1895. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



791 



way, the stubborn bees would probably have been all right if 

 they'd been taken younger. 



Socialism in Bees. — That case wherein the last drop of 

 honey was divided anions the whole colony, mentioned by 

 Mr. Demaree on pase 758, is a very striking one, and I think 

 it is the regular thing in all cases of starvation — certainly in 

 all that ever I observed. I think there is one exception, how- 

 ever, as to perfect equality. The queen seems to have a little 

 bigger share than the others, for she's always one of the last 

 to succumb. 



A Bad Break. — Quite refreshing it is to read on page 

 760 about that ^471,000 to be reached in the short space of 

 10 years, to say nothing about the odd §40, but it is too bad 

 that in an article so solid and thoroughly reliable throughout, 

 our Learned friend should have made the statement that bees 

 get honey from willow-buds. Such a statement is utterly mis- 

 leading, and may cause untold disappointment in the minds of 

 some who find the willows covered with 5mc7s, but no honey 

 therefrom. Mr. Learned would And out, if he took the 

 trouble to investigate, that willow blossoms and not buds sup- 

 ply nectar. Too bad that such a solid article should be 

 marred by such " a bad break." 



Chicago Honey Prices. — The editor says on page 764, 

 " It seems to me that the actual wholesale selling prices of 

 honey on the very day the dealer quotes should be given." 

 On the next page the editor speaks of 10 per cent, commis- 

 sion. I think 5 per cent, is the usual commission on sales of 

 honey in Chicago. Are there exceptions ? And if so, on what 

 grounds do any charge twice as much as common ? 



The First Volume. — Of late I see occasional quotations 

 in these pages from the American Bee Journal for 1861. 

 That's wise. What a mine of wealth that volume seemed 34 

 years ago. And to this day I refer to that volume oftener 

 than to any other. 



Late Extracting. — Referring to page 771, Mr. Bevins 

 has my gracious permission to lick the extracting-knife as 

 often as he pleases, provided it be washed off before being 

 used again ; but in the name of all that's reasonable, what 

 business has he using an uncapping-knife in November ? 



The Chicago Honey JMarket. — A correspondent has 

 been looking up the Chicago markets, and finds honey, both 

 comb and extracted, offered at one of the leading department 

 stores at 20 cents; the honey bearing the label of a firm 

 which quotes in the honey column of this Journal extracted 

 at 6 to 7 cents, and comb at 13 to 15 cents. He thinks bee- 

 keepers should be warned against such robbery. I confess I 

 don't know enough to decide just what is the right thing in 

 such matters. There are so many stand-points from which to 

 look. The consumer, while sitting at the breakfast-table en- 

 joying the nice tumbler of extracted honey for which he has 

 paid 20 cents, looking over his morning paper sees extracted 

 honey quoted at 6 to 7 cents. He says at once : "That grocer 

 has charged me three prices for that honey. It's sheer rob- 

 bery. At the outside he ought not to have charged me more 

 than 10 cents, and that would have given him 50 per cent, 

 profit — enough profit for any business?" 



The producer who happens to see the honey sold at 20 

 cents, says: "Twenty cents is none too much for such honey 

 as that. But the man who paid me only 7 cents for it just 

 robbed me of about 13 cents." 



The dealer says : " I ought to be able to sell that honey 

 for more, but other stores sell at that, and so I can't go above 

 20. You see when I pay 7 cents for a pound of honey, and 5 

 cents for the package, that makes it 12 cents. Then when I 

 pay for having a man to put it up and label it, that brings it 

 up to about 14 ; and when I've paid my rent and other ex- 

 penses I can hardly make a living selling it at 20. I declare, 

 I must see if I can't buy at less price, for its robbery to pay 7 

 cents." 



Now I might go on theorizing about how the thing should 

 be, but I'll leave that for others. As a producer, I feel like 

 saying: " In view of the real value of honey, and comparing 

 it with butter, it seems the consumer can aflford to pay 20 

 cents; but I'd like the thing managed in some way to get as 

 large a slice as possible out of the 20." How shall it be man- 

 aged ? Here's a fair subject for discussion. Who will turn 

 on the light? Perhaps the most unprejudiced view might be 

 given by those who are both producers and dealers. 



Foul Brood. — A bee-keeper raises the question whether 

 there may not be danger in attempting the cure of foul brood 



as given on page 591, in view of the fact that the instruction 

 is to feed the diseased colony at a time when " the bees have 

 no other sources," and that this is one of the conditions ab- 

 solutely essential to success. The thought is that there would 

 be great danger of spreading the disease by such feeding, and 

 there seems ground for fear, from the fact that the diseased 

 colonies are weakened by the disease, and poorly able to de- 

 fend themselves, and that there is always some danger of 

 starting robbing by feeding a weak colony, that danger being 

 very greatly intensified by having the feeding take place at a 

 time when the bees have no other resources. The owner of 

 the bees, however, might argue thus: "Better that others 

 should suffer a little inconvenience than that I should suffer a 

 great loss. If this is a sure and easy cure, I want to apply it 

 to my colonies, and if the disease does become spread in all 

 directions thereby, it will be but little trouble for others to 

 cure their bees as I have mine." 



I confess to a depth of ignorance as to any personal 

 knowledge of foul brood, and would like to know what those 

 who are familiar with it have to say, especially such men as 

 Mr. McEvoy and Dr. Howard. Marengo^ III. 



A Building for Wintering Bees. 



BY L. M. WILLIS. 



I have just read Dr. Miller's reply to R. R., on page 729, 

 in regard to wintering bees in a building not frost-proof. It 

 strikes me that this is just the place for me to chime in and 

 give my way of wintering bees. My building is like unto two 

 boxes, the inner one 12 inches smaller all around except the 

 bottom, than the outside one, which is common rough lumber 

 built like all balloon frame buildings — the one thickness of 

 boards have battens over the cracks ; the roof is shingled ; 

 one thickness of jointed boards comprise the floor for both; 

 and the inner part has a flat roof of one-inch rough boards. 



I put four inches of chaff on the floor, and fill the 12-inch 

 space with the same. The inner walls are covered with 

 building-paper. I nail strips of fencing to pieces of 2x4 

 scantling, set edgewise, and upon these strips I set the hives 

 as close as I can. When it gets too cold for bees to remain 

 out-doors, I take one hive at a time and draw it to this build- 

 ing, upon a hand-sled, if we have snow or not. I remove the 

 cover and place a piece of gunny-sack directly over the 

 frames ; upon this I put a shallow super with pattern-slats 

 left in ; I fill the super with chaff. Across the super I put a 

 piece of lath at each end ; upon the pieces of lath I put 

 another hive, and tier up three or four deep, and put the 

 cover on the last hive, with lath under it. This gives space 

 for the steam to pass out, but doesn't let much cold in. I 

 leave the bottom-boards on, but leave the entrance open. The 

 entrance to my hives are ?i;xl2 inches. 



When my bees are all in, I shut the door, which is filled 

 like the wall space. I have a 4-inch vent in the roof of the 

 inner box, which opens into the outside room. 



I have wintered bees in this house, and had them in fine 

 condition each spring, without any loss worth mentioning. I 

 have lowered a thermometer down through the ventilator 

 when the mercury showed 6° below zero in the place where 

 the bees were ; at that time it was423 below zero out-of-doors. 

 I have frequently tested it, and found it to show almost a zero 

 temperature. 



My bees are always well supplied with stores, and strong 

 in bees when put into winter quarters. 



Now, I expect to see some doubts expressed in print, on 

 this style of wintering, but I think I can show hives as free 

 from mold and dead bees in the spring as any one. When I 

 put the bees out in the spring I close the entrance to 3 inches, 

 and leave the super and chaff just as it was, except that I put 

 the cover on tight. My bees are out-doors yet. 



Loyal, Wis., Nov. 18. 



Report of the California State Convention. 



BY J. H. MARTIN. 



November 18, 2 p.m., found Pres. Cook in the chair, and 

 a fair attendance at the meeting of the California State Bee- 

 Keepers' Association in Los Angeles. 



This meeting proposed to devote much of its time to the 

 subject of marketing honey. The discussion upon methods of 

 marketing started off lively. The Los Angeles County Bee- 

 Keepers' Association presented the plan of selling the product 

 of that county through one firm, and Mr. Edwards, of the firm 



