GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



November, 1921 



NOVEL WAY TO SELL HONEY 



How a Motor Cycle Can be Used to Sell Honey in 

 Small Towns 



I use a motorcycle with side-car outfit, 

 the body being removed and a platform five 

 feet long placed on the springs of the side 

 car. In front I place a box that will hold 

 about 50 bottles, pint size, with a sign, 

 "Honey for Sale." Then I place five supers 

 of honey on the rest of the platform. I 

 have a common five-gallon can cut open on 

 the side, with a rack in the bottom having 

 a wire screen over it. I cut the honey in 

 chunks to fill up this can to sell from. I 

 cover the whole up with wet sacks so that 

 bees will not rob, and over the top of all I 

 place a canvas or gum cover to keep dust 

 off while on the road. 



I then go to a small village, open the 

 muflfler for a minute in the center of town, 

 display the sign and some bottles, and begin 

 to cut off little pieces of honey to give to 

 the street children. I offer honey for sale 

 from 2 cents' worth to a whole frame. As 

 soon as I get a crowd I show full fine 

 capped combs, and often sell a whole load 

 in a Cuban town in an hour. I have some 

 sheets of paper ready to put a pound or 

 half pound on as they buy. 



After doing this in a town a few times, 

 the street peddlers will buy the honey as 

 soon as I get in town at 5c per pound less 

 than the retail price. It is wonderful the 

 amount pf hohey the public will take in this 

 way. The expense is as low as it is possible 

 to get it, and the trouble also. 



Herradura, Cuba. M. C. Engle. 



i^er 



AN EASY WAY TO PACK 



The Quad Hive Permanently Packed on Two Sides 

 and Crowded Together for Winter 



In this system, we use four ordinary sin- 

 gle-walled hives. The front and one side of 

 each hive are first covered with heavy insu- 

 lating paper, such as is used in cold-storage 

 plants. Ordinary waterproof paper will an- 

 swer if the heaviest obtainable is used. The 

 heavier the paper, the better the insulation. 

 We then nail on a block % inch thick by 2 

 inches wide in which a % x %-inch groove is 

 cut % inch from the outer edge, to receive 

 the outer shell of %-inch lumber. This 

 % X 2-inch piece extends from just under 

 the water table, which covers the packing, 

 to the bottom of the hive. Before shoving 

 the outer %-inch wall into the groove, we 

 cover the inside of this board with water- 

 proof paper. 



The hive is then packed between the 



walls with regranulatcd cork, a dark, almost 

 black product nearly as fine as flour and in 

 no way to be compared with "cork chips," 

 which are simply raw cork untreated to re- 

 move the volatile substances that hinder in- 

 sulation. 



We allow one inch between walls for 

 packing, which is quite sufficient for south- 

 ern Ontario where the thermometer seldom 

 reaches zero. If we had a higher altitude 

 or were further north, we should want more 

 space between the walls; and if we could 

 not get regranulated cork, we would double 

 our packing space. 



The water table covering the top of the 

 packing is made of %-inch stuff, wide 

 enough to extend over the outer wall to give 

 a hand grip when lifting the hive. We 

 place the top edge of this water table % 

 inch below the top edge of the brood- 

 chamber and run. putty % x % inch to top 

 edge of brood-chamber as if glazing sash. 

 Ordinary glaziers' putty will last several 

 years, but the black sort used by boat- 

 builders is much more durable. When the 

 "quad" is in position, a double wall is 

 formed clear around the outside, and the 

 natural heat of the colonies will keep the 

 single walls of each hive from the effect of 

 frost. 



When preparing the bees for winter we 

 lift the hives off their stands and place the 

 stands close against each other. We then 

 lay a 1 X 6-inch board across the front ends 

 of the stands, and a similar bo.ard half way 

 between, covering the back ends of the four 

 stands. We then set the hives on the stand, 

 placing them close together, put the supers 

 on the brood-chambers, and drop a piece of 

 waterproof paper between the hives reach- 

 ing from the top of the supers to the bot- 

 tom of the brood-chamber, across the width 

 of the cluster of hives, and another cut half 

 the width to meet it the other way. We 

 then pass a soft wire around the hives, and 

 another around the supers, and draw the 

 hives and supers tightly against the paper 

 between them, by twisting the wire with a 

 stick. By looking at the photo the paper 

 may be seen extending about 2 inches be- 

 yond the outer walls. We crowd a piece of 

 wood % X 1% inches under the wire, dou- 

 ble the paper over the joint where the hives 

 come together, and put this strip of 1%-inch 

 stuff on the paper over the crack. The hives 

 are drawn so tightly together that cold air 

 never reaches the single-walled part of the 

 hives. We do not know that this extra pro- 

 tection at the outside joint is necessary; 

 but it may be of some value, and is very 

 little trouble. 



The ordinary bottom-board used on a sin- 

 gle-walled hive will be noticed at the bot- 



