804 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



December 3, 



The motion was seconded and carried by a unanimous 

 vote. 



Mr. Abbott — I do not exactly want to make a motion, but 

 I will make a suggestion first. I want to suggest that it would 

 be a good idea if the General Manager would prepare a form 

 of such a letter as would be good for the members to send to 

 their congressmen. There are a good many people who are 

 not acquainted with the forms and methods of addressing 

 public men, and they would shrink a little from sitting down 

 and addressing their congressmen themselves, when if there 

 was a form already prepared they could simply put their 

 names to it and send it in. I have been informed by the vice- 

 president of the Pure Food Congress that owing to the war 

 the matter was crowded out of the last Congress. Doubtless 

 there would have been favorable reports from the committee 

 in both houses, but the excitement of the war came on, atid It 

 was crowded out. There is no question but what the next 

 Congress will take the matter up. If we would take it up as 

 individuals in connection with the efforts of the General Man- 

 ager, I think that would aid materially in securing the pas- 

 sage of the law. The Busy Bee is perfectly willing to give 

 the Genera] Manager all the space he wants for the publica- 

 tion of such a letter, and I have no doubt the other bee-papers 

 of the United States would be glad to do the same. I believe 

 that would be very helpful. If it is considered worth while, I 

 would move that the General Manager be requested to prepare 

 such a letter. 



The motion was then seconded. 



Mr. Secor — My object in copying my letter to Mr. Hep- 

 burn, the chairman of that committee, was particularly to 

 let you know how I addrest a congressman on the subject. You 

 will also remember that in my report last spring to the Wash- 

 ington congress, I did give a copy of a letter that I had for- 

 mulated, and suggested that those who could not do better 

 should Send to their congressman such a letter. Of course, I 

 shall be willing to do what I can to aid in the matter. 



Dr. Miller — It may be that a form of letter as long as our 

 General Manager's is not likely to be copied by a great many. I 

 think we should have something quite short and to the point ; 

 if it doesn't take a great deal of time to re-write it, the mem- 

 bers would be more likely to do it. I believe that such a let- 

 ter would be very useful, indeed. I have just tried to think of 

 myself as trying to write a letter of that kind. The chances 

 are that I would put it off from day to day, and that it would 

 not get written at all. If Mr. Secor would fix one up that 

 would cover the case, I think I would take the time to copy It. 

 Some one near me suggests that the letters would be too much 

 alike; but don't forget this, that Instead of one man getting 

 the whole lot, a whole lot of men will get one letter each, and 

 . the chances are that they are not- going to compare their 

 letters. 



Mr. Danzenbaker — I do not fear the effect of their being 

 all alike. It you were to clip a printed article out of a paper 

 and write that you fully endorse it and that you desire your 

 congressman's influence, and put your name to It, that is 

 enough. He will read It and heed its contents as much as if 

 you wrote it out yourself. 



FREIGHT KATES ON BEES IN LESS THAN CAR-LOTS. 



Pres. York — There Is no doubt that such letters have 

 great influence. I would like to ask how many knew some 

 time ago that there was an effort going to be made to reduce 

 freight-rates on bees in less than carloads. How many knew 

 that, In time to write to the chairman of the Classification 

 Committee? 



Six hands were raised in answer to the President's ques- 

 tion. 



Pres. York — Now I would like to know how many of you 

 wrote such letters. 



Three hands were raised in answer to the last question. 



Pres. York — I saw the private secretary of the chairman 

 of the Classification Committee, and he told me that few bee- 

 keepers had shown any interest at all in the matter. There 

 would have been a good chance for its passage, but there were 

 only a few letters that came in endorsing the change, and that 

 was a very strong reason why nothing was done with it. 

 There were some freight handlers on some northern road that 

 said they were afraid of bees, and as the bee-keepers had 

 shown so little interest the matter was simply pigeon-holed. 



Mr. Lathrop — It was the Wisconsin Bee-Keepers' Associa- 

 tion that first made an effort to get that change made, and we 

 expected the meeting of the Committee to be held In Chicago. 

 I believe they usually hold It in Chicago; but the meeting was 

 held in Manitou, Colo. If it had been held at Chicago, we ex- 

 pected to have some bee-keepers prepare bees properly for 

 shipment and take them to the committee rooms and show 

 those men that bees could be put up in such a way that they 



would be safe to handle and ship as any other freight ; but the 

 fact of the meeting being held in Colorado prevented our doing 

 that. I think the bee-keepers believe it is important that we 

 secure the change. My business has been for a good many 

 years In handling freight, and I believe it would be all right 

 to ship bees by freight if the bee-keepers used good judgment. 

 Of course, if he shipt when it was too hot, he might lose all 

 his bees; but they would be taken at owner's risk, and if the 

 bee-keeper did not use good judgment there would be no loss 

 to the railroad company. 



Dr. Miller — I think as a matter of history Mr. Lathrop is 

 mistaken in thinking that the Wisconsin Bee-Keepers' Asso- 

 ciation made the initial effort toward securing this change. 

 The same effort had been made before. 



Mr. Rauchfuss — In regard to the effort that was made 

 toward getting the freight-rates reduced, I want to say that 

 the Colorado bee-keepers were nob aware of it ; Mr. Aikin did 

 not inform any one of us about it, and the first I knew of it 

 was when he came into our store on his way to Manitou. We 

 could have taken some steps toward getting some bees prop- 

 erly prepared and brought before the committee, and I am 

 sure that that would have had some influence. 



Mr. Diuzeubaker — I had a little experience In trying to 

 get a car for the shipment of some bees. I had 40 colonies 

 that I wanted to ship from North Carolina to Virginia. They 

 said I might put into the car 20,000 pounds, but I hadn't 

 anything like that. I could have the car, but I must pay for 

 20,000 pounds. Then I askt If I could put In 4,000 or 5,000 

 pounds of honey and a couple thousand pounds of bee-hive 

 material ; but I couldn't do that. The whole weight of it 

 would not make over 8,000 pounds, but they would not allow 

 me to ship a car with 8,000 pounds if I paid for 20,000 if it 

 was made up in that way. I considered that a great injustice. 

 They had an agreement in their association that prevented 

 their doing it. I think that is an outrage. I could have 

 taken the car and shipt the 40 colonies of bees, if they had 

 allowed me to put In the honey and supplies with them. 



Mr. Abbott's motion, that the General Manager be re- 

 quested to prepare a form of letter to be addrest by the mem- 

 bers to their respective congressmen, and that the bee-papers 

 of the country be requested to publish such letter, was then 

 submitted to a vote and carried. 



LContlaued next week.] 



No. 7 The Care of Bees for Wintering. 



BT C. r. DADANT. 



When we began putting our bees into the cellar, we were 

 more afraid than necessary, of leaving them in too long. So 

 we often delayed the job too much. It Is of great importance 

 that they be taken in shortly after they have had a good 

 cleansing flight, because If they go in with empty bowels It 

 stands to reason that they can endure much longer confine- 

 ment than If ihey have already been compelled by the cold to 

 consume a certain amount of food. So we have been in the 

 habit of taking them in after a mild spell, at the time when 

 the wind turns and the mercury falls. We often waited till 

 the middle of December, but later decided that a cold spell in 

 November was much safer for the removal. 



A number of apiarists say that they pay no attention to 

 the spot occupied by the bees when removed, and that when 

 they take them out in the spring it does not matter much 

 where they are placed, whether on the exact spot they occupied 

 before winter, or in the place of one another. Once or twice 

 we had considerable trouble from changing the location of 

 hives, and have positively ascertained that many of the bees 

 remember their former location, after three months of winter- 

 ing, so we take particular pains to mark each hive's stand. To 

 do this without trouble, we leave the cap, or cover, with the 

 roof over it, in the exact spot occupied by the hive, and re- 

 move only the brood-chamber to the cellar. In this manner 

 the hives occupy a much smaller space, and it is easier to give 

 them good ventilation, which Is absolutely necessary to keep 

 the combs from molding, if the cellar is at all damp. The 

 farther north one goes the less trouble there is on that score, 

 and I have visited bee-keepers in Minnesota who told me that 

 they had no trouble whatever of this description. 



