1911 



aLEANIKTGS IN BEE CUL'JURJE' 



91 



pieces to warp, leaving tie leaks as shown. 

 The proper way is shown in B and D, where 

 three nails are so driven that there is little 

 chance for warping, and the super remains 

 bee tight. 



The old way of cutting the hive and super 

 rabbets allows them to warp out in many 

 cases, and often they are broken out in 

 handhng. To obviate this serious matter 

 we drive three slim nails into the rabbet, 

 Fig. 4, slanting them so that they will have 

 a tendency to draw the rabbet to the inside, 



Fig. 4. How to prevent the rabbets from splitting- 



thus bracing them exceedingly well. Of 

 course, this latter is extra labor and ex- 

 pense, but we have found that it pays, es- 

 pecially if the work is done by cheap labor. 

 Several young boys can be employed for 

 this work very profitably. 



THE SIZE OF WINTER ENTRANCES. 



We have recently found that sometimes 

 the size of the entrance to a hive makes 

 considerable difference during severely cold 

 weather. Two medium nuclei were winter- 

 ed each in a single shallow hive-body, and 

 each with sufficient stores. One of these 

 had an entrance % inch deep by the full 

 width of the hive, and the other had the 

 same depth of entrance, but it was contract- 

 ed to only lyi inches wide. Although the 

 nuclei were in the same condition, located 

 in the same way, and near each other, the 

 one with the large entrance succumbed 

 while the other came through in fine condi- 

 tion. When found a few days after the 

 most severely cold spell that we have had 

 for a number of years, the bees in one nu- 

 cleus were stiff and starved, while the oth- 

 ers were lively and in the best condition. 

 Each had just the same amount of stores in 

 th same shape about the cluster; but in one 

 the bees were kept warm enough so that 



they could make use of the stores; in the 

 other they were not. 



The proof that they were simply starved 

 to death, and not killed by the cold direct- 

 ly, we have in the fact that many of the ap- 

 parently dead bees were "thawed" out 

 again when placed in the warm sunlight; 

 but, being too far starved, they soon suc- 

 cumbed entirely. 



This would show that, even with sufficient 

 stores in immediate reach of the bees, a se- 

 verely cold spell might put the cluster in 

 such condition that the Dees can not help 

 themselves and prevent starvation. How 

 much there is in this we do not know, es- 

 pecially since we have never had such ex- 

 periences here in this milder climate. Per- 

 haps it pays to look after our winter en- 

 trances better than some of us do — not in 

 that there might be a total loss to the colo- 

 nies, but the size of the entrances may 

 make a material difference in the welfare of 

 the colonies. 



WHO FIXES THE PRICE OF HONEY? 



This is another respect in which we ven- 

 ture to say we are ahead of the bee-keepers 

 of the North. From the many articles we 

 have read pertaining to Northern prices we 

 understand that the price in most cases is 

 set by the commission houses and by deal- 

 ers who buy the honey from the bee-keeper. 

 Why should this be so? Not in one in- 

 stance since I have been in the business ex- 

 tensively have I asked a buyer what he 

 would pay for my honey. It is the reverse 

 here. The bee-keepers, or at least the ma- 

 jority of them, know pretty well at the out- 

 set what they are going to try to get for 

 their honey, and the market prices are gov- 

 erned thereby to a very great extent. We 

 know this is true, for the simple reason 

 that many of the honey-buying firms make 

 their quotations at a certain figure in the 

 early spring, and, later, as they find that 

 honey is hard to get at these figures on ac- 

 count of the bee-keepers holding at a higher 

 price they advance accordingly; so also does 

 the price offered by the dealers go up a cer- 

 tain margin every year above the figures of 

 the previous year. It has always been a 

 wonder to us why we should be ahead of 

 those in the North in this respect, since it 

 has been conceded generally that they are 

 so much ahead of us. Taking into consid- 

 eration the amount of advertising in the 

 North, and the amount of discussion that 

 continues to appear on the subject, the con- 

 ditions of selling in the North are very dif- 

 ferent from what we are used to here. Our 

 honey is sold quickly, as a rule, without ad- 

 vertising, and at our own figures. In our 

 case it is not so much how to sell the crop 

 as it is how to produce enough of it to fill 

 the demand that already exists and at a 

 good price. We receive dozens of inquiries 

 each season for our price. Then we send a 

 price list with our prices, instead of writing 

 for prices that some firm or buyer is willing 

 to pay, as we formerly did. 



