■;i:r'TKMi!Kit. U'21 



(1 I. K A X 1 X (I S 1 X n K E C TT I, T T i; K 



^ FROM THE FIELD OF EXPERIENCE 



At the jiiicos hoiH'V is sclliiiir for this 

 your, tluTc is ()ii[>()itunit_v for ;m ciioniioiis 

 ti;i(lo (liiHH't with the fonsumoi'. It has boi'ii 

 a orcat many years in most localities since 

 tlie market i>rice of honey was so low as 

 now. This in itself is a (lesire-to-purchase 

 arouser. The producer who can mention, 

 further, that his price is a saving over local 

 stores adils much to the appeal. 



Permanent trade, the kind of patronage 

 that comes to a beekeei)ei- year after year 

 witli littU' selling I'ffort, is what tlie pro- 

 ducer most wants. A customer has to he 

 secured in the first place, howevei', and (>n- 

 ergetic effort is needed. 



By using the telephone, soliciting friends 

 and ac(|uaintances first, then the fiiends 

 and nc(|iiaintances of tiie latter, it is jiossi- 

 hle to s(dl considerable quantities of lioney. 

 J'(>atcar<ls, with a soliciting message printed 

 or process-typewritten, sent to a list of auto 

 owners in a near-by city, are effective in 

 bringing auto traflic to the farm. These 

 should (pioto price, and give directions for 

 reaching the farm. Where a carline passes 

 the farm, newspaper advertising, small 

 cards i\in the latter part of the week or 

 Sunday, reach the genera! ])ublic. Some 

 bei'keejier:. use tli-e want-ad column effect- 

 ively in this manner. 



When honey is peddled out, the best sell- 

 ing metho<l I have ever seen, is selling from 

 a wagon, on pay-day night, to industrial 

 workers. The privilege of stationing one's 

 wagnii in a strategic spot is worth sonie- 

 thiiii;, and some tact may be required to 

 (dittiin it fiom the management of the manu- 

 factuiing concern. If the management is 

 pi'ogi-essive, howi'\-(M-, this can be done by 

 agreeing to si'll at a certain percentage V)e- 

 low storr prices, so that the concession in 

 leality is a clear benefit to the employees. 

 Where the management and lioney i)ro(huHM- 

 work togetlier in this manner, the former 

 will usually ]uit a notice on its bulletin 

 Ijoaids saying it has arranged witli so-and- 

 so to furnisli employees with honey at the 

 low 2'1'ice. Where the industry is large, the 

 de{)artment to go to is the industrial-rela- 

 tions department, or the official who handles 

 the subject of industrial relations. 



With most producers, however, the labor 

 reipiired to sell a customer the first time 

 will not make the wliole transaction a bo- 

 nanza, tho the price secured will be several 

 cents l)etter than the price buyers are 

 paying at the stores. It is, however, a 

 way of woiking harder and consequently 

 getting more; and each year, as the same 

 market is sold to, and as the right pricing 

 })olicy is followed, the sale of the apiary out- 

 put to consumer-buyers will involve less and 

 less effort. It is the permanent customer, 

 sold to with little effort, who makes selling 

 honey direct attractive. 



Boulder, Col. .John T. I'.:irt lett. 



NEW WAY OF WINTERING 



Uniting Several Colonies to Conserve Heat ; Win- 

 terjng without Combs 



The great labor, trouble, and expense of 

 jire^jaring bees for winter, tlie amount of 

 food used, and the uncertainties of the re- 

 sults long caused me to cast about for some 

 other and perhaps better plan. 



I sat down and tried to analyze the pres- 

 ent methods. The widely varying results 

 repoi-teil fiom the different methods were 

 disconcerting and no good explanations were 

 offercMl. The heavy packing plan seemed 

 the most uniform, but the cost of cases 

 and labor was appalling. The results were 

 said to be the best yet. This was excellent 

 if I could raise the money and find the 

 labor, and as I failed to see either light at 

 hand 1 pondered further. 



Perhaps, after all, this system was the best 

 for me; by keeping fewer colonies but big- 

 ger ones and running them more intensively, 

 1 could make as much and with greater cer- 

 tainty, so cases and thick packing were for 

 the time held to be essential. 



Cellars? The results were too irregular, 

 the labor item was greater than cases, and 

 all were dependent on having a suitable cel- 

 lar, which I did not have. 



Colony condition? The sages said big 

 colonies of young bees with young queens. 

 There was some cost for labor and food, but 

 seemingly necessary with any method of 

 successful wintering; so it only remained 

 to find out how big a "big'' colony is. 

 Probably out' that would fill a box, and it 

 was so noted, l)ut with a nuMuo for later re- 

 vision. 



Food? what and how much.' Some said 

 two pounds wouhl wintei- a good colony, 

 but that it would take from 20 to 60 pounds 

 to cany them thiii the spidng breeding sea- 

 son to the new crop. Pli'uty of margin for 

 guessing there; so that was allowed to rest 

 for further consideration. 



The costs look out of all proiiortion to the 

 possible, tho ])roblematical, returns in tpian- 

 tity and quality of croj), without thinking 

 of piice which might, but ]irobably wouhl 

 not, stay at war-time le\'(ds. 



Something had to be <lone, but what? Get 

 out of beekeei)ing and do real work, or do 

 with the bees what the other fellows had 

 never done? The latter appealed to me. If 

 you don't have confidence in yourself who 

 (dse will? 



The answer was long in coming and looked 

 as if it never would come; but })atience and 

 thinking, even if you are only dreaming, do 

 bring results. One day T saw a seemingly 

 foolish idea of wintering bees without 

 combs, and that recalled a scheme of T>v. 

 Phillips to winter comlis without bees, buy- 



