FliliRrAKV, 19 -JO 



r, K A N I N G S IN BEE CULTURE 



75 



number farllier under tlie tree, where it will not 

 only be cool, but also dark, and thein notice the re- 

 sult. |;i -| 



I also have permission to use a cold storage room 

 which is not in use in the winter, and I will try 

 about 10 in that, after the manner of your eastern 

 cellars. I would also like to have any suggestions 

 on this that you might make, as cellar wintering is 

 an entirely new and untried game to me. The room 

 I speak of is apparently a very well insulated one, 

 as I find that, with a variation of 30 or more de- 

 grees outside, the variation of the room is less than 

 two degrees. 



I will use 4 inches of planer shavings on the 



bottom, 6 inches on sides, and 9 inches on top. 



Shavings are very cheap, and the extra lumber for 



this amount of packing is of very little consequence. 



K. P. Fairchild. 



One swallow does not make a summer; but 

 a moderate amount of packing ought to be 

 an advantage in some places in California. 

 M. H. Mendleson of Ventura, one of the 

 most extensis'e beekeepers on the coast, says 

 he knows it pays. Perhaps it is not wise to 

 draw definite conclusions as yet; but the 

 matter is certainJy worthy of experiment. 



The great loss in California is due to bees 

 being drawn out of their hives bj^ the al- 

 luring sun and never getting back again. 

 For this same reason we also believe that it 

 maj' be an advantage to have bees in the 

 shade. 



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THE GEEAT INCEEASE of business in the 

 sale of queens and bees by regular breeders 

 (and generally at 

 Code for tlie long distances) has 



Sale of Queens brought about the 

 and Bees. urgent necessity for 



definite agreement 

 and stipulated conditions as between the 

 seller and the buyer. The Editors of Glean- 

 ings have been in a position to hear the 

 complaints of both sides of the business and 

 to learn the commonest points of friction 

 and disagreement between the rearers of 

 queens and bees and their beekeeper custom- 

 ers. Accordingly, we set about drawing up a 

 "code" for the sale of queens and bees, 

 keeping carefully in mind what we regarded 

 as the necessities and rights and limitations 

 on both sides of this selling and buying 

 proposition. When we had finally got this 

 "code" in shape, we sent it to 48 of the 

 leading breeders of queens aud bees thru- 

 out the country, accompanied by the follow- 

 ing letter: 



Dear Sir: — We are enclosing a copy of a pro- 

 posed " Code for the Sale of Queens and Bee.s," 

 which we ask you carefully to read, and then, if 

 you will, write us your views of this proposed code. 

 It is open to all and any reasonable modification. 

 When its provisions can be generally agreed upon 

 as fair and ju.st by the queen and bee rearers, we 

 propose to publish it in Gleanings and request 

 our advertisers and their patrons to live up to it. 

 Both parties have obligations to regard in the 

 transaction. 



We think you will agree with us that it is time 

 that some common terras of agreement be reached 

 between the rearer of queens and bees and their 

 ru.stomers; that thete terms be distinctly understood, 

 and then strictly lived up to by both parties. In a 



word, it is time that clearly defined business pro- 

 cedure be put into the queen and l.ee sales business, 

 for the good of the business itself. 



We hope for the hearty co-operation of every re- 

 liable bee and queen rearer in our effort to put the 

 enterprise on a correct business basis; for, if this 

 can be done, the business of queen and bee rearing 

 will be greatly benefited. 



May we not hope to have your views on this pro- 

 posed code at an early date? 



We had hoped for a hearty response from 

 the breeders to our efforts to help get their 

 business on a more satisfactory basis. But 

 the response that came to our letter and pro- 

 posed "code" was so general and so hearty 

 as to exceed all our hopes in the matter. 

 Most of the 48 breeders responded at once, 

 and of these fully half indorsed the "code," 

 without change as drawn up by ourselves. 

 The rest suggested changes. Wherein the 

 breeders agreed generally in suggesting 

 changes, we made such improvements as they 

 suggested in the code, re-drafted it, and 

 again sent it (as thus re-drafted) to the 

 breeders, with the following letter: 



Dear Sir: — We are herewith enclosing a copy of 

 the " Glkaninqs Code for the Sale of Queens and 

 Bees." This revised copy of the " code " is the 

 result of many letters containing valuable suggestions 

 received from a large number of queen and bee 

 rearers of the country. We have incorporated in 

 this revised " code " the changes suggested by any 

 considerable number of the queen and bee rearers 

 to whom we submitted the first draft. 



Will you now be so good as to read over the 

 " code " as revised, and send us at your earliest 

 convenience any further suggestions that you may 

 have to better it. We want this code right and satis- 

 factory to the queen and bee rearers as well as to 

 their customers. If we do not receive a reply from 

 you, we are going to assume that the " code " in its 

 present shape is satisfactory to you. 



To this second letter, we had 16 replies, all 

 agreeing to the re-drafted "code" except 

 four. Of these, two proposed merely word 

 changes in the code that we accepted. The 

 other two objected to the clause requir- 

 ing the shipper to agree not to make sale of 

 queens and bees from an apiary infected 

 with foul brood. One of these did not dis- 

 sent from the spirit of this clause in the 

 code. lie said he certainly would not ship 

 from a colony infected and always used in- 

 vert sugar in all the feed- — and was not this 

 precaution enough? The other said, "No 

 queens should be shipped from colonies in- 

 fected with foul brood — but if we did 

 find one or two cases we would get rid of it 

 at once and keep right on shipping queens." 

 After long and careful consideration of this 

 foul-brood clause, the Editors of Gleanings 

 concluded (as evidently did all but two of 

 the breeders) that it would not do to let 

 down the bars on foul brood, altho we did 

 modify this provision of the code by pro- 

 viding that the customer be informed of 

 coiiflitions if bees or queens are to be sent 

 from a yard where there may be any foul 

 brood. If the breeder has foul brood, his 

 customer certainly has the right to know 

 tliat fact in advance. IIow could the second 

 olijector to the code quoted above get rid 



