134 



THE AMERICA!? BEE JOURNAL. 



just what they choose to give, or else 

 not sell to them at all. The man who 

 is more extensively engaged in the 

 business, and has established a repu- 

 tation for producing an extra-nice 

 article of honey, may stand a little 

 better chance ; yet he is very largely 

 at the mercy of the ruling prices in 

 the large cities. 



Who, then, is to blame for the low 

 prices which prevail in those large 

 markets? Is it not fair to conclude 

 that every one who sends honey to 

 those markets, when they are already 

 fully supplied, is repousible for the 

 depression of prices, just in proportion 

 to the amount which he sends in V 

 Because when any market has a suf- 

 ficient supply to meet all demands, it 

 does not take a very great overplus to 

 cause a reduction in prices ; and when 

 the prices are once down, it is not 

 easy to get them up again, so long as 

 an overplus is continually being forced 

 upon the market. Therefore, if all 

 would withhold their honey from 

 these great centres of trade, until the 

 supply is so reduced as to allow it to 

 command a fair price, it seems to me 

 that much better prices might then 

 be maintained ; not only in those 

 places, but also in our home markets. 

 Meanwhile, let every honey producer 

 be vigilant in working up a home 

 market, for there are thousands of 



Eeople in this great country that 

 ardly taste of honey from one year's 

 end to another, who would buy quite 

 freely if it was only placed where they 

 could get it without extra trouble. 

 Those who have never tried it tan 

 hardly realize how rapidly this home 

 trade will grow and develop if we 

 only furnisn the germ, and then 

 nourish it with a first-class article of 

 honey, and square dealing. 



Five years ago it was diflBcult to 

 sell honey at all in this town, but now 

 I can sell all the surplus I have with- 

 out any effort, only to get it ready. 

 To put up comb honey for private 

 family use, I make nice, light crates 

 to hold 12 sections each, after the 

 Heddon pattern, only instead of nail- 

 ing the cover on, I nail a thin mould- 

 ing all around the edge of the cover 

 in such a manner as to shut down 

 over the top of the crate about half an 

 inch, fitting closely to keep out flies, 

 ants, and all other troublesome in- 

 sects ; then give it two coats of good 

 light-green paint, and it is ready for 

 use. When the crate is filled with 

 nice comb honey, the snowy white- 

 ness of the combs showing through 

 the glass in the ends of the crate, 

 appears in beautiful contrast with the 

 color of the paint, and looks very neat 

 indeed; so that almost any house- 

 wife is captivated at first sight with 

 its inviting appearance, and is gen- 

 erally very willing to purchase aerate. 

 These crates, if properly eared for, 

 will last for years, and can be refilled 

 as often as desired. 



For the grocery-trade I made a 

 show-case with a drawer underneath 

 the glass part in which can be placed 

 a quantity of sections for convenience 

 in supplying customers without open- 

 ing into the upper part where all 

 should be kept in neat and tasty order. 

 This case tilled with nice honey is 



kept standing in a conspicuous place 

 upon the counter in one of the lead- 

 ing stores in this town ; so that every 

 person who enters that store will be 

 sure to see it : and the result is that 

 the honey sells freely, and the demand 

 steadily increases. The fine appear- 

 ance of the honey thus exhibited has 

 often attracted the attention of 

 strangers who have visited this place 

 on business from Green Bay, Mil- 

 waukee and other places, so that 

 when about to return, they have on 

 several occasions bought some of this 

 honey to take home with them, saying 

 that it was the nicest thing of the 

 kind that they had seen. By means 

 of this show-case I have recently re- 

 ceived a number of orders for honey 

 from parties of whom 1 had never 

 before heard. I obtained 15 cents 

 per pound for comb, and 10 cents for 

 extracted honey, net, for last season's 

 entire crop ; and no freight nor com- 

 mission to be deducted therefrom. 



Now let every perpon who wants to make money, 

 By keeping of bees and producing of honey, 

 Consider a moment of what I am telling : 

 " Build up a home market," and do your own 



selling : 

 Don't give all the proflts away in commission. 

 For that leaves your purse In a wretched condi- 

 tion. 



It is foolishly wrong, yes more, 'tis a pity 

 To send all your honey away to the city. 

 When hundreds of people around you would buy It; 

 If you don't believe this, just start out and try it. 



When selling your honey, make good weight and 



measure ; 

 For that always gives to each customer pleasure. 

 Don't try to get gain by fraud and deceit- 

 Dishonesty always deserveth defeat. 



An injury often provoketh resentment- 

 Integrity brlngeth true peace and contentment. 

 Then be not repulsive through covetous blindness. 

 But treat every one with cordial klndnesf). 

 Be courteous, kind-hearted, magnetic, polite. 

 And 1 think you'll succeed in the business all 

 right. 



Seymour,o Wis. 



sior the American Bee JoomaL 



BniUing np Nuclei into Colonies. 



WM. MORSE. 



me, on June 18, 2 colonies, each hav- 

 ing 5 combs of brood and honey, 3 

 empty combs, and 24 one-pound sec- 

 tions half worked down. 



They kept on in the sections aa 

 though they had not been disturbed. 

 One gave me 105 pounds of honey in 

 one-pound sections, and the other 88 

 pounds. I think I can produce one- 

 third more honey with the same 

 strength of bees in the spring with a 

 " dividing hive," than any other hive 

 that I have seen, with less labor, and 

 can control the swarming. 



Kockford,5 Ills. 



Last spring I disposed of all of my 

 bees and fixtures except two 3-frame 

 nuclei, which were very weak. On 

 April 1 I transferred them to a 

 " dividing hive ;" each had 3 frames 

 partly filled with honey, and bees 

 enough to cover one side of one frame, 

 and no brood. As the weather was 

 cold I put hot stones wrapped in paper 

 on top of the frames every night and 

 morning. On April 6 one queen com- 

 menced laying. On April 9 the other 

 commenced laying, and when the 3 

 frames were well filled with brood 

 and honey, I gave another, and so on 

 until each had 5 frames well filled 

 with brood and honey. That was June 

 8; I then took one frame with bees 

 and queen and formed a nucleus, and 

 put the others together. That gave 

 me 1 good colony with 9 frames well 

 filled with brood and honey. 



I then put on 24 one-pound sections, 

 and on June 13 I tiered up with 24 

 more one-pound sections, and on June 

 18 all the sections were about half 

 worked down. I then put back the 

 frames of brood and queen, divided 

 them with a division-board between 

 them, and gave each 3 empty frames 

 and put on the sections; that gave 



For the American Bee Joornal.. 



Tlie Harrison Bee-Lawsnit. 



WM. F. CLARKE. 



The judges have given their de- 

 cision on our Canadian bee-lawsuit, 

 and bees are now virtually interdicted 

 as a nuisance, within the limits of 

 incorporated villages,towns and cities. 

 No appeal has been taken by the de- 

 fendant, and unless the Ontario Bee- 

 Keepers' Association moves in the 

 matter there will be none. I doubt 

 the wisdom of incurring any further 

 expense in the case. The higher 

 court would almost infallibly confirm 

 the judgment of the lower one. 



If nothing further is done, there 1» 

 a precedent established by which 

 magistrates, judges, and*courts will 

 be guided in all future complaints. 

 These will be made, we may be very 

 sure. The old proverb, " Let sleep- 

 ing dogs lie," applies. " All is quiet 

 along the Potomac" while every 

 canine in the region is locked in slum- 

 ber, but let one awake, and " give 

 voice," and the chorus of barks be- 

 comes universal. For my own part, I 

 shall " git eout " of the limits of the 

 corporation with my bees as quickly 

 as possible. I have been anticipating: 

 tills trouble for some time past, and 

 in re- letting my farm a year ago last 

 October, I reserved an old saw-mill 

 and about an acre-and-a-half of a 

 cedar grove, one of the loveliest spots 

 imaginable for an apiary, with right 

 of way, and a room in the farm-house, 

 for just the emergency which has 

 arisen. It will be a considerable in- 

 convenience, but there are several 

 mitigating circumstances, viz : 1. The 

 distance is only two miles. 2. It will 

 take my bees that much further from 

 an apiary now only a mile off in which 

 there was foul brood last summer. 3. 

 Danger of over-crowding, which was 

 beginning to loom up here in the city, 

 will be greatly lessened. 4. My farm 

 neighbor opposite sowed fifty acres 

 of Alsike clover last summer, which, 

 ought to be a bonanza for my bees. 

 It is not often that a calamity is at- 

 tended' with such, and so many at- 

 tendant circumstances calculated to- 

 lessen it. 



This precedent will quickly be 

 quoted far and wide through the 

 newspapers. It will have its infiuence 

 on the American as well as the Cana- 

 dian side of the lines. If a fight is 

 set up, I believe it will terminate dis- 

 astrously to bee-keepers. My voice 



