THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



375 



mnch higher in New Yorlv, tliere 

 will be no d.inger of glucose adultera- 

 tion. Is this tlie way the "great im- 

 porting firm " is aiding American 

 apiculture V While it is true tliat 

 supply and demand has more to do 

 with the ups and downs of prices, it 

 is also true that cornerers are still 

 cornering the markets. Two yearsago. 

 the Chicago market was depressed to 

 your and our injury, by oneortwo 

 reckless uncalculating producers 

 shoving their lioney on the market at 

 prices that were not only damaging 

 to all producers, but far below what 

 they miglit have had, had they only 

 known enough to liave asked it. 



The comb honey of 1882 should net 

 the producer, in all the large markets 

 of the world, not less than 20 to 2oc. 

 per lb., according to quality. The ex- 

 tracted not less than 10 to 15c. I have 

 not sold one pound of honey in kegs 

 and barrels, for the last three or four 

 years, for less than 12 to 15c. per lb.; 

 while my comb honey has netted me 

 nearly the prices quoted above. Of 

 course, the extracted was ripe, and 

 the comb was in nice marketable 

 shape. I refer to that style of goods, 

 which is now mainly produced by all 

 bee-keepers. Tub and pail honey is 

 getting scarce, and there is no need 

 for "scalping" our commodity any 

 longer. Let every honey producer 

 look about him and observe the prices 

 he pays for everv bit of produce he 

 obtains, and let him realize the fact 

 that under these conditions, it is the 

 natural course of events that our com- 

 modity should also advance. Horace 

 Greeley said " the way to resume" 

 was to " resume," and 1 say the way 

 to get wliat our honey is worth and 

 costing us, is to ask it. 



Look well to this feature of the 

 season. Tliose who will not protect 

 their own interests will soon be sold 

 out, and theirgoods will just cultivate 

 an appetite for ours, and the luxury- 

 loving consumers are going to be will- 

 ing to pay us a price in keeping with 

 the cost of otlier produce. All of 

 honey's competitors are going to be 

 scarce. First is fruit— the late cold 

 season has killed the bulk of the crop 

 in most locations, as well as cutting 

 away a portion of ours. Butter will 

 remain higher this year than for 

 several seasons past. Why " comb 

 honey 11 to 16c.V" 



[While we agree with Mr. Ileddon, 

 that the prospect for remunerative 

 prices for honey were never better 

 than tliis season, we certainly cannot 

 indorse the implied strictures for giv- 

 ing correct reports of quotations in 

 Kew York. We have no apology to 

 make for Messrs. Thurber & Co., nor 

 for any one else who may have been 

 identified in doubtful transactions 

 heretofore ; but had they reported 

 honey at a figure above its market 

 value, we cannot see where any ad- 

 vantage would result to the producer. 

 By reference to our market quotations 

 for New York in this issue, it will be 

 seen D. W. Quinby quotes honey at 



the same figure the Tliurbers did, and 

 there is no one to impeach the correct- 

 ness of Mr. Quinby. One fact must 

 be taken into consideration in con- 

 nection with this subject, viz., that 

 where honey can easily be sold in 

 November at ie(n 22c., the same honey 

 would perhaps bring but ll@16c. if 

 held over till May and June, when 

 much would be candied and culled, 

 and when, too, holders are forcing tlie 

 market, in anticipation of tlie new 

 crop. We hope our readers will never 

 lose a good sale of comb honey in the 

 fall or early winter, in anticipation of 

 improved prices in the spring— they 

 will meet nine failures where one 

 success greets them. — Ed.] 



For Uie American Bee JournaL 



Wiutering Hees in Clamps. 



THOMAS CHANTRY. 



In number 20 of the Bee Journal, 



1 saw an article from W. Z. Hutchin- 

 son, who quotes my experience to 

 some extent. I also saw the article 

 from Mr. Kobinson, but lirst I saw a 

 description of a bee clamp in Lang- 

 stroth's " Hive and Honey Bee," 

 which I partly imitated in the winter 

 of 1877-78 with perfect success. It 

 was the first colony I ever had. I 

 took it from a tree on the loth of 

 September, 1877. The bees eat but 

 little honey. I constructed my clamp 

 as did Messrs Robinson and Hutchin- 

 son, except I placed a tube 10 feet 

 long, made from 4 inch boards on the 

 scantling that I placed the hive on, 

 and let it extend perpendicularly in 

 the air, putting my covering all around 

 it. If I had had ground that I thought 

 was dry enough, I should not have 

 placed this tube in, but as there was 

 no side opening there could be no 

 draught through, nor change of tem- 

 perature. 



I dug my trench last fall, near my 

 apiary, 2 feet deep by 2 feet wide, and 

 long enough for (1 colonies, and placed 

 my scantling 6 inches below the sur- 

 face in the trench, built my pen and 

 filled it with dry oat straw, and set 6 

 of the weakest colonies (covering 

 from 5 to 7 American frames), on tlie 

 scantling, and covered the hives all 

 over with the dry straw, taking care 

 that it was not packed around but 

 was as loose as I could make it, then 

 placed the lube, made of 6 inch boards, 

 on the scantling with a cap, and to 

 prevent anything from falling down 

 inside of it made airholes under the 

 cap and covered it as described by Mr. 

 H., except I only covered it with 

 about 12 inches of dirt, and let that 

 remain till frozen then covered with 



2 feet of cane stalks and straw. 

 When I dug the dirt off and opened 

 them, the 1st of April, before I could 

 set them on their summer stands they 

 were flying, and the colonies seemed 

 as heavy as when placed in 5 months 

 before. 



They seemed only to have slept 



over night. The stronger were strong 

 as ever ; the weaker were as good as 

 they were last fall ; one had brood in 

 all stages, and as soon as they were 

 set out they all commenced breeding 

 very fast, and are now as strong as 

 any that wintered on the summer 

 stands. I am pleased with my results 

 of wintering in clamps. It is clieaper 

 to me than a cellar, and I shall try it 

 on a larger scale next winter. Those 

 that have not a good cellar had better 

 try it, and not be afraid of smother- 

 ing the bees ; but it must be dry. 

 Adair, Iowa. 



For tbe American Bee JonmaL 



Work of the Overflow. 



M. a. GARRETT. 



Bees came through the winter with- 

 out much loss. The winter being mild, 

 my bees had a pleasant time of it. I 

 had 87 colonies in the fall, and doubled 

 them back to 70, so as to have them 

 strong for winter. On the lOtli of 

 February I put on honey boxes, for 

 the season was much earlier than 

 usual. I gave M. A. Garrett, Jr., my 

 son, half my bees, which he moved to 

 my new home some half mile from 

 where I am overseeing. I left mine 

 at their old location. About the 20th 

 of February the water began to rise 

 from 2 to 8 inches in 24 hours. Having 

 a large levee aiound our place we felt 

 safe from any danger, as we had a 

 large draining wheel to keep out 

 seepage water. Unfortunately the 

 water came to such a height that our 

 levee gave way, and in 12 hours I had 

 to put my 35 colonies on my gallery. 

 It continued to rise till I had 3 feet o£ 

 water in my house when I put my bees 

 on a scaffold on the gallery, and in 

 every window in the house. I then 

 had to abandon my house to seek a 

 dry place of safely for myself to stay. 

 During my absence we had quite a 

 storm, which washed the most of 

 them off. My son had his in a new 

 building elvated 6 feet from the 

 ground. The waves turned it over 

 and he lost his entire apiary. To- 

 gether we lost 60 colonies ; 59 were 

 Italians; 2"> empty hives and lioney 

 boxes, besides several hundred 

 frames. We estimate our loss in bees, 

 honey, etc., to amount to $865 ; I lost, 

 besides, my entire crop of cane and 

 corn. Some of my brother bee-keep- 

 ers thought I ought to have saved 

 my bees ill a boat. That would have 

 been hard to do. They were in clus- 

 ters as large as my head at the 

 entrances, and you could not smoke 

 them in; in fact I do not thi'ik they 

 had room, as they were full of honey 

 and strong with bees. It is very easy 

 to stand off and see a fight going on, 

 and after it is all over to say, " you 

 ought to have done this and the other ; 

 you would have whipped," when, if 

 they were in the same place, they 

 would not liave done so well. The 

 bees were cross and kept up a con- 

 tinual motion, as if all were going to 

 swarm at once. This, I suppose, was 

 caused by moving them so often. I 

 extracted a half barrel of honey from 

 what I had left, and had plenty left in 



