Dkceiiber, 1922 



Cr T. K A N I N r; R IN B K K C U I. T U R K 



779 



FROM THE FIELD OF EXPERIENCE 



distribution to customers. A single order 

 for 200 of these booklets will save enough 

 to pay the affiliation fee. 3. The right to 

 use warning posters, offering a reward for 

 the arrest and conviction of thieves and 

 marauders in apiaries of members. 4. As- 

 sistance in the adjustment of claims arising 

 from suspected fraud and misrepresentation. 

 5. Legal aid in opposing the enactment of 

 state laws and city ordinances injuring bee- 

 keeping. 6. Share in an organization which 

 has advertised honey nationally, has dis- 

 tributed 18,000 honey recipe booklets to all 

 parts of the United States, has supported 

 the recent advance in the tariff on honey, 

 reducing competition from cheap foreign 

 honey, and has upheld beekeeping interest 

 in city councils, state legislatures and the 

 United States Congress. 



Individual membership at the dollar rate 

 is open only to members of affiliated organi- 

 zations. If you are interested, write the 

 secretary of your state organization. The 

 League will send you his name on request. 

 S. B. Fracker, Secretary-Treasurer. 



Madison, Wig. 



20^05= 



WINTERING IN DAMP CELLARS 



Providing Opening at Top of Hives to Allow Es- 

 cape ot Moisture 



Nearly 30 years ago I was persuaded to 

 winter about 100 colonies of bees in an old 

 pole and earth root cellar at an outyard, in- 

 stead of taking them 15 miles to my own 

 cellar where I had been having fair success 

 in wintering. I fixed up the old place, put- 

 ting in a good-sized ventilator in the roof 

 and piled the bees in, using pretty nearly 

 every foot of space. 



In the spring I had 60 hives full of moldy 

 combs, dead bees, honey and water. 



Some were advocating tight sealed covers 

 at that time; but it was my last, and I have 

 not had a moldy comb since, for I have 

 drawn my flat covers forward, leaving not 

 more than one-fourth of an inch space inten- 

 tionally at the top and back of the hives 

 wintered in the cellar. A damp cellar is not 

 a bugaboo to me, as with some that have 

 complained to me until I have explained my 

 way of ventilating the bees. 



T once saw in my cellar water dripping 

 out of a hive which was the bottom one in 

 a pile of four and between other piles of 

 four. It was rather hard to get at, as there 

 was no room at the back of them. T said to 

 myself, T have neglected ventilating that 

 hive, so the pile must come down; and sure 

 etioufrh it had a tight sealed cover. T venti- 

 lated it and returned the pile as it was be- 

 fore. In 36 hours the water had disap- 

 peared from the entrance and it appeared as 

 drv as the others. (See Editorials.") 



Pierpont, Mich, Walter Harnier. 



ENTRANCES CLOGGED— WHY? 



Unusual Weather Conditions Cause Dead Bees to 

 be Left in Entrance 



Last winter we had two yards of 100 and 

 17.5 colonies respectively that were well 

 packed in new single winter cases. The en- 

 trances to the hive proper were five 

 inches by a half inch, and a bridge ten 

 inches wide and two inches deep leads to 

 the outside case. The entrance in the out- 

 side case was closed down to depth of bridge 

 by one-half inch in width. Although there 

 was no snow to block the entrances in 

 any way, we found a number of colonies 

 with these large bridge spaces crammed with 

 dead bees, the small outside entrance being 

 plugged solid in some cases. We promptly 

 removed all the gates used to contract the 

 outer entrance for winter, as we felt it 

 would be taking too great a risk if a heavy 

 snow storm should come while the bridges 

 were filled up with dead bees. 



I attribute this unusual condition alto- 

 gether to the fact that the bees, being able to 

 move around nearly every day (most of the 

 colonies were very strong in the fall), clean- 

 ed out all their dead bees and carried them 

 into the bridge passageway, but it was too 

 cool to allow them to take them outside, so 

 they gradually clogged these large spaces. 

 If it had been severe weather the dead bees 

 would have been left under the combs, on 

 the bottom-board; and, on the other hand, if 

 there had been days warm enough for a 

 flight, the dead would have been carried out 

 at once. J. L. Byer. 



Markham, Ontario. 



PEDDLING AT WHOLESALE PRICES 



How This Folly Lowers the General Market for 

 Honey 



I sell directly to the retail stores and sell 

 practically all of it within the county. This 

 year I started with the 5-ponnd pail at 

 $1.00 and the 10-pound pail at $1.90. I 

 should have kept it at those prices probably, 

 but some outsiders came in and peddled it 

 out at less. I have now put the retail price 

 at 90c and $1.65. Tlie storekeepers get 20c 

 for selling the 5-pound pails and 40c for sell- 

 ing the 10-pound pails. I put an advertise- 

 ment in the local papers giving prices and 

 tlie stores wliere it can be bought. Two 

 years ago Smith & Son, Jefferson, Iowa, sold 

 1200 pounds of my honey, and the same 

 vear a meat market in Churdan. Iowa, sold 

 1200 pounds. The sales were rather slow to 

 begin with this year, but are improving fast 

 now. When I have an advertisement in- 

 serted in a paper I alwavs give the editor 

 a 5-pound pail gratis. Geo. M. Thomson. 



Grand Junction, Iowa. 



