696 



THE AMERICAl^ BEE JOURNAL. 



rest being small, half ripe, fit only for 

 cooking. Here I was paying $8 per 

 bushel for a very inferior fruit. I 

 happened to know that in the adjoin- 

 ing State of Missouri, better peaches 

 could be bought for 15 cents per 

 bushel. Of course 1 want no more 

 such peaches at those prices. The 

 nice packages were all right, and 

 added greatly to their selling value. 

 It is also valuable to put the best on 

 top, just as we put the whitest comb 

 honey next to the glass; but it is 

 down right dishonesty to put an en- 

 tirely inferior grade where it cannot 

 be seen. 



There is also something radically 

 wrong with the distribution, when 



geaches are allowed to rot, or are 

 auled to some neighboring " still 

 house " and sold at 15 cents per bushel, 

 which, at a reasonable price, could be 

 readily sold, only a few hundred miles 

 away. As long as there are no better 

 means of distributing this fruit, the 



Eroducer in Missouri will mourn that 

 e cannot get more than 15 cents per 

 bushel, and the man in Illinois will 

 lament that he cannot buy it without 

 paying $8 for them. 



EQUALIZING THE MARKETS. 



The same conditions, in a less de- 

 gree, apply to honey. Surely, with all 

 our railroad and river transportation, 

 there ought to be very much less dif- 

 ference in the selling and buying 

 prices as here indicated. How many 

 people can buy fruit at such prices V 

 How many thousands of basKets is 

 the demand cut short ? I do not pre- 

 tend to say where all this difference 

 goes ; if to the railroads, it is cer- 

 tainly a very short-sighted policy, as 

 they could as well carry ten times the 

 quantity, and by lower rates still 

 greatly increase their receipts. If 

 the trouble is with the packers or 

 commission men, then their methods 

 are equally short-sighted. It is quite 

 likely that there are entirely too 

 many of the middle men in the 

 business. 



Why cannot the producer pack and 

 ship his own fruit or honey direct to 

 the retail dealer or commission man '? 

 Then if there are over-charges they 

 can be more easily located and avoid- 

 ed. I believe in allowing every one 

 a fair profit for doing a necessary and 

 fair business. I fail to see where any 

 one is permanently benefited, where 

 by any circumstances they can force 

 prices so high that people cannot 

 afford to buy, and often let goods go 

 to waste. 



Milan, K3 Ills. 



For tlie American Bee JoumaL 



MoYing Bees lieforeWinteriiiE, etc, 



THOMAS STOKES. 



As Query 481, on page 644, relates 

 to moving bees before winter, and 

 having had experience the past year 

 in that particular, I will give it for 

 the benefit of those interested. 



Last fall I 'had occasion to move to 

 a new place about a quarter of a mile 

 distant. Having built a workshop 



with a cellar under it, and not being 

 able to move the bees early, in con- 

 sequence of the premises being oc- 

 cupied with young children in the 

 family, my only resort was to move 

 them at the time, and directly place 

 them in the cellar, as I reported last 

 winter on page 153. 



They wintered well, to all appear- 

 ance, and in the spring they seemed 

 in good condition, with only a reason- 

 able amount of dead bees. On April 

 8 I removed 10 colonies from the cel- 

 lar, it being a fine day, and the same 

 evening I returned 8 of them, packing 

 the supers in the others with straw to 

 keep them warm. The balance of the 

 colonies were left in until the end of 

 April, without a flight until fine 

 weather. 



In this locality, nearly four weeks 

 of continued fine,dry weather brought 

 on the blossoms early, and abundant- 

 ly, so that I could extract from nearly 

 all by the end of May. Those left out 

 from the first, continued steadily to 

 increase, and one colony swarmed on 

 June 6 ; while those having a flight 

 came out next best, and those left in 

 until nearly May dwindled down very 

 much, the steady work day after day 

 wearing the old bees out before young 

 ones were hatched in sufficient num- 

 bers to keep up the strength of the 

 colony. Those put out for a flight, 

 on removing them, finally had a good 

 deal of brood, while those having no 

 flight had little or no brood. 



Of course this was an exceptional 

 year, but my experience based on it, 

 would be that if they had to be placed 

 in the cellar without a flight, I would 

 give them one as early as possible 

 next spring, and return them or pack 

 them on putting them out, and leave 

 them. 



MY REPORT FOR 1887. 



I started on June 1 with 29 colonies, 

 from good ones to mere nuclei, and 

 increased to 58 by the first week of 

 July, nearly all by natural swarming, 

 and all but 2 colonies having swarmed 

 by that time. I took 600 pounds of 

 honey, mostly extracted. I think 

 there is much experience gained this 

 year not to be found written in the 

 books. For I for one was not calcu- 

 lating on so sudden a cut-off of nec- 

 tar, but was managing to have all 

 swarming done awhile before linden 

 bloom, a la Doolittle ; and when nearly 

 accomplished, on came the linden 

 fully 10 days ahead of other years, 

 and with it the close of the honey sea- 

 son ; while in previous years our most 

 surplus is obtained from July 15 to 

 the end of August, and during that 

 time this year they did not get enough 

 for brood-rearing, but have consumed 

 a large amount of stores. 



The dry weather continued here 

 until Oct. 1, when it was wet for two 

 weeks. I have doubled back my colo- 

 nies to 39, and they are not all as 

 heavy as I could wish. Had I known 

 it, more surplus could have been ob- 

 tained by giving more room and dis- 

 couraging swarming a short time 

 longer; but instead I have a lot of 

 good combs ready for use when next 

 season arrives. 



Minesing, Ont., Oct. 19, 1887. 



Rural Canadian. 



DisDlay at tlie Toronto Exliiliition. 



This department of " Canada's 

 Greatest Fair " was located the pres- 

 ent year in the southern half or the 

 dairy building, an arrangement which 

 gave ampler accommodation inside, 

 but allowed no exterior space for 

 hives, tents, clamps, and other bulky 

 fixtures. The honey-house used here- 

 tofore was much too strait, both for 

 the exhibit and the visitors who 

 wished to see it. Now that the asso- 

 ciation is flush in funds, it would be 

 well to erect a building specially for 

 he accommodation of honey-produ- 

 cers and dealers in apiarian supplies. 



It is well known that the present 

 season has been an unfavorable one 

 for the interests of bee-keepers. A 

 hard winter was followed by a dry, 

 hot summer, during which the honey- 

 flora bloomed but sparingly, and was 

 very deficient in liquid sweetness. 

 Consequently the crop of honey is 

 short, so much so, that some who 

 have been prominent exhibitors here- 

 tofore, have not a pound of honey to 

 sell or to display to the eyes of an ad- 

 miring public. Still, it is only by the 

 conspicuous absence of noted exhibi- 

 tors that any impression would be 

 gathered that the season of 1887 has 

 been a bad one for honey. There 

 seemed to be abundance of it in jars 

 and cans of all sorts and sizes : also, 

 in sections and section-cases of vari- 

 ous dimensions and shapes. The 

 quality of this year's honey is very 

 fine. It is unusually thick and rich. 

 Sometimes there is complaint of 

 honey being thin and watery. This 

 is apt to be its character in a dropping 

 summer. However deficient in quan- 

 tity, it is A No. 1 in quality the pres- 

 ent year. The samples competing for 

 prizes were so uniformly good as 

 greatly to puzzle the judges. 



Large quantities of honey were sold 

 in the course of the Exhibition. In 

 addition to the supply brought for 

 show purposes, orders were taken for 

 future delivery, at good prices. Bee- 

 keepers will not have to complain of 

 a slow or a low market the present 

 year, and perhaps the demand, whet- 

 ted by scarcity, will be all the keener 

 in years to come than it would have 

 been under the influence of a con- 

 tinued glut. 



It will be well for all whom it may 

 concern, to take notice that hereafter 

 the cutting of honey for sale is to be 

 prohibited at the Toronto Industrial, 

 as it ought to be at all exhibitions. 

 This practice is messy and slovenly, 

 attracts the bees of the neighborhood 

 in large multitudes, making visitors 

 nervous and fearful of being stung ; 

 and though many pounds of honey 

 are sold by means of it, there is room 

 to question if the greatest good of the 

 greatest number is secured by it. At 

 any rate, the fiat has gone forth, and 

 such bee-keepers as want to sell 5 

 cents' worth of comb honey at the 

 Toronto Industrial hereafter will 

 have to get their bees to fill quarter- 

 pound sections. 



Several novelties in the way of api- 

 arian fixtures were on exhibition. 



