170 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Mar. 15 



but there will be less ventilation. I am 

 quite anxiously awaiting the time when I 

 can return to learn the result. 

 Stouffville, Ont., Can. 



[A small number of colonies will often 

 winter well in a cellar when a large number 

 would come out in the spring in very poor 

 condition. A cellar 16X20 would ordinarily 

 be considered of good size; when, therefore, 

 you place only 9 colonies in that cellar you 

 have a number so small that they could 

 hardly befoul the air, especially when you 

 open the cellar frequently. Such a small 

 number could stand a much lower tempera- 

 ture (because of tbe comparatively good 

 air) than a large number with poor air. 



You will probably find that, during this 

 winter, the larger number will not come 

 through in as fine condition, and we would, 

 therefore, be glad to have you report the re- 

 sults in the spring. 



No, temperature is not as important as 

 ventilation. With good ventilation the 

 bees can stand considerable range from a 

 high to a low and from a low to a high 

 temperature; but when the air is fouled by 

 the breath of a large number of bees, too 

 warm or too cold an atmosphere is apt to 

 cause disastrous results. 



The general verdict of bee-keepers over 

 the country is that from 43 to 46 is the best 

 temperature for a bee-cellar; and if that 

 temperature can be maintained between 40 

 and 48 in a reasonably dry cellar supplied 

 with fresh air, the bees (other conditions be- 

 ing equal) should come out in fine condi- 

 tion. — Ed.] 



SOME COMMENTS ON DISCUSSIONS AT RE- 

 CENT CONVENTIONS. 



Advertising Honey. 



BY F. GREINER. 



The turning of our product into cash, and 

 obtaining the best possible price, is one of 

 the things uppermost in bee-keepers' minds. 

 Speaking of extracted honey, one of our 

 friends at the Geneva convention said: "Be- 

 cause we ask so little for our honey, people 

 are forced to think it is not worth much. 

 An opposite policy followed would produce 

 the opposite result." Others entertain the 

 idea that the people are not acquainted with 

 the article, and therefore do not use it. Ad- 

 vertising is recommended. Educating the 

 public by advertising, and setting forth the 

 high qualities of honey, would undoubted- 

 ly have a beneficial effect. Such advertis- 

 ing as is done along the line of breakfast 

 foods, soaps, etc., is, however, all out of the 

 question, because no one bee-keeper can be 

 expected to do this, on account of the tre- 

 mendous sums it would require. All bee- 

 keepers together can not do it, because they 

 can not be united. A cheaper way of adver- 

 tising must, therefore, be resorted to, which, 

 however, will not prove nearly as effective. 

 The New York State Bee-keepers' Associa- 



tion has decided to have school-pads made, 

 the front pages of which contain matter re- 

 lating to bees and honey. I would suggest 

 that it be principally honey. We don't care j 

 to interest the people so much about bee I 

 culture as we do about the product. * 



As a means for making people better ac- 

 quainted with honey, it was suggested and 

 urged to make more elaborate exhibitions 

 at fairs. Instead of occupying a little side 

 table in the great exhibition building in 

 Syracuse we ought to fill the whole room 

 now generally occupied by fruits and vege- 

 tables. This could be done, and the im- 

 pression created that there is honey without 

 end in the State. This would cost the bee- J 

 keepers a great deal of money. But few ex- i 

 hibitors could obtain a premium, and all 

 the reward they might get would be, per- 

 haps, the chance to sell their honey. If it 

 were noised dbout by advertising that all of 

 New York honey was to be on exhibition at 

 our State fair, buyers might flock to Syra- 

 cuse, and, in course of time, regularly make 

 their purchases at this time. We must not 

 leave out of calculation that each exhibitor 

 has to pay a big entrance fee, which might 

 prove more to the advantage of the agricul- 

 tural society than to the exhibitors. On 

 the whole, the scheme looks doubtful to me. 



A better distribution of our honey, and 

 also of many other agricultural products, 

 would probably raise the prices; but the 

 higher the price is, the less will be consumed 

 of those articles which can not be regarded 

 as necessities; and when honey goes above J 

 a certain proportionate price, other sweets ^ 

 are given the preference. All theorizing 

 will not alter this fact. I believe in every 

 laborer receiving fair pay for his work, and 

 it strikes me that the bee-keeper is doing as 

 well as laborers employed in other fields. 

 There is a decided aversion here to paying 

 more for honey because " the bees work for 

 nothing and board themselves." (?) 



DISEASE ON THE INCREASE. 



The next subject, and one of gravest im- 

 portance, is foul brood. No bee-keepers' 

 meeting has been held for the past ten years 

 here without this subject taking up a great 

 deal of time. When the European disease 

 was first discovered in our State it was 

 found present in four or five counties. The 

 bee-keepers hastened to inaugurate a meas- 

 ure to stay the spread of the disease, and 

 four inspectors were appointed by the State 

 to confine and stamp it out. Year after 

 year we anxiously asked the inspectors, 

 " What about foul brood? " 



"Oh! we have it under control," we were 

 answered; but after ten years of efforts on 

 their part, with the help of one of the bee- 

 keepers, the disease is now in almost every 

 county in New York; and we heard some 

 one say at the National meeting in Albany, 

 "The time is near at hand when every bee- 

 keeper ^^iW have the disease in his yard." 

 This is discouraging news; but if this is a 

 fact, it will be well for us to prepare for the 

 worst. The Seneca Co. bee-keepers are hav- 

 ing a taste of the disease just now. They 



