94 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Matt 



ABOUT SKNDINO ITIONKY, ETC. 



jirevont any more of his bee :> from dwitnliuif 

 starvins;. 



While we think it unwise to senJ eiima of money, 

 !<ay over .so.(W, without registering, yet there is an item 

 of expense for 1'. (). oniers or paying registry fees, 

 •hat we tl>inlv is not fairly taken into co^nsideratk)!!. 

 The point is of course to get onr money to its destina- 

 tion as safelv and witli as little expense as possiole. 

 The editor of ^. Ji. J. used to say that not one letter 

 \n 10.000 was lost in the nwils if i)ro|)erly direcieti; 

 but for the purpose of making a sin>ple business cal- i 

 rnlation, we will *ay that not more lliau 100 fail from 

 all caiHes; leaving ort" a part of the address, omitting 

 vour name or residence, losing the letters wliile on 

 the way to the P. <>.. or after being delivered, roobery 

 ot the mails, and even if you please, including eare- 

 iessnesj of the recipients ; siminYing it all up, not niore 

 than one in a liundred i-i lost trom all these causcj. 

 This is a |)oint we have watched carefully, and have 

 rJeduced as follows, for our own bu.-iness. 



If we had SIOO. to be sent to 100 different individuals, 

 St would cost as $iO. to get P. O. O.. or to register 

 them all ; whereas, if our ride above is good, it would 

 only cost ST. and would save a vast deal of trouble, to 

 send without, and have the -SI- lodt. li we sent 8-2. to 

 each, it W'>uld still be eheaper to )»ave it lost, and so 

 on until we reach the amount of SKI. Above that it 

 would be a saving to use the mon.'y oniers. Ifihis 

 were all, we should sav register only when the amount 

 oxcee<ls SIO., but we must take into oon->ideration that 

 I he loss of a letter may cause delay or disappointment 

 that will be vrorth or cost as mi'.eh as the sun» inclos- 

 e<l ; and therefore we have made it our rule, to regis- 

 ter or get P. (>. ()., forall amounts over 5f.j. (3ne ex- 

 ception to this rule; it the party to whom you are 

 sending is tricky, or even not known to be careful and 

 trustworthy, it may be best to have ))roof that the 

 money was jmt intohis hands ; and either the P. O. O. 

 or the re^■istry gives this prooi. Now if you feel per- 

 fectly sure you Can trust us, it is expensive business 

 for you to pay 10 cjnts every time yoii wish to send u* 

 75 cents or§l. ; but it you adopt our plan, you shoubi 

 do so expecting to take your chance once in a hund- 

 red times, and when the lois comes pay it over again 

 without Didng auspicious of your friends. If you can't 

 ilo this, lake the more expensive and troublesome 

 way of paving 10 cents every lime, to make it safe. 

 Wlivy <io ((;e not take all the risks of money sent us? 

 Principally because we should have to m:ike our pri- 

 ces high enf ugh to have our careful friends pay for 

 the careles-snchS of the others. Our prices are baseil 

 on having the money delivered to us wiiliout expense, 

 and most of our friends wish to liave it thus. One 

 m )i-e item : »vo are mucti annoyed by receiving small 

 sums by express; we recently had to i)ay 7.')c. express 

 <-,hirges on §1.50 la monev ; and sometimes we get in- 

 dividual checks f r anoounts as small as 75c.. yi t we 

 always have to pay at least i.ic. exchange, and some- 

 times SOc. We are sending money to all parts of our 

 country, and even other countries, and vre think we 

 do itipiicUly and with little ti-ouble. For amounts 

 lesr, thin 8.'-.. we put the money in a letter carefully 

 sealed and directed, if we kmiw the parties well, lb 

 whom we are SHiiding; and then if it is lost we send 

 U over again without feeling hard at aU, for it was 

 our own risk. If we have not perfe<'.t contidence in 

 the parties, or if the amount exceetls j^.'i , we send P. 

 O. ().. or register. For amo\ints over#!U. we wouUl 

 advise N. y. draft; if you use any other yon are liable 

 to cause your friends— every one you deal with should 

 be a friend whom you would be as carelul to guard 

 against loss as yourself,— to pay 35 or 50c. exchange. 

 Perhiips people make more mistakes In being una- 

 ware of the rates charged by the express Cos. than in 

 any other way, and when something is sent them on 

 which the charges are more than the value of the ar- 

 ticle, they make another great mistake in ordering It 

 sent back. iV customer ordered a. SI. hive by express. 

 when he found the charges were iiLM, he would not 

 take it, yet had no scruple in— thoughtlessly, we pre- 

 sume,— leaving us i|uite a sum out of |)ouket for fol- 

 lowing his orders to the Icter. An order is before us 

 for 4C,c. worth of goods to be sent by express. The ex- 

 press charges on the same would be $1. or more. We 

 many limes send by mall ami take our chances of get- 

 ting i)ostage— glad" to be able to say we most always 

 get It an<l thanks besides, for our friemls all wish to 

 do what is right when they understand the matter,— 

 just to save our jjatrons f»om charges we know they 

 do not expect; but It makes us much writing and in- 

 (M'cases the chance of blunder-'. If IL Is a possible 

 thing make your orders in aoconlnnce with our price 

 lists; they can then go iiy return mail. If they are 

 not. they may have to await the per.sonal supervision 

 of N'ovlce, who is ju-t mw trying desperately harJ, to 



THE fffUOP HIVE, 



(>W ft docs aecm to n>e, after lookkig the Vni- 

 "ftl versal hive over very wirel'iT'ly, that it would bi- 

 just as well to have the lirst story or brood, 

 chamber solid. I see no real ailvanfiige ii^ tbo sect- 

 ions, and I must say I am deciiledly opposed to a mov- 

 able boctom board. Hy having tlie lower part solifb 

 yoi> would save the metal (rorners as well as the extr;i. 

 trouble of n>aking, and 1 think we woisld have by it"-- 

 being solid, a hive that would stand the weight of all: 

 the honey boxes yori might choose to )mt ivi>on it. 



i can very readily see the advantage gained In hav- 

 ing the upper sections. l>ut ag.iin, 'to you think one 

 ol those hives, being as light as it is, w" ill stami onr 

 March winds!' why thetirst thing I thought of on 

 picking one of the.n up» was that ihe lirst strong gust 

 ol wind that struck it would fairly tear it i» pieces- 

 In regard to entrances, do you think the one you have 

 In those hives sufllclent tfurlng the honev gathering 

 season ? I, A. Cami'BBLi^ Warsaw, Mo.. 



Your tii'st impres&ious are very natural, 

 frit-nil C. but it may astonish youi to find that 

 pour frail loKjiiin;^;; hive will hold a weig^ht of 

 over :J0() lbs safely ; and it is e.'specLt'd whcii 

 tiiey are out duriui^ a March wind thftt tliey 

 will have enoutjh honey inside to "hold 'ciia 

 down." If we made the body of wide lx>ards, 

 we should have to l^rinsf another piece of fur 

 niture into our apiary ; and besides, extra hives- 

 that are Hi>occupied could not be used to hold 

 i a set of boxes as the e.^tii^ency of the case inigltt 

 I demand, (as it now can, )nor could we on the 

 other hand make complete hives of any extra 

 half upper stories, as we now can. Aijain, if 

 the bodies are all made solid, we should requirv- 

 a hoop to raike the quilt fit nicely, and still al 

 low one hive to l)e set on ihe other and give n-^ 

 the exact distance between the frames. Yotn 

 must have a hjose bottom board if y>»u have^ 

 your upper and lower stories one and llie sann 

 thinc^, but you can very quickly fasten tlielxd- 

 tom to tlie end boards with acouple of small 

 screws. The thin lumber which suits adiuir.-i 

 bly so far as dampness is concerned, could 

 not well 1)2 nailed, and we think one who ha- 

 handled them would be (fuite loth to go back 

 to the heavy hives. Finally, although there i- 

 inore work on the hooi)s, they are cheaper in 

 the end, for we have only one thing to make, 

 and if we make that exactly right, oitr whoU 

 hive will come riglvt. It is au easy matter tn 

 learn to ilo one thing well, and it does not re- 

 (juire a linished meciianic ;vvhile to m ike all th. 

 ilirtl'reut pieces that are needed in hives as usu- 

 ally made, and make them just right, issoditti- 

 cult that vei'y few ever suc;;eed in doing it. It 

 will take a very gooil colony indeed to fill the 

 cntranc as we make it, but with a loose bottom 

 board you can easily give them any amount 

 of entranc3 or ventilation. With a iievv swanti 

 it may t)e well to raise the hive and let theiiv 

 pour in till at once ; csi)ecially if tiiere is dau- 

 ber of others mixing with them. It is true thi- 

 hoops cannot well be made without a buz/ 

 saw, but for that matter neither can the hive- 

 well and profitably. 



I am erectin'.? a Hou.<o Apiary on tlio Centennial grouud- 

 containiuj; M hives anil occupy! .g a very ommiuadin-' 

 position. Your ido'is ri^'jtrding a uniform si/.e of siiriijo"- 

 fr,imes and box 's. l likt; very much an I Mill givi* you olv 

 m )s'. i-arne.st <M)oper:ition in liTorls to secure so i'.n))orl:i:i: 

 aiiendasauniieis il lionev box. 



If by further co-.-resp(in'Ii»tioe wc c v\ do n:iy thing tot" » •- 

 ward b.'c-i'ui;n-.v. 1 will give it utv li i,sf,y attend m. 



.(. ><. )\ Montcl \\r, S. J. April s;h ':•'>■ 



