1920 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



233 



brokers, expecting to pay the brokers' 

 profit in salaries to their managers. I 

 don't want this to displease any of 

 these people, but I think a more eco- 

 nomical way would be to put our 

 honey in the hands of practical brok- 

 ers who know how to handle farm 

 products. 



Nebraska honey, in my estimation, 

 is equal if not superior to the aver- 

 age of western honeys. It ought not 

 to be difficult to give it a name by 

 advertising. Is there a better time 

 than this for it, when sugar is selling 

 at 30 cents per pound? We can in- 

 crease the demand by spending a lit- 

 tle money in advertising Nebraska 

 honey, as the orange producers have 

 advertised "Sunkist Oranges." 



I know of a brokerage firm that 

 could handle any amount of our 

 honey, in carloads or single crates. 

 They have a man who has had ex- 

 tensive experience for 10 years past, 

 in grading honey. These people could 

 handle our honey, keeping it stored 

 in a warehouse, insured, as our prop- 

 ertj', until sold. It would be sold at 

 an agreed price, settled upon through 

 the Executive Committee of our As- 

 sociation. But we would have to 

 agree not to sell any honey, either at 

 wholesale or retail, except through 

 them. Is it not better to dispose of 

 our crop through the regular chan- 

 nels in this way than to go in the 

 haphazard ways of the past? 



For an advertising campaign, the 

 same brokerage firm could be used. 

 Our advertising would cost us but 

 little, as we would secure through this 

 firm the services of the papers in 

 which the honey would be offered. 

 ."Attractive labels, bearing the trade 

 name of our honey, store posters, etc., 

 would give us more advertising than 

 we ever can secure individually. 



Our members must bear in mind 

 that if they want a market for their 

 surplus, they must create it them- 

 selves, by advertising, and must have 

 some S}'Stematic method of supply- 

 ing the trade all the year round, 

 which they cannot do individually. 



During the month, the executive 

 committee w-ill hold a meeting and 

 will work out this matter so as to 

 have it in shape before the new 

 honey is ready for the market. I 

 would like to have a letter from 

 each Nebraska man who reads this 

 and get his views. 



Some funds are necessary to put 

 this matter in action. About two 

 cenits on every dollar's worth of 

 honey that we produce would make 

 quite a good sum. It may take $500 

 to get the thing under way. But now 

 is the time for us to let 'the w"or!d 

 know that there is such a thing as 

 the honey from which we are expect- 

 ing to make a living. 



Bennington, Nebraska. 



Locality 



fey F. W. Osier 

 The beginner in bee culture, if a 

 real enthusiast, will usually sub- 

 scribe to one or two journals dealing 

 with his pet hobby and in these will 

 find the word "locality" cropping up 

 with a regularity that is somewhat 



surprising. That localities differ all 

 will agree. The apiarist in California 

 does not meet with the same condi- 

 tions as the man in New York State, 

 Canada or Texas, but beginners sel- 

 dom realize that localities a few 

 miles apart also diUfer and must be 

 carefully studied if the best results 

 are to be obtained. One thing ithat is 

 absolutely necessary is a full knowl- 

 edge of the honey and pollen-hearing 

 plants in the vicinity and the approxi- 

 mate date of their bloom. When the 

 bees begin to fly in the spring they 

 should be carefully watched for the 

 first sign of pollen. When this is 

 seen coming in the beginner should 

 make it his business to find out the 

 names of the plants from which it 

 came, the quantity in the neighbor- 

 hood, its value as a honey plant and 

 anything else by way of information 

 that ma}^ prove of value. One of the 

 best aids to this study is a work by 

 Frank C. Pellett, "American Honey 

 Plants." Covering the ground as it 

 does from Northern Canada to Mex- 

 ico, it is a book that fills a long-felt 

 want and should find a place on the 

 shelves of every beekeeper's library. 



Bees use wa'ter for brood-rearing 

 and will travel a long way to get it 

 if not obtainable close at hand. In 

 the cold, wind)' spring days many a 

 worker bee is chilled and lost in the 

 eflfort to find water. There is a 

 dozen methods of supplying bees with 

 water if your locality is short of this 

 necessary help to brood-rearing. A 

 tub filled wth water, with the surface 

 covered with cork chips, will answer 

 every purpose, and if placed close 

 to the hives, will save the bees many 

 a long, cold flight. 



That soil conditions aflect locali- 

 ties is well known. Light, sandy soils 

 warm up quicker in the spring; 

 whereas clay soils, heavy with mois- 

 ture and of close grain, respond less 

 rapidly to the sun and wind. It nat- 

 urally follows that a locality in a re- 

 gion of light soils would be best for 

 the early breeding of bees and queens. 

 On the other hand, the best honey- 

 flows are generally found in a locality 

 with a heavy soil. 



The beekeeper cannot always 

 choose his locality, but he can intel- 

 ligently adjust his work to suit it, and 

 so at least deserve success if he can- 

 not command it. 



That localities differ in honey-flows 

 must also be considered. Here in 

 Ontario, where clover is our most im- 

 portant honey plant, pussy willow, 

 fruit bloom and dandelion aid materi- 

 ally in encouraging brood-rearing to 

 build up our colonies in preparation 

 for the main flow. 



The fall flows vary both in quan- 

 tity and quality. Aster, coming late 

 in the fall, is somewhat of a nuisance; 

 it is unsuitable either for winter 

 stores or table use, but if saved over 

 until spring a frame or Hwo of aster 

 honey can'be slipped into a hive with- 

 out exciting the bees and so save a 

 lot of messy spring feeding. It takes 

 a frame of honey to produce a frame 

 of brood, so colonies found to be light 

 in stores in the spring can be helped 

 in this way. 



Pollen has a value all its own. I 



repeatedly see the question asked as 

 to the best substitute for pollen and 

 so gather from this that some locali- 

 ties are short of this important sub- 

 stance. Then, again, I know of bee- 

 keepers who cut solid combs of pollen 

 out of the frames and melt them up, 

 claiming that the bees never use one- 

 half of what 'they gather. So I would 

 say to the embryo apiarist : study 

 your locality, visit the beekeepers 

 near you; you will find them the 

 greatest gossips on earth, always 

 willing to talk bees and tell what they 

 know, and sometimes what they don't 

 know, but good fellows just the same. 

 Toronto. 



Fastening Foundation 



By Geo. F. Webster 



I was considerably interested in 

 reading Mr. A. C. Miller' article in 

 the May issue of the Journal (page 

 16S) on "Stretched Foundation and 

 Sagging Combs," and while I agree 

 with most of his points, I do wish he 

 would "forget" that "brush" as well 

 as the "wonderful wax-tube" and use 

 the despised "spoon" for the melted 

 wax (yes, and forget the rosin, also). 



Having had occasion to fill a good 

 many frames with foundation lately 

 and time being very precious, I 

 adopted the following plan with con- 

 siderable satisfaction: Tilt the 

 frame at an angle of forty-five de- 

 grees (more or less), pour the wax 

 in the groove at the highest point, al- 

 lowing it to run quickly down, stop- 

 ping it just before it runs off by re- 

 versing the frame (one soon becomes 

 quite expert at this). This will be 

 found to be much more rapid than 

 the paint brush and does a much 

 neater job. 



Now, if we could get our supply 

 manufacturers to leave the top-bars 

 plain (that is without any groove of 

 any kind) we could save nearly a 

 quarter of an inch of the expensive 

 foundation by putting it in place and 

 embedding the wire, then place a 

 piece of wood /4x^.xl6j^ in. with an 

 offset at each end, upon the opposite 

 side, then pour on the wax as men- 

 tioned above. This "wax-stick." as 

 I call it, is easily held in place by the 

 thumb of the left hand while the wa.x 

 is being applied. 



Now, if you want real nice, solid 

 combs you can put in a bottom- 

 starter and the bees will (if the 

 frames are given to a strong colony 

 during a goo3 honey-flow) make 

 good use of them by filling the 

 frames solid to the bottom. They 

 should be placed above the brood. 



Now, if someone has a better, 

 quicker plan, let's have it, and criti- 

 cisms invited. 



Sioux Falls, South Dakota. 



The Dreamers 



I knew a good lady, who in her girl- 

 hood, when at school had read Vir- 

 gil (his fourth book of the Georgics), 

 who. as many know, writes charm- 

 ingly of bees which hummed, oh. ages 

 ago, on the Sabine hills. Virgil was a 

 beekeeper, but he was, higher still, 

 a poet, and all the crooked wisdom 



