MAY 1, 1914 



328 



Mr. Boardman is a man of unusual in- 

 telligence, a nature-study man, and a bee- 

 keeper who has just passed his 80tli birth- 

 day, and this fall we plan to give his method 

 of wintering in an upground beehouse that 

 he has pursued with such success these 

 thirty-five years or more. A full descrip- 

 tion was given by the writer, with a cut of 

 his beehouse, in these columns, April 15, 

 1889, page 319. 



Is AsKieg to: 



It is remarkable how the orchardists of 

 the country are waking up to the impor- 

 tance of having bees in the orchard. Tlie 

 facts presented in another column, by one 

 of the best pomologists of the country, are 

 well worlli reading. In this connection it 

 will be interesting to note that a big demand 

 for bees is springing uj) all over the coun- 

 try from fruit-gTowers — not because they 

 have the bee-fever or wish to produce hon- 

 ey, but because they have learned that they 

 can produce more and better fruit by having 

 bees on their places. 



By the time this journal will have reached 

 our subscribers, many of our beemen will 

 be locating outyards. Do not forget to help 

 your neighbor the fruit-grower, and help 

 yourself by spreading the truth about bees 

 and orchards. Tell how the bees are actually 

 breaking down the branches; of the loads 

 of fruit they help to make possible on the 

 trees. By spreading this knowledge it will 

 be easier to secure fine locations, either at 

 no cost to yourself, or at an insignificant 

 rental price. Up-to-date fruit-growers are 

 often willing to pay you for jDutting bees 

 on their places instead of you paying them 

 for the privilege. But the policy of the 

 beekeepers should be to give and take on 

 equal terms — put the bees on the place 

 without charge either way. 



In locating beeyards do not forget to 

 fence them. Woven-wire fencing is recom- 

 mended by Wesley Foster in his department 

 in this issue; and it is about as good and 

 serviceable as any thing we know of. 



T! 



In Mr. Byer's department in this issue, 

 page 337, he says he cannot understand 

 why the cold February and March we had 

 in the Northern States should cause us to 

 have a comfortable feeling that our bees at 

 Medina were in cellars, in a climate as 

 " mild " as that in Ohio. " Mild " climate 

 in Ohio ! It makes us fellows south of the 



lakes smile a little. Yes, it is milder — but 

 we have changeable damp weather. It may 

 be down below zero for a few days, and 

 then the next week the temperature may be 

 50 above. Breeding will get nicely started 

 when another cold snap will come, killing 

 both brood and bees trying to hover it. A 

 long steady spell of cold weather, the hives 

 well protected with banks of snow, is not 

 nearly so hard on bees as extremes of cold 

 and warm, with little or no snow. With 

 these conditions of climate in Febi'uai-y and 

 March we could not help having a "comfort- 

 able feeling " that our Medina bees were in 

 our big cellars where the temperature does 

 not vary more than five or six degrees, and 

 where there is plenty of fresh air. 



If we had a cellar under the house, that 

 was not frost-proof, small and damp, and 

 had 150 colonies to winter, we should be 

 decidedly more comfortable if those 150 

 colonies were housed in double hives out- 

 doors. As the majority of people do not 

 have an ideal cellar for wintering, the 

 majority of beekeepers in Ohio do better 

 with bees outdoors, providing, of course, 

 there are suitable windbreaks and warm 

 dry packing around the brood-nest. 



'■^ Slightly Exaggerated " — Oer Quteeii 

 Biugiiniegs iim Sotatlieriffi Florida 



When the newspapers announced that 

 Mark Twain Avas dead, he said the report 

 was " slightly exaggerated." This is some- 

 what the situation in regard to a newspaper 

 report which inadvertently crept into our 

 columns, appearing on page 5 of our April 

 15th advertising section. The report went 

 on to say that " E. R. Root, son of A. I. 

 Root, millionaire honey-producer, and king 

 of the bee business," etc., had " practically 

 decided " on establishing in Pompano, 18 

 miles north of Miami, " a colony for raising 

 queen-bees." Evidently the reporter thought 

 that "colony" was not big enough; for later 

 on he says that we were going to establish 

 a " queenery that would mean several hun- 

 dred more bee colonies." The interview is 

 indirectly attributed to Mr. 0. 0. Popple- 

 ton; but with his usual accuracy of speech 

 we are sure he did not authorize any such 

 statement, much less any reference to A. I. 

 Root as a "millionaire honey-producer," for 

 tliis, of course, is .very greatly " exagger- 

 ated." A. I. Root himself will be amused if 

 not disgusted, as were we. 



The facts are these: We were making a 

 tour of Florida, investigating, but have 

 come to no conclusion as yet. We have 

 made tentative arrangements to raise queens 

 at Pompano providing no other place can 



