 poor advice to advise beginners to "let it severely alone," 

 as did the American Bee Journal in a recent issue. In local- 

 ities where the main How is preceded by a dearth, or a very 

 light, intermittent How, some sort of stimulative manipula- 

 tion is absolutely essential in order to have our colonics 

 populous enough to begin storing in supers at or near the 

 beginning of the main How. Loss of time in having colo- 

 nies ready for the first alfalfa How means loss of money, 

 hence one of the most important lessons for beginners to 

 learn is the art of stimulating brood-production at just the 

 proper time to have an immense force of young bees ready 

 to enter the supers with the first opening of the alfalfa 

 blossoms. 



To accomplish this requires great tact and some fore- 

 sight, but the beginner can only acquire this by experience, 

 so my advice to him is to learn from others all that he can 

 upon this subject, and then go at it for himself, with both 

 eyes and ears open. Mistakes will doubtless be made at 

 first, but that is better than never to learn at all. 



In Colorado, or any other locality where natural sources of 

 pollen and honey are not sufficient to cause the production 

 of bees enough to take care of the early tlow, feeding will 

 undoubtedly pay, and pay big. As soon as the bees begin 

 flying in the spring begin feeding rye or wheat flour or 

 graham. I prefer graham, as they do not get it all over 

 them so badly. This takes the place of pollen, and should be 

 continued until the pollen supply from natural sources is 

 sufficient to satisfy them. The best way to feed graham is 

 to distribute it through the apiary in shallow boxes. 



Some warm day in April go through all your colonies 

 and equalize their stores. This is done by taking combs of 

 honey from those that have a plenty and giving it to those 

 that only have a little. 



In this climate stimulative operations should not begin 

 before the first of May. It is then 40 or 45 days before 

 alfalfa begins to yield, and that is about the length of time 

 necessary to rear a force of new bees and have them ready 

 when the flow begins. If there is some honey in all the 

 hives, begin operations by uncapping three or four pounds 

 per week. This will cause the bees to move -it. In moving 

 it they feed the queen with greater liberality, which stimu- 

 lates her to laying eggs mdre rapidly. When the bulk of 

 this left-over honey has been consumed begin to feed. Feed 

 about a quarter of a pound of honey or sugar syrup per 

 colony daily, made almost as thin as water — in fact, have it 

 just sweet enough to induce the bees to work on it. 



As a beginner, you will, of course, only have a few col- 

 onies, and your best way to feed will be in some kind of 

 shallow receptacle placed on top of the brood-frames in an 

 empty super. Before pouring in the feed throw in a hand- 

 ful of alfalfa hay to prevent the bees from drowning. Con- 

 tinue the feeding until the honey-flow starts, or until the 

 hive is well filled with brood and bees, and when you stop, 

 if honey is not coming in freely enough to supply their 

 daily needs, be sure there is sufficient food in the hives to 

 carry them along until the yield begins. A little stinting 

 or starving at the latter end will result in the undoing of all 

 the good that has been done, and greatly injure the colony. 



Put it down as an axiom, that there is no danger in 

 spring feeding provided it is done in the right way and at 

 the right time. To determine the way and the time adapted 

 to the individual needs of the individual colony, the begin- 

 ner must keep his think-shop in order and use his brains. If 

 you feed too early in the season you will rear a lot of useless 

 bees that will be consumers instead of producers, and, be- 

 sides, if you begin in cold weather,a cold snap may come on 

 and kill half of your brood and leave the colonies so weak 

 in energy and vitality that spring dwindling will finish 

 them. Learn how, go slow, use your best judgment, and 

 you will come out all right. — X, in the Rocky Mountain 

 Bee Journal. Boulder Co., Colo. 



" The Hum of the Bees in the Apple-Tree Bloom " is 

 the name of the finest bee-keeper's song — words by Hon. 

 Eugene Secor and music by Dr. C. C. Miller. This is 

 thought by some to be the best bee-song yet written by Mr. 

 Secor and Dr. Miller. It is, indeed, a " hummer." We can 

 furnish a single copy of it postpaid, for 10 cents, or 3 copies 

 for 25 cents. Or, we will mail a half-dozen copies of it for 

 sending us o?ie new yearly subscription to the American 

 Bee Journal at $1.00. 



