THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



335 



honey is actually selliiit;: aud if he is a cash 

 buyer he sliould say what price ho is payiug. 



Actiou was taken toward allowiuj,' the so- 

 ciety in future to be part and parcel of the 

 State society organized last winter. It was 

 the general opinion that this would be a good 

 thing for both sides, with no disadvantage 

 to either. In any case, the same members 

 will attend at Chicago, and, with low rates 

 so frequently available, and such a central 

 location, surrounded on all sides by live bee 

 keepers, there seems no good reason to sup- 

 pose that there will be any failure in always 

 liaviug a good convention in Chicago. 



That prince of secretaries and bee report- 

 ers, W. Z. Hutchinson, was busily engaged 

 throughout the session in pushing his pencil, 

 and we shall undoubtedly have a full report 

 in the proper time and place. 



Makengo, 111., Nov. 24. C. C. Miller." 



Why the Review is Crisp. 



" We were just glancing over a bundle of 

 letters when our eye took in the last number 

 of the Bee Keepers' Review whicli the clerk 

 had just laid on our desk. The letters were 

 immediately put down aud the Review 

 taken up. After we had glanced through it 

 pretty thoroughly the question came to us, 

 ' What makes the Review so crisp V and why 

 is it we take it up so quick when it comes ? 

 Is it because the editor quotes very largely 

 from Gleanings in his ' Extracted ' depart- 

 ment ? ' No, not exactly, although that is a 

 delicate compliment to this journal ; it is be- 

 cause the editor throws his whole being into 

 his paper. He loves it and his readers." — 

 Ci'leonings. 



Giving Stores of Comb Honey in Winter. 



It is not often that a bee keeper is caught 

 with bees lacking stores, and honey in combs 

 of a different size. / have been in just that 

 predicament, and solved the trouble exactly 

 as D. A. Jones tells, in the C. B. J., how he 

 has managed in such a case. He says :— 



"A friend inquired a short time ago what 

 he would do with a few of his colonies that 

 had not sufficient stores for winter, and yet 

 it was so cold they had refused to take up 

 more. He said he had plenty of sealed 

 combs of honey, but unfortunately they 

 being of a different size did not fit the hives. 

 We know how to sympathize with him, be- 

 cause we have bi>en there ourselves, but got 

 over the difficulty in this way : When the 

 hives were short of stores we took some of 

 the heaviest sealed combs, cut two or three 

 holes through the center, and placed one 

 over the top of the frames, first placing a 

 stick about half an inch thick around the 

 edge to raise the comb up, and leave a bee 

 space between it on top of frames. We 

 then put a few strips here and there over the 

 frames to prevent the center from sagging. 

 The bees consume all the honey in the hive 

 and then ascend to this comb and commence 

 eating it out. They will work up through 

 the holes cut in the comb, when they have 

 all the honey eaten from the under side and 



commence from the top side. If we find 

 that they have scarcely enough we put a 

 second comb on top of it, with three-fourth 

 or inch strips run so that when it sags it will 

 not touch the other comb. This does not 

 disturb the bees, and in this way we have 

 wintered some colonies short of stores, and 

 brought them through in very tine condi- 

 tion." 



I have never fed bees in this way out of 

 doors in cold weather, but presume it might 

 be done if the top of the hives were well 

 covered with carpeting, paper, etc., placed 

 over the added combs of honey. When 

 feeding bees in this manner in the cellar 

 I have always placed several thicknesses of 

 old carpet over the top of the hives to confine 

 the heat. When the extra combs of honey 

 are the same size as those in the hives where 

 the bees need feeding, they can be placed in 

 the hives, but this may not always be so 

 easily and pleasantly done as by laying the 

 honey on top of the frames as just described. 



Keeping Everlastingly at It. 



Mr. W. C. Frazier, of Atlantic, Iowa, is to 

 conduct an apiarian department in the 

 Huniestead, a paper published at Des Moines, 

 Iowa. This I learn from the .4, B. J., which 

 copies a few paragraphs from Mr. Frazier's 

 first number. ( )ne of these paragraphs reads 

 as follows : — 



" The man who disposed of his cattle two 

 or three years ago because there was no 

 money in them, wishes now he had them 

 again. He that disposes of his bees will 

 next year be in the same predicament. 

 Keeping continually at it is what pays in the 

 long run. We have a report of an apiary of 

 ten colonies, nine of which gave no surplus, 

 but the tenth (an early swarm) tilled its 

 hive, and also two supers — about forty-eight 

 pounds." 



The above is quite appropriate for this is- 

 sue of the Review. I certaii ly would not 

 advise one to drop any business because of 

 one failure, but if they continue to come 

 year after year, something must be done. 



How to Keep Honey. 

 Honey is frequently greatly injured, if not 

 spoiled, in the fall and winter by keeping it 

 in a cool, damp place. When in Chicago I 

 visited a honey dealer whose honey was 

 stored in an upper room, but there was no 

 fire in or near the room. The man in charge, 

 however, several times mentioned that a fire 

 was needed and would soon be used. It 

 does not seem as though practical honey 

 producers need any more instructions upon 



