MARCH 15, 1914 



233 



An Open Letter from the Secretary-Treasurer of 

 the National Beekeepers' Association 



Dear Bro. Beekeepers : — I wish to call your at- 

 tention to the fact that the beekeeping industry is 

 coming more and more into the hands of specialists 

 who give it all (or nearly so) of their time and 

 energy. These specialists are demanding, and with 

 good reason, that the National Association give the 

 practical features of the business greater attention, 

 and leave the theoretical and educational work to the 

 bee-journals and the special advocates in wliich we 

 are so fortunate in having so many able representa- 

 tives, employed and liberally paid by the different 

 Siates and the general Government. 



The time has now fully come for a practical, hus- 

 tling, up-to-date business campaign, backed by en- 

 e."gy and means, going in with the determination to 

 stimulate the consumption, increase the demand, and 

 stiffen the prices of honey, and cooperate in our 

 purchases. This is my private view of the matter, 

 and it is the attitude I shall assume as the Secretary 

 of the National Association. 



Other associated industries, similar to ours, are 

 getting splendid results along these lines by com- 

 bined and persistent efforts, stiffening prices and 

 standardizing their products, and we can do the 

 same. We may not be able to command as much 

 money to work out our plans as some of these can 

 do; but we shall have a big advantage in having 

 50,000 or more enthusiastic " bee cranks " boosting 

 together all over the country, giving us an advantage 

 to start with that is worth more than any amount of 

 mere money. 



We must have money, of course, and the more the 

 better, to pay the printer, postage, and all those 

 things, and we shall have to " dig " for it, and you 

 will all be called on in due time to give your share. 



There is one little word, none too elegant, per- 

 haps, but wonderfully expressive, that applies to the 

 situation to a nicety. If each and every one of us 

 would boost honey, individually and collectively, in 

 season and out, and all the time, honey prices would 

 soar. " Boost " it locally, and then lend a hand to 

 the larger work that is ecessary also. 



It will be a pleasure for your Secretary to ex- 

 change views with you, and assist in any possible 

 waj to help matters along — act as a sort of clearing- 

 house as it were, in the exchange of "boosting ideas." 



If you do not already belong to the Association, 

 get in as quickly as you can. I receive letters every 

 day asking, " What are the objects and benetits of 

 the Association? " I am going to answer that ques- 

 tion right here, and save lots of postage. The object 

 of the Association, in one word, is to " boost " hon- 

 ey and jiromote the business. The benefits are, a 

 stimulated consumption and better demand for our 

 products, and better buying facilities for our sup- 

 plies. Are you with us in this? 



Yours for a " boosting " campaign, 



Kedkey, Ind. George W. William.s. 



not see as well unless there are large windows that 

 you can take out entirely ; the bees fly out about the 

 room when you are looking over the combs, for in- 

 stance, and are thereby lost. If the windows are 

 entirely open they finally find their way back into 

 the hives. See reply to M. D. Fraser, p. 196, Mar. 

 1. — Ed.1 



Starting with Bees in an Attic 



What is the best time in the year to start with 

 bees? I have an exceptionally good attic. Would 

 it be as well to keep them there the year round? It 

 would certainly be warmer for them in winter. 

 Would it be too liot in summer? 



Frank F. Kinney. 



Colonial Ridge, Port Chester, N. Y. 



[The spring is, perhaps, the best time to start 

 with bees, taking every thing into consideration. It 

 rarely pays for the beginner to start in the fall, for 

 he may lose his colonies the first winter. 



There are a good many possibilities connected 

 sive hives, and the bees are well protected in the 

 winter. However, it is a little more inconvenient 

 with beekeeping in an attic. You need less expen- 

 to work with bees inside a closed room. You can 



Nutriment for Bees in Sawdust 



In your reply to Mr. Bohou, page 154, Feb. 15, 

 you say that you do not know whether the bees are 

 deceived by the sawdust, mistaking it for pollen. 

 For my part I can not believe that the bees are 

 deceived, for I have seen them going to a sawdust 

 pile at a saw-mill close by, for the last three springs. 

 They go by the thousands, not only for one day but 

 for weeks at a time. I have actually caught bees on 

 the dust pile and examined the pellets on their legs. 

 It is of a dark-brown color ; and when I tasted it, 

 it had a mealy flavor and was just a little sweet. 

 My bees make a practice of carrying this fine saw- 

 dust until the maple trees are about through yield- 

 ing pollen, or until pollen is very plentiful. They do 

 not begin on the sawdust, however, until their store 

 of pollen in the combs is gone. 



We know that moth larvse can live on the wood 

 of hives, frames, sections, etc., so it does not look 

 unreasonable to me to suppose that bee larvre may 

 also use the miniature grains of sawdust in like 

 manner. 



Cushman, Ark. Geo, P. Gunthbr. 



[While not wishing to take the position that the 

 bees are really deceived, and that there is nothing 

 nutritious in the sawdust, we should like to say, 

 nevertheless, that it is a fact that bees carry honey 

 from their hives in their honey-sacs to use in moist- 

 ening the pollen for the purpose of packing it in 

 their pollen-baskets. The fact that this dust on their 

 legs tasted sweet, therefore, would not necessarily 

 indicate that the sawdust is nutritious to the young 

 bees. 



Different animals subsist on different kinds of 

 food. This is true also of different insects and dif- 

 ferent larvie, so that the fact that moth larvae bur- 

 row through wood would not prove that bee larvae 

 can get nutriment from sawdust. However, we ad- 

 mit that it is hardly likely the bees would work so 

 long and so steadily on the sawdust if they did not 

 find in it a nutritious substance to use in.stead of 

 natural pollen. — Ed.] 



Pasting the Edge of the Label Only 



There has lately been some difficulty in pasting 

 small labels on tin. I have had fair success with 

 a label about four by five inches that I use on any 

 size of can. I use an ordinary mucilage-brush, and 

 spread the mucilage, or paste, around the edges of 

 the label only, leaving the center dry. Then when 

 the paste dries, the label does not shrink off. I did 

 not use many labels at a time last season. I tried 

 a small bottle of mucilage first. But as that dries up 

 rapidly in Arizona I bought a tube of library paste 

 at a di-ugstore. 



One of your contributors suggested the use of honey 

 to mix with paste. I tried it with both the mucilage 

 and the paste, and found it an improvement. I sup- 

 pose it prevented the paper from drying and shrink- 

 ing too quickly. 



Hayden, Arizona. W. H. McCormick. 



Ventilating by Raising the Brood-nest and also the 

 Cover from the Super 



I have read with interest Mir. Vernon Burt's ex- 

 perience, p. 593, Sept. 1, in raising the brood-nest 

 from the bottom-board to give ventilation and over- 

 come swarming, as I have practiced the same method 

 for several years. I have never been able to get as 



