Ii6 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW, 



of intentions. The organization that friend 

 Dayton so earnestly desired has beeu effect- 

 ed, and I think that all members will find 

 him ready to work with them for the com- 

 mon good. — Ed. ] 



Kesping Surplus Combs Free From Moths. 

 "Amalgamation" not Approved! 



E. FKANCE. 



¥ITH US moths cannot live over winter 

 in a honey house where no lire is kept 

 in this climate. We have a room 10 feet 

 square and 8 feet high, with one window 

 and one door. It is one-quarter of the 

 lower story of a I'O x 20 foot store- house. 

 The door is inside the house and oi)ens in- 

 to the main building. The door is moth 

 tight and the window is tight, with a wire 

 screen over that that is moth tight. The 

 room is lathed and plastered, yet I could not 

 think of leaving that room full of combs, 

 during the summer months, exposed to the 

 moths, with only a wire screen door between 

 the combs and the moths. We intend to 

 keep the door shut all the time except when 

 we arc putting in or taking out comb?. 

 There is a hole through the floor large 

 enough to let up a four-inch stove pipe, and 

 we have a sheet iron stove down cellar in 

 winch to burn sulphur when needed. Wo fill 

 that room full of combs in the fall, and let 

 them freeze. I wanted to fill the room last 

 fall with combs, and had some in there that 

 had been there since '1)2, and when I took 

 them out there was not a worm in them. 

 The reason that I removed the combs, was 

 to put in better combs. I had filled the 

 room full in 18i)2, and since then we had 

 used the most of them and those that were 

 left were culls. We had so many spare 

 combs last fall that the room would not hold 

 half of them, l)ut not where we can smoke 

 them, so we will have to be careful next 

 season with combs out of the smoke room 

 — be sure and not bring home any worms 

 in the spring. A colony that lives through 

 the winter until warm weather, is pretty 

 sure to contain worms. Don't tell me the 

 Italians xvnn^t have any, I know better. 



Shall we join the North American with the 

 Bee Keepers' Union ? I, for one, say no. I 

 don't see how it can possibly help the Bee 

 Keeiiers' Union. I was one of its first mem- 

 bers, and was at the first law suit that it 

 ever had — went there with .flOO in cash to 



put into that case if it was needed, and I 

 have always paid my dollar every year since. 

 The Union has done well. I have never had 

 anoccasion to call on the Union for help, 

 and hope I won't have, but I am ready to do 

 my part for the defense of the bee keeper. 

 Why should we join the Union with an em- 

 igrating, shifting society ? When they 

 hold a meeting in New York, three-fourths 

 of the attendance comes from near the 

 place of meeting. They pay their entrance 

 fee and have a vote on anything that comes 

 up. Perhaps the next will be .WO or 1000 

 miles away. How many of New York mem 

 bers will there be at the meeting? I think 

 not one in ten. There will be a new set — ex- 

 cept a few editors and supply men nearly 

 all are new men, and every year there will 

 be the same conditions. Now is it best for 

 the Union to turn their business and 

 votes over to such a fleeting body, changing 

 its members every year ? I think not. We 

 have not as many members as I wish we 

 had, but what we have got are true blue, 

 and so far have been able and willing to 

 tight our battles and I trust will continue to 

 do so. Now, if the members of the North 

 American want to join the Union let them 

 do so as individuals, but not as a society. 

 I don't think the defense fund would be any 

 greater and that the Union would have any 

 more members by uniting the two. I am 

 of the opinion that nearly all of the prom 

 inent members of the North American are 

 also members of the Union. As for the 

 surplus funds of the Union, I wish there 

 were more of them. Very likely something 

 will turn up when the Union will have a 

 chance to use its surplus, in a good hard 

 battle for the defense of bee keepers. Don't 

 be alarmed about the surplus. Lot the 

 Union keep it in their own hands— let it 

 grow. I have read and heard a great deal 

 about so much surplus in other matters, and 

 when the management changed, the surplus 

 vanished forever oat of sight. 



PlatteviiiLe, Wis. 



Dec. 10, 1896. 



[ The point that is brought up by my 

 friend France is an important one, and that 

 it has been well-considered he will see by 

 examining the proposed, new constitution, 

 as it appears on page ;?21 of the Review for 

 1805. The officers, which constitute a board 

 of directors, are elected by a vote of all 

 the me))il)ers, taken by mail, and this board 

 of directors decides what course shall be 



