UMASS/AMHERST 312066 0333 2741 8 i||:':'f>;;i;j;i;f';:f fe!i''!'iv:''v/ v'';t'!'i';;-0'^----'^^ '^i^k :;:* DDDaDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD D D D a D D D -(.o'lS^^ D D ° /d*\ b% D D O ^ si trr Ih '*' O ^ * ^Iffl )^ -7 D n 9 "wv^V^i* '^ a H '^5^-*^ D a D D D D n D ° UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS D D g LIBRARY D D D D D D D D LJ — D D D D D D D n § c D D § Per D D § SF R A5 D D D D D D Q B V.52 D □ B 1912 D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D n D □ D D D D D D DaDnDnDDanDDDDnDDannDaDDDDDaDDDD 4 V. ^ January, 1912 Volume Lll. No. 1 N^^S^% >AN 241912 ..'•rioultAcal The Oldest Bee-Paper in America ARTHUR C. MILLER I am a native of Rhode Island, from old colonial stock of Scotch and English origin, variously mixed up with the usual compound of notables and nobodies, and, again, as usual, mostly the latter. I began my career in 1802, and have been banking— a business of the followers of which Car- negie is reported to have said, " When a man is good for nothing else make a bank clerk of him." I bought my first bee in February, 1880, and made the violent acquaintance of several of her on the first sunny day. I had no one to tell me what not to do, and a few books which told me of too many things to do, and I did 'em, or tried to when the bees didn't object too hard. By 1890 I had begun to find I must forget some of the wonderful things I knew about them, and have been forget- ting ever since. In fact, so wonderful has been the devel- opment of my forgetting that it keeps me in hot water most of the time. Ask my family. I took a start one day towards finding out how many things were not what they were said to be. Bad business. Take my advice and don't try it. It is too mean to the other fellow. And it is worse than the drink habit, for once started one can never stop till the wheels cease to move. And such a headache! Of late years the bee-study has been a race between the commercial and the scientific sides, with first one and then the other ahead, and just now they are running neck and neck. This sounds good so long as the family does not mix in, but, then, children always do spoil a good story for the sake of facts. Why, one of my boys says that I can never see a colony piling up a goodly store but I rush and open them to sec what ails them! Now, what do you think of that! Arthur C.Miller. Providence, R. I. WHEN THE BEES ARE IN THE CELLAR There are times the hopeful bee-man is a feelin' mighty fine. With the work of all the season comin' nicely into line; With a storm in Old November fiUin' out the seasons' plan — When the bees are in the cellar and the honey's in the can. .■^KrnrR C. Miller. been careering ever since. Not a little of my boyhood was spent on an ancestral farm in central Vermont, and it was from an old-fashioned bee-house with its rows of box-hives and black bees that I got my first love for the little insects. I was educated in private and public schools, and fitted for college, but went into business life instead, which seems now to have been a mistake. Most of the business life has There's a roarin' and a buzzin' when the hives are carried in; But they soon become as quiet as the apples in the bin; Then a peaceful satisfaction comes to cheer the honey-man— When the bees are in the cellar and the honey's in the can. There are blessings that are ours, that some others never know; Honey-bees, and birds, and flowers, grace our pathway as we go; And the seasons' culmination bringing rest to all the clan— When the bees are in the cellar and the honey's in the can. Bridgeport. Wis. Harry Lathrop. ^^/^M^^SGAIHTv^i, PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY American Hee Joarnal Untested Italian Queen-Bees Our Standard-Bred 6 Queens for $4.50 ; 3 for $2.50 ; 1 for 90 cents. GEORGE W. YORK & COMPANY 117 N. Jefferson Street, Chicago, lU. IMPORTANT NOTICE THE SUBSCRIPTION PRICE of this Journal Is 11.00 a year, In the United Statea of America (except In Chicago, where It la f 1.25), and Mexico : In Canada. 51.10 : and In all other countrlea In the Poatal Union, 25 centa a year extra for postage. Sample copy free. THE WRAPPER-LABEL DATE Indicates the end of the month to which your subscription Is paid. For Instance, " decll " on your lahel shows that It Is paid to the end of December, 1911. SUBSCRIPTION RECEIPTS.-We do not send a receipt for money sent us to pay subscription, but chanere the date on your address-label, which shows that the money has been received and credited. Advertising Rate, Per Agate Line, ISc. 14 lines make one inch. Nothing less than 4 lines accepted. DISCOUNTS: J times I4C a line « times iic a line 6 " I2C '■ 12 " (I yr.) IOC a line Reading Notices. 25 cents, count line. Goes to press the 6th of each month. Names of Bee-Keepers Wanted We desire very rhuch to have the names and addresses of all the . bee-keepers who are in your locality who do not now take the American Bee Journal. We would like to get every one of them on our list of regular readers. If you will send to this office the names and ad- dresses of such bee-keepers, we will be pleased to mail each a sample copy of the American Bee Journal. Perhaps you could send in their subscriptions, and thus earn some of the various pre- miums that we offer from time to time for getting new subscriptions. We feel that every bee-keeper ought to read the American Bee Journal regularly. He would not only be more successful, but would be less of a competitor of his neighbor bee-keepers, if he were more enlightened on the subject of bees and honey. We would appreciate it very much if all who can do so will send us the names and addresses of their bee-keeping neighbors who do not at present receive the American Bee Journal. For a number of years we have been sending out to bee-keepers exceptionally fine Untested Italian Queens, purely mated, and all right in every respect. Here is what a few of those who received our Queens have to say about them : George W. York & Cti,;— The two queens received of you some time ag-o are fine They are good breeders, and the workers are showing up fine I introduced them among black bees, and the bees are nearly yellow now. and are doing: good work. Nemaha Co , Kan , July 15. A. W. Swax. George W. York & Co. :— After importing queens for 15 years you have sent me the best She keeps 9 1-2 Langstrolh frames fully oc cupied to dale, and. although I kept the hive well contracted, to force them to swarm, they have never built a queen-cell, and will put up 100 pounds of honey If the flow lasts this week. Ontario. Canada July 22 Chas. Mitchell George W. York & Co. :— The queen I bought of you has proven a good one, and has given me some of the best colonies. Washington Co., Va., July 22. N. P. Oglbsbt. George W York & Co.:— The queen I received of you a few days ago came through O, K . and I want to say that she is a beauty. I Im- mediately Introduced her into a colony which had been queenless for 20 days. She was accepted by them, and has gone 10 work nicely. I am highly pleased with her and your promptness in filling my order. My father, who is an old bee keeper, pronoiincer I'lrgsure&Tui Profit. Explains Cypliers Cuiupany uietlioda for best results aud tells you all about tho'world-Iamous PVOUCDC Incubators V/irn£iIVlJ andBrooders Tlilrt"Poultry Growers' Guide for 1912" Is filleil from cover to cover with valuable advice and /o/esf proved facts for poultry raisers. Eight illustratecl chapters ou these subjects: I— How to Get Twice as Many Epps from the Same Number of Hens. II— The 200-E^'^ Per Year Hen- How to Produce Her. Ill— Large Slzt-d Eii^s In De- mand an Well as Lots of Tbem. IV— Mating and Eeedlnp of Fowls to Get Fertile Eggs. V— Selection and Care of Ev-gs for Successful Hatching. VI— Proper Care of Fnwls and Chicks with Least Amount of Work VII— How to Bi-ood Chicks Properly at Lowest Cost. Vill— Premium-Price Table Poultry and How to Produce It. It tells you why it Is money in your pocket If you start with right equipment. No matter whether you are a poultry raiser on a large or small scale, or a befTlnnei, get this big, free book that explains about * Cyphers Company ,sv- ri'iee''^ that stands back of tmr machines — Insures suc- ccNs for our customers. Write for free book today. Cyphers Incubator Co., Ufpnrtmont 83 Buffalo, N. Y., New York City Chlcapo III., Itoslon, JIass. kumtou Qty,3lo.t Oakliuid, CaU #lr»riHMrl Pfeaac mcnoun Am. Bee journal wbra wntmg- Langstroth Honey-Bee on the Revised by Dadant Latest Edition. This is one of the standard books on bee-culture, and ought to be in the library of every bee-keeper. Bound in substantial cloth, and has nearly 600 pages. Revised by that large, practical bee-keeper, so well known to all bee- doni^Mr. C. P. Dadant. Each topic is clearly and thoroughly explained, so that by following the instructions of this book one can not fail to be won- derfully helped on the way to success with bees. We mail the book for $1.20, or club it with the American Bee Journal for one year — both for $2.00. This is in- deed a splendid chance to get a grand bee-book for a very little money. GEORGE W. YORK & CO. CHICAGO, ILL. SUPERIOR BEE-SUPPLIES Specially made for Wastern bee-keepers by G. B. Lewis Co. Sold by Colorado Honey-Producers' Association, Denver. Colo. Pka«e mention Am. Bee Jonrul when writiiig. BEES AND HONEY riEif mil- NEWMAN DADANT The above is the title of a new and revised edition of what for many years was the book called "Bees and Honey," written by the late Thomas G. Newman, editor of the American Bee Journal. Mr. C. P. Dadant, whose reputation as a honey-producer and e.xpert bee-keeper is unquestioned, revised the book re- cently. The last edition consisted of 160 pages, but the revised edition, hereafter to be known as "First Lessons in Bee-Keeping," contains nearly 200 pages, and is perhaps the most generously illustrated bee-book of its size now published, as it has over 150 pictures. " First Lessons in Bee-Keeping " is principally for beginners in the bee-busi- ness, as its name indicates. It contains the foundation principles of bee-keeping —just what every beginner ought to know in order to start right with bees. It does not pretend to cover the subject in so thorough manner as do the higher- priced and larger bee-books, such as "Langstroth on the Honey-Bee," Prof. Cook's " Bee-Keepers' Guide," etc., but there are a large number of very impor- tant preliminary principles that should be well understood by every one who intends to take up bee-keeping, and this book is just the thing for that purpose. It is printed on excellent paper, and well bound in pamphlet style. The out- side appearance of the cover of this book, is entirely different from anything yet seen on a bee-book. One can know without reading a word that it is some- thing about bees, by simply looking at the cover, either front or back. We intend to present a copy to any person who sends us $1.00 for a year's subscription /« adr'ance to the American Bee Journal, whether a new or renewal subscriber; but, of course, the booklet ot«s(' it- a.s7cf(/ /b)- when subscribing and sending the dollar. The price of " First Lessons in Bee-Keeping," bound in strong paper, is 50 cents, postpaid. We would suggest that every Journal reader secure a copy of this book in connection with your own advance renewal subscription, and then show it to your neighbor bee-keepers, and get tliem to send in their subscription ; or, if you wish to sell the book to your neighbors, we will make you a liberal discount for such purpose. But be sur^to get a copy of the book yourself, so as to see what a beautv it is. Address, George W. York & Co., 117 N. Jeff. St., Chicago, III. r QOOGCOeCCeOOQOOSiSOOOOCOSOSOSeOSOOCOSOOOGOSOSOSGOO NARSHFIELD GOODS BEEKEEPERS:— We manufacture Millions of Sections every year that are as good as the best. The CHEAPEST for the Quality ; BEST for the Price. If you buy them once, you will buy again. 1 I § We also manufacture Hives, Brood- Frames, Section-Holders and Ship- ping-Cases. Our Catalog is free for the asking. Marshfield Mfg. Co., Marshfield, Wis. § PleaK mention Am. Bee Journal when writinf. 3o i A New Year's Resolution i i For the Year 1912 I ^ I will keep more bees. [g K^ I will devote more time to my bees. ^ ^ I will give more thought to my bees. ^ ^ I will co-operate with the local and National organizations. |g] ^ I will use Lewis Beeware. ^ The New 1912 Lewis Beeware Catalog is Now Ready I FOR YOU. The best we have ever issued. Entirely rewrit- ^ ten, with New Illustrations. More Complete and Comprehensive than ever. |^ ^ If you are not on our regular mailing list, send for one at once — ^ ^ it is free for the asking. ^ g 30 Distributing Houses Sell Lewis Beeware through this Catalog. ^ ^ Ask for the name of the nearest one. ^ ^ Lewis Beeware is Success Insurance. ^ I G. B. Lewis Co., ^Tg?eU"/rV' Watertown, Wis., U. S. A. I K K ^ ^ t¥¥y¥yww^wwyyyyxxxyyxxyyyyyyyyy¥wywwwwwy( N N N N Water-White Light Amber Light Amber M ALFALFA ALFALFA FALL h t HONEY HONEY HONEY ^ H In any size quantities, in any size packages. n H ^ . N N If your Honey Crop is short, and you want to supply your regular trade, [n N write to us for prices. We are sure that we can supply what you want at M N prices you can pay. 5 cents for a liberal sample of any kind desired. M N N We want your BEESWAX to work into Dadant's Foundation N Or will pay Cash for it, or Plxchange for Goods N N N N N N r N N N N M N N N N DADANT & SONS, - Hamilton, Illinois h N AN^^g^s^M '^€ (Entered as second-class matter Jaly 30, 1907, at the Post-Offloe at Chicago, 111., under Act of March 3, 1979.) Published Monthly at $1.00 a Year, by George W. York & Company, 117 North Jefferson Street, GEORGE W. YORK, Editor. DR. C. C. MILLER. Associate Editor. CHICAGO, ILL, JANUARY, 1912 Vol. LII-No. 1 Incorrect Braiidiug of Honey Every now and then some one is anxious about the matter of labeling his honey. He seems to think there is something complicated and hard to understand about complying with the requirements of the pure-food law. It is exceedingly simple. There is no law against selling a mixture that is half honey and half glucose, or for that matter that is all glucose or all sor- ghum molasses. But //" such mixture be labeled /loiiey there is likely to be trouble if the product is shipped from one State to another, so as to come under the United States pure-food law, or if it be sold in any State with pure- food laws corresponding with the United States laws. The only point to keep in mind is that the label must tell the truth. The law does not compel a label, but if a label be used, it must tell the truth. Also, it must tell the truth about the weight if it tells any- thing about the weight. Even if the weight falls a very trifle short of that printed on the label, the seller is crimi- nally liable. Here is a concrete instance in which a shortage of about a fourth of an ounce in a half-pound package brought a fine. The following has been issued by the United States Department of Agriculture : Misbranding of Honey. On May 13. iqii. the United States Attor- nej' for the Southern District of Iowa, act- ing upon the report by the Secretary of Ag- riculture, filed information in ttie District Court of the United States for said district against Albert A. Deiser & Co., a corpora- tion, alleging shipment by it. in violation of the Food and Drugs Act. on June 15, igio. and Nov. 14. 1810. from the State of Iowa into the State of Nebraska, of a quantity of honey which was misbranded. The product was labeled: " Mrs. Morrison's Brand Pure ■■ Food Products Honey Net Weight 8 ounces. 2 Prepared by A. A. Deiser & Company. Des 55 Moines. Iowa. " p>i^ Examination made by the Bureau of Chem- istry of the United States Department of •^ Agriculture, of two packages of this product •^ taken from the shipment of June 15. 1910. 09 showed an average shortage of 4.86 percent in weight. An examination of six packages by said Fiureau from the shipment of Nov. 14. loio, showed an everage shortage in weight of 3.45 percent. Misbrandingwas alleged for the reason that the weight of the product was not plainly and correctly stated on the outside of the package. On May 22, loii, the defendant pleaded guilty, and was ftnded $10 and costs. W. M. Hays, Acthis Secretarv of Affriculture. Washington. D. C, Sept. 18. igii. Salt and Vinegar in Syrup When feeding syrup for winter. Edi- tor Herrod advises in the British Bee Journal : Salt and vinegar should be added to the syrup; the majority of bee-keepers neglect to put in these two ingredients, either be- cause it is too much trouble or they imagine they are of no use. Salt is necessary for bees just as much as it is for human beings, and if they can not obtain it in any other wav, they will get it from objectionable sources, such as the liquid from manure heaps. Vinegar prevents granulation, and when the syrup is boiled in no case should it be omitted. Putting salt in syrup will probably be new to most bee-keepers on this side, but coming from such good au- thority the advice is worth considering. Honey Gatliered by a Colony How much honey does a colony of bees gather? If a written answer to that question were required from a large number of bee-keepers, no doubt the answers would vary greatly. It is not unlikely that quite a number of an- swers would nm something like this: " A colony of bees must gather dur- ing the season enough honey to carry it through the winter, and the balance goes to the bee-keeper as surplus. It takes about 30 pounds for winter, and if the bee-keeper gets a surplus of 100 pounds then the colony must gather altogether 130 pounds." It does not occur to the one who makes such an answer that bees must have something to live on through the summer as well as through the winter, and that while actively at work they will need a good deal more to support them than while in a condition almost dormant. The amount of honey con- sumed by a colony of bees in the course of a year has been variously estimated at from 200 to 400 pounds. According to that, if a colony gives a surplus of 100 pounds, the total amount of its gathering for the season must be somewhere from 200 to 500 pounds. In any case, the amount of work done by a colony of bees each season is probably a good deal more than it gets credit for. In a season when no surplus is taken, it is not fair to say, " The bees have done nothing this year." If they have gathered enough for their own stores, they have still done by far the larger part of what they would do in the most prosperous year. ^^^_^____^ Size of Virgin and Laying Queen Every now and then some one ex- presses the belief that a virgin queen may go through a perforation of an excluder through which she can not pass after she becomes a laying queen. Certainly the laying queen looks larger, and she is larger, than she was during her virginity. But the increase in size is in the abdomen, not in the thorax. The thorax, the part next to the head, is the same in size after she begins to lay as it was when she was a virgin. The abdomen— the hinder part — con- tains the eggs, and it increases greatly in size when the queen is in full laying, shrinking in size again when she stops laving. The thorax is hard and unyielding; the abdomen is soft and yielding. If a slot in a queen-excluder is large enougji to allow the thorax to pass, there is no trouble about the abdomen getting through. No matter how large the abdomen, its yielding softness allows it to flatten out and pass through. So if tlie passage of a queen through an ex- cluder depends upon the size of the thorax, and if the thorax of a queen remains the same in size that it was when she was a virgin, it follows clearly that an excluder which allows a virgin to pass will still allow her to January American Hee Journal pass after she begins laying. In other words, a laying queen can get through any excluder she coulil get through when a virgin. When queen-excluders were more in the experimental stage than at the present time, the slots were made of different sizes; and some of them were so large that there was more or less trouble with queens getting through. Now some one who had experience at that time may say, "You must be mis- taken about laying queens being as small about the thora.x as virgins. I had a number of virgins go through the perforated zinc, but never a laying queen." And he speaks very truly. That, however, does not militate with the fact that a laying queen inn go through any slot through which she could pass when a virgin. A virgin will make frantic efforts to get through an excluder, crowding against the zinc with all her might. The writer has found more than one virgin dead with her thorax wedged tight in the zinc. A laying queen is more prudent, and when she finds it too much of a pinch to get through she gives up the effort. At the entrance of a hive containing a virgin, put perforated zinc through which she can just force her way, and when ready for her wedding-flight she will not be long in getting through. Now put an excluder on the hive with perforations of the same size, and over this a super, and the queen will not go up to lay in the super. Possibly, how- ever, she might pass through the same perforation at the entrance of the hive in the excitement. Oroue-Fouuclation for a Swarm In the British Bee Journal the ques- tion is asked what a strong earl}' swarm with a young laying queen would do if hived in a hive containing full sheets of drone-foundation. The following reply is given : If you try the exBeriment as we have done you will find the bees will either tear down the foundation and build worker-cells, or they will build worker-cells upon the drone- b-jse foundation. Has any one of our readers had a like experience ? It seems a little diffi- cult to imagine how the bees would manage to fill out an entire frame with worker-comb if it is filled with drone- foimdation. The base would have to be entirely changed. There is still an- other alternative that the bees inight select, as they did in a case in this locality, in which a swarln was hived, not upon drone-foundation, but upon drone-comb. The bees would have none of it, and swarmed out. Introduchit; Virgin Qiieeii.s Julian E. Lockwood says in the British Bee Journal : I wanted to requecn an English colony (with supers on) with a yount' virgin Italian queen. About mid-day, wlien the bees were flyuig well, the virgin was put into a tubular cage of perforated zinc, and afti-r having smoked the bees well at the entrance, she was allowed to run in from the alighting- board. Before running her in. she was kept quite alone and without food for Su minutes About evening the old queen was found cast out, and in 4 days the colony was examined and the newly-inserted virgin found to be laying freely. In the second case, my experiment was carried out with a colony that swarmed. After cutting out as many queen-cells as I required for queen-rearing purposes, a young virgin was kepi quite alone, and with- out food for 30 minutes, and then allowed to run down from one corner on the top of the frames. On examining the colony a few days afterwards, this queen was also laying freely, and the queen-cells left in the hive destroyed. Not only did this stop further swarming, but the colony went ahead so rapidly that they came up into the su- pers again and at once got to work. Whether the above methods would always work suc- cessfully I am unable to say. but I hope to test further next season. The probability is that the plan might work always in the second case, but hardly in the first. Something would depend upon the character of the queen to be superseded. If the queen were old, or lacking in any way, so that the bees of their own accord might soon supersede her, there ought to be good prospect of success; otherwise not. If the virgin were not more than per- haps 10 hours old, no precaution would be needed. She would most likely be received kindly in any colony. But she would likely be killed before many days older if the reigning queen were young and vigorous. Bee-Lice iu New York State The bee-louse, or braula coeca, has been known in Europe for many years, and has been found in this country on queens imported from Europe. But it has never seemed to thrive here, and has always disappeared of its own ac- cord. Now, however. Rev. Geo. W. Fuller reports in the Bee-Keepers' Re- view that one day he saw a bee acting queer, running around over the comb, keeling over, pawing at her head and thorax, trying to sting everything about her, while the other bees were trying to pull something from her back. Close examination showed sev- eral parasites upon her, likely the braula coeca, and from one to eight lice were found on each of a number of other bees. Fortunately, even if this louse gets a successful foothold here, it is nothing to be so greatly dreaded. It does not, as some have supposed, suck its living from the bee, but is merely a table companion, lodg- ing on the back of the bee and coming down over the bee's head to reach the honey the bee is eating, and dodging quickly back to its place. Carbolic Acid in the Apiary We are very likely to speak of women in not the most complimentary way as beings who blindly follow fashion merely because it is the fashion. Are not bee-keepers inclined quite a bit in the same direction ? Take carbolic acid as an illustration. In England it has been tnuch in use for many years. In this country scarcely at all. Is there any reason why it is not just as good a thing in this country as in England ? Is it not merely a matter of fashion ? We do not use it here because it is not the fashion. Sometimes, however, an im- ported fashion may be a good thing. At any rate, there seems to be lately instances in which carbolic acid has been used in this country to good ad- vantage, not as our British brethren use it, in place of smoke, but rather in unusual cases in place of smoke in regular daily work, as in driving bees through an excluder to find a queen, or as a means of keeping robber-bees away. An instance of the latter kind is given in Gleanings in Bee Culture by J. E. Crane. He went to a yard of some 3.j colonies, to inspect them. It was at a time when robber-bees were bad. Mr. Crane says: We worked leisurely, examining every hive carefully, and. when through, there were very few bees lurking suspiciously about the hives. I had with me a lo-percent solution of carbolic acid and an atomizer. Before opening a hive I would sprinkle a little of the acidon the front of the hive and about the entrance, or, more frequently, 2 or t at a time. Possibly a much weaker solution would do just as well, although I am not certain. Now. I would not say that, if the acid had not been used, there would have been high-handed robbery; but it was an occasion where, if ever, we would ex- pect it. It would be interesting to learn whether any readers in this country have tried using carbolic acid in regu- lar work to subdue bees, to the exclu- sion of the smoker; also in driving bees out of supers of honey. If they have, will they kindly report with what success ? European Foiil Brood Dr. Miller reports: " In the season of ion. foul brood showed itself in 4i colonies out of my ii6." I told you so. Doctor! Youthful as ever, in spite of his " Fifty Years Among the Bees." he takes an optimistic view of matters and congratulates himself " that in most of the hives there were only a few cells." A hive with disease in one cell /< ifiifusi',/ .'—D. M. Macdonai.d. in British /iff JoiirnaL I wish I knew, my good Scotch friend, exactly what that "told you so " refers to. It hardly can mean that you supposed I had thought that I was forever rid of my unwelcome visitor, especially as it still has the opportu- nity of coming as it did in the first place — from outside. Then for some reason it seems that European foul brood is more apt to appear than American foul brood. Possibly if that "told you so" be fully expanded it will read something like this: " I told you that if you de- pended upon any variation of the Alex- ander treatment, and did not take away all the old combs, you might rely upon a good deal more trouble than if you shook the bees upon foundation." Maybe so. And — maybe not. Even supposing there was no chance for reinfection from outside, it is prob- ably a fact that the McEvoy treatment does not leave the same permanent re- sults with European foul brood as it does with American foul brood. In- deed, in general, there is too much likelihooil that those who are not familiar with both years. When one really doesn't know it is much better to say "I don't know'' than to pretend to know, for sooner or later the pretense will be discovered, and then he finds he has made the repu- tation of an entirely different sort from the kind that is most desirable. Fastening Foundation in Frames. — Complaints have been made that fasten- ing foundation in frames with wedges was not always reliable. The wedges sometimes loosen, and down comes the foundation. No one seemed to know just how to remedy this. Stephen Anthony, a New Zealand subscriber, has a little son. This little son has a sheep-puppy. This boy put the sheep-puppy to bed one night in a shed where the father was nailing frames. The puppy didn't sleep all January I American ^ac JonrnaJ night, but turned loose on those frames. Among the things used for his mid- night hinch was a bundle of wedges. They were short lengths the next morning. Now it was found that by using these short pieces the wedges did not fall out, so Mr. Anthony now cuts all his wedges in three pieces, using but two for each frame, starting about three- fourths of an inch from each end, and the trouble of falling foundation is done away with. Let us e.xtend a vote of thanks to the puppy. — Bee-Keepers RcTtciv. ♦- ■ National Directors' Nesting. — A meet- ing of tlie new Board of Directors of the National Bee-Keepers' Association has been called for Jan. 23 and 24, 1912, at Detroit, Mich. It is hoped that there will be a full attendance of the Board, as they will have many very important matters to consider relating to the future progress of the .'Xssociation. The new Constitution, which was adopted in November, to take effect Jan. 1, 1912, necessitates quite a num- ber of changes in the plans and opera- tions of the National Association. The new Board of Directors surely will have large responsibility which will re- quire the exercise of much care and good judgment in order to bring about the improvements in the Association that are needed. We hope next month to publish a re- port of this very important meeting of the Directors, so that all our readers will know just what is proposed along advanced lines of work to be under- taken by the Association. Oklahoma Bee-Keepers' Convention The next annual meeting of the Okla- homa Bee-Keepers' Association will be held at Stillwater, Okla., at the A. & M. College. On Wednesday night, Jan. 17, 1912, an address illustrated with moving pictures and lantern-slides will be given by Prof. C. E. Seaborn. The next day the convention will be con- tinued. Among the papers to be read are the following: "How Location and Pasturage Affect Successful Bee- Keeping," by D. H. Burrage; "Why We Should Tie to the Association," by Geo. H. Coulson; "The Use of Feed- ers," by G. E. Lemon ; " What I Think of Foul Brood," by Arthur Rhoads ; "Growth of the Bee-Industry in Okla- homa," by F. W. Van De Mark. There will be a question-box and discussions also. All bee-keepers who can possi- bly attend are cordially invited. South African Bee Journal. — This of- fice is in receipt of the first number of the first volume of the South African Bee-Keepers' Journal. In typographi- cal appearance it strongly resembles an -Australian publication. The editor is Mr. G. S. Oettle, and it is published by the South African Bee-Keepers' Association, Johannesberg, free to members of the Association and affil- iated societies ; 6s. 6d. to others in United South Africa, and 7s. 6d. to the rest of South Africa and to other countries in the Postal Union. In the Hon. Secretary's report he says: "Despatching the journal to each member is no light task, for 350 South .'\frican addresses is something to strike awe into the worker, though it comes only once each month." Yet there may be nothing unkind in the wish that the number may become 3500. He says the pre'sent price of honey in one-pound glass jars as retailed in Johannesburg and district is 2s. 6d. Half a dollar a pound for extracted honey is not so bad. But there is no competition from imported honey, as "the importation of honey from Oversea is totally prohibited." Success to our far away cotemporary. American Bee Journal for 1911 We have a number of complete volumes of the American Bee Journal for 1911, which we offer for (JO cents for the 12 numbers, as long as they last. Or, should there be among our subscribers those who would like to have any copies of the American Bee Journal for 1911 to complete their volume or other- wise, we will fill such orders at 5 cents per copv. Address all orders to, Geo. W. York & Co., 117 N. Jefferson St., Chicago, 111. " Verse for Little Folks and Others " is the appropriate title of a cloth-bound book of poems written and issued by Hon. Eugene Secor, of Forest City, Iowa, for 75 cents. We have received a copy of it from the author, and re- gretted very much that we did not have it in time to announce it in last month's American Bee Journal, so that it could have been used as a Christmas gift- book. It contains 36 poems, all of which are more or less illustrated with original drawings. Mr. Secor is too well known among the readers of bee- literature to need any further intro- duction or commendation of his su- perb work, either as a writer of prose or poetry. Lost Numbers of the Bee Journal. — Occasionally we are notified that a sub- scriber has failed to receive one or more copies of the American Bee Jour- nal that are due him. We are very careful to mail every monthly copy, but, of course, sometimes in the mails copies will be lost. We are always glad to replace such lost copies if sub- scribers will kindly notify us. Once in a while a subscriber writes as if he thought we did not mail his copy, but this is always a mistake on his part, as we mail the American Bee Journal to all our subscribers each month. There is no part of the office-work of the American Bee Journal that is more carefully looked after than that of the mailing. We are very anxious that every subscriber shall receive every copy of the American Bee Journal that is due him, and will consider it a favor if he will notify us promptly when any particular month's number has failed to appear at his post-office. The Narshfield Mfg. Co., of Marsh- field, Wis., were the first dealers in bee-supplies to send us a catalog for 1912. It arrived at this office Dec, 28th. It contains 64 pages and cover, and is very convenient in size, as it can be mailed in an ordinary envelope. The Marshfield Mfg. Co. is one of the oldest bee-supply manufacturers and dealers in this country, and have been con- tinuous advertisers in the American Bee Journal for many years. We no- tice that they enclose with their cata- log not only an order blank, but a printed leaflet on "Foul Brood," in which they call attention to the grow- ing prevalence of that disease, and suggest that every one of their custo- mers send to the Secretary of Agricul- ture, Washington, D. C, for a copy of Farmers' Bulletin No. 442, on "The Treatment of Bee-Diseases." This is a wise thing to do, and might well be followed by all the bee-supply dealers. It no doubt would help a great deal to put more bee-keepers on their guard concerning the wide-spread loss caused among bees by the dread disease of foul brood. The Tennessee Convention. — The Ten- nessee State Bee-Keepers' Association will meet Friday, Jan. 27, 1912, begin- ning at 9 :30 a.m., at Nashville, Tenn. The following is the program besides the usual reports, discussions, etc. : "Spring Management of the Apiary." by B. G. Davis. " European Foul Brood," by Porter Ward, of Kentucky. " American Foul Brood," by J. M. Bu- chanan. '^ Makins Increase." by David Wauford. " Organization and Co-operation," by W. H. Lawrence. ." Modern Methods of Bee-Keeping," (illus trated lecture;, by J. S. Ward. Dr. E. F. Phillips, Expert in Apicul- ture of the United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C, will also deliver an address. Every bee-keeper in Tennessee, as well as adjoining States, is invited to this meeting. For any further infor- mation, address J. M. Buchanan, Frank- lin, Tenn., secretary of the Association. New York State Convention The New York State Bee-Keepers' Associa- tion will meet Jan. 30 and 31, 1912, in the Onondaga County Court House at Syracuse, N. Y. Every "bee-keeper is invited to be present. Its secretary, Dr. C. G. Schamu, says that "it is going to be a bee-keepers' meeting such as they never attended before," and asked us to " emphasize this point." We hope that it may prove to be all that the good Doctor anticipates. For any further information, including a copy of the program, address Dr. C. G. Schamu, Liverpool, N. Y. Mr. M. C. Richter, of California, has left for the South .American port of Val- paraiso, Chile. Mr. Richter is an able writer and authority on bees. He will go into bee-keeping extensively in his new location. We shall hope to hear from him after he is well started. "Bees and Honey" — the bookbyThos. G. Newman — is almost out of print, but we have a few copies left (cloth bound) at 50 cents each. Do you want one ? Address the office of the Ameri- can Bee Journal. American Vae 'Journal Bee-I^eping ^ For Women Conducted bv Miss Emma M. Wilson, Marengo. 111. Alley Plan of Queen-Rearing A. Beatrice Bambaut describes in the Irish Bee Journal the Swarthmore plan of queen-rearing. Then she quotes from a friend in America who prefers the Alley plan, the quotation ending with these words: " I fear you will have to remain by them for 24 hours when they are hatching, as the first one to hatch kills all the others if she gets a chance." The writer then says : " I confess I prefer Mr. Swarthmore's plan to that of my friend, for enthusiastic as I am. I fear that to sit all day and all night by the side of my hive, would be too much for my patience, besides which I would cer- tainly be thought by my neighbors to be mad sa the proverbial hatter or NIarch hare." Now what an idea. Did any one who used the Alley plan ever sit by the hive for 24 hours, watching the young queens as they emerged ? And if he did, what could he do with them ex- cept to put them in nuclei, cages, or nurseries ? And this he could do just as well with the ripe cells, and then go take a good night's sleep. Bee-Lice and Queens Most women bee-keepers are familiar with poultry-lice — more so probably than their associates of the other sex — but very few in this country have ever Seen a bee-louse, or braula coeca, as it is called. In Europe these lice are only too plenty. However, they are not so bad as chicken-lice, for they do not suck the blood of the bees, but are called "table companions," for they come down to take a lunch of honey whenever the bee partakes, and then scurry back to their place on the bee. They are found more plentifully on the queen than on the workers, and Marie Fitter says in a German bee-journal that she has known more than a hun- dred on a single queen, and she thinks this shortens the life of the queen. So far, the bee-louse has never flourished in this country, but something of the kind has been reported in the State of New York, so it will do no harm to be on the lookout, especially on im- ported queens. Requeenlng "in America" In the Irish Bee Journal, A. Beatrice Bambaut says : " In America, where honey is stored by the ton. instead of by the pound, the ques- tion of breeding queens is considered to be of tlie highest importance, and some bee- keepers say two queens should be supplied in a season to each hive. Tlic queen which has supplied the spring workers is sup- planted by a young queen which starts to work at the autumn supply." Has not the sister been misinformed ? If any one in this country has seriously considered it advisable to change queens twice annually in each colony, it has not been generally made known Indeed the proportion of those who replace their queens once each year is not so very large. Some of our best and most successful bee-keepers never replace a queen because of age, leaving the matter of superseding entirely to the bees. They say that a good queen will do as good work in her second year as in her first, if not better; and the third year of a good queen may be better than the first year of a poor queen. They believe, moreover, that in the majority of cases the bees will supersede a queen just as soon as it is profitable to do so. But they do be- lieve in superseding any queen that is not satisfactory, whether she be 3 years or .3 months old. On the other hand, there is one rea- son for requeening annually that has much weight. It is that a young queen is little inclined to swarming. And for the sake of the prevention of swarm- ing it may be advisable for some to cut off a queen in the midst of a useful career. But it would be a difficult thing to do much in the way of im- provement of stock if a// queens were killed at the end of their first year. The Lesson of the Bees Sometimes when I get a-moping. And things all seem going wrong. That is when my thoughts go loping Off to join the busy throng; And my body fain would follow Where my thoughts have taken wing. To the life as vain and hollow. That would often mis'ry bring. Then I sit down 'mid the posies Under the'pink-dressed apple-trees. To think what poor man loses Who hears not the hum of bees! For //it-y lose no time in blaming ///w who made the world so fair- Not a bee does vain complaining. Always living on the square! Back again to daily duties Go I. then, with happy heart; More awake to Nature's beauties- Willing, quick, to do my part. Oh. may you. you men of cunning. Learn a lesson from the bees. As you listen to their humming In the fragrant-blossomed trees. So may we find much of beauty. As through life a smile we wear. Passing by all tainted booty — Always living on the square! Mks, Irma True Soper. Jackson, Mich. Requeening to Reduce Swarming Miss Ethel Kobson. conductur of the Woman's Department in the Canadian Bee Journal, says : Docs requeening every year tend to re- reduce swarming ? This is somelhing which 1 should like to know. The greater propor- tion of my queens were reared last season, and the number of swarms this year was wonderfully small, considering the care the bees received. The clover coming on early, and being absent on Institute work. 1 got be- hind, and practically all that was done to prevent swarming was to give plenty of room. Yet. while getting a good crop o* honey from my 75 colonies, considering the season. I had only some half dozen swarms. Years ago. when no requeening lyas prac- tised, with much the same number of colo- nies, we used to have many times more swarms. The weather may have had some- thing to do with it. A few cold days always followed the days of intense heat, and these seemed to check any rising desire to swarm. But this can not be entirely the explanation, neighbors who keep a few according to old- fashioned methods have had swarms from every colony, but here again the question is complicated, as they run mainly for comb honey. Would some one who knows about the matter be good enough to let us know what he thinks ? It is pretty certain that changing the queen of a colony will reduce the chances of swarming, always provided that the new queen be much younger than the old one. This for the simple reason that there is much less inclina- tion to swarm with a young queen than with an old one. In this locality, with very rare exceptions, if a laying queen be replaced by a ripe queen-cell or a virgin, and the young queen succeeds to laying, that colony will not swarm before the next year. The same result will be obtained if early in the season the old queen be replaced by a young queen that has just begun laying, if the young queen gets fairly settled down to laying before there is any thought of swarming. If a young queen be given to a colony that already has the swarming fever, that colony will go right on with its swarming, even if the new queen has but just begun laying. But if the young queen be introduced a week or io days after the colony has been made queenless (queen-cells of course being removed), then the colony will be just as safe from swarming as would be a natural prime swarm. Arthur C. Miller thinks that with plenty of hive-room and good ventila- tion a colony is practically safe from swarming that has received a young queen the previous August. Some advocate requeening each year, and there are advantages in doing so. But if that be followed up strictly, away go your chances for much improve- ment of stock. A New Dish— Tomato and Honey Miss Wilson :— This may not be a new dish, but it is new to me: Trim and slice sound, ripe tomatoes; put into cold water with salt and cayenne pep- per to taste. Stew slowly until tender. Now break in as many fresh eggs as you had toma- toes, and stir enough to break the eggs into small chunks; put in a liberal supply of butler, and set off the stove: when some- what cooled sweeten to taste with extracted honey, and then put in crisp crackers, and eat hot. I have a good crop of honey again, although other bee-keepers about me h.ive none. I am still strong in the belief that salt will prevent and cure foul brood, Wheeler Co.. Nebr. W. H. Mii.i.s. Thanks for the recipe, which has probably never been in print before. Don't put too much faith in salt for foul brood. Tomatoes and Ants .>\nts like to make their nests over the brood-cham- bers of hives, where it is warm, and where they are somewhat troublesome to the bees. Franz Richter says in Bienen-Vater that for years he has made a practice of driving the ants away by the use of tomato-leaves. January American "Bee Jonrnal Far Western <^ Bee-Keeping Conducted by Wesley Foster. Boulder. Colo. Improvement in Bees The problem before the queen-breed- er during the ne.xt half century will probably be very similar to that which confronted the inventors of the steam engine. The inventors could not find mechanics skillful enough to grind piston-heads so true that they would not leak steam under great pressure. One of the inventors — I can not recall his name — said that he would have to train men so they could do this most accurate work. This is our great need today in advancing bee-culture, and especially in developing a better race of bees. It is a question, not of 10 years or 20 years, but probably of .50 years and upward, before any really tangible results can be secured ; and then, again, a great many of the prob- lems to be met may be mastered much sooner. What we need is a corps of trained men with all the time they need to carry on these queen-breeding experi- ments. The United States Government at the present time is carrying on horse-breeding experiments, with the view of establishing a standard horse for use in the army. Success has not been fully attained, but a great deal has already been accomplished. I would be glad to see the men interested in the breeding of better bees get together and formulate a systematic campaign. We should be able to get a score of men in the United States to make % thorough study of this question. I feel sure that many isolated locations can be easily found for the experiments. However, this field is so large that no one individual, or probably dozen in- dividuals, could successfully carry on the work for the time necessary with- out the co-operation and assistance of the entire bee-keeping fraternity. We must admit that at the present time our results are practically nt/, and that this question will have to be approached as if nothing had been achieved. Do Bees Facilitate the Fertilization of Alfalfa Honey? A few days ago I was talking to Mr. P. K. Blin'n, of Rocky Ford, Colo., alfalfa specialist for the Colorado Ex- periment Station. Mr. Blinn told me that he did not think the honey-bee brought about the fertilization of the alfalfa, because he had watched them working on the alfalfa a great deal, and had never seen them spring the trap to the bloom which causes the pollen to be dusted over the insect. Mr. Blinn said that he had seen one kind of wild bee spring these little traps provided by the bloom. This is an item that would be inter- esting for the bee-keepers to look out for when alfalfa blooms again. I have taken the blossoms, and with but a slight touch of the finger, would re lease the stamens and cause the shower of pollen to be dusted into the flower. The more mature the bloom, the easier the trap is sprung, and I am of the opinion that when the blossom be- comes sufficiently matured the honey- bee will spring these traps, though I have never seen this done while tlie bee was sucking nectar. The Italians' Resistance to Foul Brood The statement is made (page 320, November, 1911) that the Italian bees resist foul brood because they are vig- orous. I should like to know in what manner the disease is resisted. Are the young larvae so vigorous that they can be fed infected honey without harm ? Or is it because of the vigorous Ital- ians cleaning out the dead larvae as soon as they die ? Here in our coun- try we rarely see any black bees — our bees are mostly pure Italian. We have some Caucasians and some Carniolans, but so far as one race of bees being more resistant to foul brood than an- other, I have never observed it. If Italians are less liable to contract foul brood than black bees, it might be be- cause they are less disposed to rob. I can not bring myself to believe that the larvae of Italian bees are more vig- orous and can be fed infected honey without disastrous results. Bee-Inspection Colorado, at the present time, has 15 or 1(3 county bee-inspectors. During 1911 about 20,000 colonies of bees were inspected at a cost to the counties and State of nearly $2500. About 1.500 colo- nies were found diseased, 300 of which were destroyed. Mesa county has had the most inspection work done, 240 apiaries being inspected, and almost 8000 colonies were in these apiaries, all of which were inspected twice, and some three times. Four years ago. when Mr. Harkle- road, the inspector, began work 14 per- cent of the bees were found diseased. Last year less than 4 percent were found diseased, and this year less than 2 percent. There is no other county in the State where foul brood exists where the disease is so well under con- trol. I will have more to say about this inspection when the reports are all in for the year's work. A Fremont County Bee-Meeting Monday morning, Sept. 11, Dr. Phil- lips and the writer reached Canon City, in Fremont county. A week of bee- meetings on the Western Slope had just ended ; Canon City was to be the last on Dr. Phillips Colorado itinerary. Mr. F. W. Brainard, the County Inspec tor, met us at the train, and although he had never met either of us, he said that he had studied my photo in Ranch and Range, and felt safe in picking out the blackest headed man who stepped off the train. Mr. Brainard is a bee- keeper and fruit-grower. He owns and operates between 100 and 200 colonies, and has done excellent work as an in- spector. He considers it an inspec- tor's duty to instruct the bee-keepers in the care of foul brood, and also to bring the fruit-men to a realization of the bees' mission to the fruit industry. Mr. Brainard has had some very in- teresting experiences in stopping spraying during fruit-bloom. He has taken the agitation up on the floor of the fruit-growers' meetings, and has also gone out in the orchards when he heard that any one was spraying before the falling of the petals. Fremont county is one of the largest fruit counties of the State, having shipped over 1000 cars of apples during the past season. The bee-keepers of the county are a most enthusiastic lot — keenness for the most modern methods of production being shown by the larger number. There are in the neigh- borhood of 150 bee-keepers in the county. Our visit happened to be right in the rush season of the year, so that only about 15 were out to the meeting. We met in Mr. Babberger's photograph studio, Mr. Babberger being also a most enthusiastic owner of about 70 colonies of bees. This combination of "artistic" pursuits was the cause of an amusing incident which occurred dur- ing the greetings and introductions of the gathering brother bee-keepers. One gentleman appearing at the door who was seized and introduced to the com- pany, bore a slightly puzzled expres- sion, and when asked where his bees were located, replied that he kept no bees, but had come in to see about photographs I Mr. Babberger had a beautiful display of comb honey in tall plain sections, arranged as indicative of his twin pur- suits, though the other bee-keepers did not seem to favor the preference shown for the Danzenbaker hive and tall sec- tion. Dr. Phillips told of the methods of treating foul brood, and discussion of the various phases of the foul-brood situation was continued for over an hour. The price of honey in Fremont county has not been good on account of the large number of small producers who bring in the honey in almost any shape and accept in trade what the grocer will allow. Those present dis- cussed the price situation, and came to a better understanding of \vhat should be a uniform price. Several had re- ceived very satisfactory returns from honey consigned to Denver commis- sion houses. The foul brood situation in Fremont county is in rather poor shape. Mr. Brainard has inspected something over a hundred apiaries, and has found over 200 colonies diseased out of about 1000 inspected. Jf Mr. Brainard had been inspector there for several years past, conditions would be different. January American Vee Journal After our meeting, Mr. Brainard took Dr. Phillips and myself out for a ride over the High Line drive. This is a scenic road built by convict labor from the State Penitentiary, located in Canon City. The road loops back and forth up the side of a "hog back" till it reaches the summit, between 500 and 700 feet above the town. Then it fol- lows right along the summit, giving us a delightful panoramic view of the mountains to the west and the valley to the east. The town lies at the foot of the " hog back," and Lincoln Park lying directly to the south, is a district the most solidly set to fruit I have ever seen. It is made up, practically alto- gether, of 5 and 10 acre fruit-farms, and probably comprises several thou- sand acres. The descent from the "hog back" follows down on the side toward the valley and the town; and while the road is steep, carriages and automo- biles make the trip safely. This scenic roadway has been a great advertise- ment for Canon City, and is an exam- ple of the work of Warden Tynan in letting out the prisoners in large num- bers on their honor. Bee-Keeping In Dixie-^ Conducted by J. J. Wilder. Cordele. Ga. Is Bee-Keeping Worth While? Of all the questions asked relative to bee-culture perhaps none exceed the above in greatness and the most often asked. At least it has come to me oftenest, and I can more readily an- swer any other question than this one, because it involves so much — (a human being and his situation that I don't know anything about). Location may be a matter of some consideration, but this is not often the case, for there are not so many loca- tions in Di.xie where bees would not do well. So it is mostly the man and his situation. There are a lot of men who have the ability to succeed at bee-keeping, but other things intervene, and they can not make a success at it until there is a change in their situation. But would it pay to make a change ? Sometimes yes, and sometimes no. When does it pay to shift from an- other line of business to bee-keeping ? When a man fully realizes from actual e.xperience that he is out of his calling in life, and he has experienced enough of bee-keeping to know that he is tal- ented for it ; and would he like it as an occupation, or as a side-issue, as the case may be? for some people seem to have talents for more than one line of business, and can carry on more than one with success. But what about the man who has not the experience in bee-keeping sufficient to know that liis talents run in this direction? Well, he should put them to test by buying a few colonies of bees, and making them an object of study for a while, along with literature on the subject. Or if this is too ex- pensive, take- an interest in the bees of some of the neighbors (they are always glad to have interested help with their bees). If this is not sufficient, get a job with some experienced and suc- cessful bee-keeper for a few months, and obtain knowledge at his expense. That is, he will pay you for your ser- vices and will bring the talents out (if you possess any for the business), and will tell you whether you are talented or not in bee-keeping. And above all, don't forget that if a great success is obtained, a lot of "ginger" has to be added along with experience and natural gifts. I?ut aside from the above, is bee- keeping worth while in a general way ? Yes, it is, even followed as it is, and as badly neglected as it is, and if modern conveniences and methods were adopt- ed, bee-keeping would be a good busi- ness all over our Southland. "How Shall I Start With Bees?" Friend Wilder;— From time to time I have seen articles in papers about bee-keep- inirand the large profits that could be de- rived from bees, if properly cared for, all over our Southland. Now, I am a little, old, poor farmer down here in North Louisiana, and think I would like bee-keepint'. and I am asking your experience and advice about the business, and I hope you will take the time to tell me what you think I ought to know about it to make a success of it. I have had no experience with bees whatever. Tell me how to start the business and run it successfully, and I will thank you very much. P. F. TiLLEY. I infer from your letter that you want to engage in bee-keeping to make money thereby, and not merely to keep a few bees that you might obtain a little honey along for use. Any farmers can do this without giving bees much consideration, but when it comes to making money at bee-keep- ing it is a different proposition, and one we will now consider for a few moments. But first, let us consider the qualifications of a beginner who would most likely succeed at bee-keeping. He must at least possess three essen- tials, viz: Inclination, energy, and will. If an individual doesn't possess these eleinents there is no use in try- ing to tell him how. It would be a total loss. As to the "how" — in the case of a qualified beginner, all we have to do is to refer him to any of the numerous text-books printed on the subject, and there he can obtain the practical in- formation so far as theory is con- cerned, and when he comes in posses- sion of some bees he can begin to mix in some practical experience with the book-information he has obtained, and then he begins to progress. The word "how" covers a broad field, and it takes a book to cover it. Space in a bee-paper is too limited and can only give it a little at a time, and not right straight along, then, like it should be done, so that it could best be understood, but it just skips about over the field, here a little that is help- ful— now for the beginner, and yonder a heap he may not need for a year or so. So a bee-paper gives out the in- formation too scatteringly, and can not take the place of a practical book on the subject. I never will forget how tangling or puzzling the first bee-paper I ever read. It kept my mind ad- dled for a while, skipping from subject to subject, leading me out in so many different directions, and dropping me where I did not see my way out clearly. Our bee-publications are helpful to the beginners, and they should sub- scribe for them, but when a great strug- gle for information is desired they can not take the place of te.xt-books. So much for bee-papers in the hands of beginners. Let us go back and see who is the qualified beginner, or the beginner who is sure of success. Now, if I am not qualified to do cer- tain work, it is a favor to me if some one will tell me so, and it will not of- fend me in the least. If I were to make known to some people by these few re- marks that they were disqualified to make money at bee-keeping, it would be a favor to them. First, one must be naturally inclined. I mean by this, that the honey-bee must offer, him great fascination, and its nature or habits, and field of work be a very interesting study to him, and he must forever be on the alert to learn more about the bee and how to culti- vate it. So the apt beginner must en- ter a continuous study of his bees and his bee-business to succeed. Second, a bee-keeper must be filled with energy. He may not need so much at times, but at other times he will need all a human being can pos- sess. He may have to sacrifice sleep and necessary rest in order to supply the needs of his bees. So, too, the apt beginner must be a "hustler." Third, back of it all he must have a fixed and determined will to succeed. If a beginner in bee-culture is naturally inclined, and is energetic, and has his will set on success, why, there is noth- ing else but success for him. In other words, an apt beginner in bee-culture must be a well-rounded business man, who would likely succeed at anything he undertook to accomplish. Now, when a beginner is qualified it matters not whether he starts with one colony of bees or 100 colonies. But the promoters of our industry advise only 1 or 5 colonies for the average beginner, and this advice should not be ignored by those who are in doubt as to their qualifications. Keeping Bees in the North in Summer and in the South in Winter Mr. Wilder:— I would like to come South after I put my bees up for the winter here, and spend the winter down there in some Clace where I could lind a eooii location for ees. I can leave here al)oiit Oct. ist. each year, and leave down there about the latter part of April, and return here and look after my bee-interest during the season. Can I in this way keep bees at both ends of the line successfully ? I am a young man and can do the necessary January American ^ec Joumsil) work. What do you think of the project. and how can I succeed at your end of the line ? I will thank you for any information. Cook Co.. 111. E. H. Bkuner. It appears to me as if the project might be carried out, and with consid- erable success. At this end of the line you would have to run exclusively for extracted honey, and leave no doubt- ful colonies in the apiaries, and you would have to keep close record of the queens and risk no old ones with colo- nies. Plenty of storing room could be added at the time of your departure, and ready-built combs would be best with perhaps a little comb foundation to draw out in some of the frames scattered among the ready-built combs. It would be all right to run one and ex- tract the season's crop of honey, and market same on your return the first of October each season. Then during winter you could get the necessary supplies ready for next season's crop, and in February and March get the bees ready for the flow which comes on in most locations the first of April, and in some locations the main honey- flow comes on about the first of March. So you would have time to leave the bees in the best shape for the season, and right in the main honey-flow. Seriously speaking, I do not see how any man keeping bees can do without at least one up-to-date bee-paper, and when he relishes the one, more than likely he will increase from one to two or three. Of course, there is a great lot of "chaflf" in the papers, and the writer certainly furnishes his own share of this material, yet when all is said and done, no question but that the papers devoted to bee-keeping are do- ing a good work in helping the busi- ness along. And then, we must not forget the social side of the question. One of the things that makes life worth living, is the large number of real friends that have been formed through the agency of these same papers, and while this is a personal experience, no question but that hundreds of others would give the same testimony. Conducted by J. L. Byer. Mt. Joy. Ontario. Erratic Weather Conditions October weather in September, Sep- tember weather in October, continued by a reversal of like nature for Novem- ber and December, seems to be the closing scenes for 1911 — a year that has been erratic in so far as weather con- ditions are concerned ever since last March. We had an early "freeze up " here in Ontario, with the result that quite a few farmers did not get in their turnip crop. .A.bout Dec. 4th, the weather turned warm, snow disappeared, and plowing has been general for 10 days since that date. How will this affect the wintering of the bees ? While in ■case of cellar-wintering it has been necessary to open windows at night, yet no particular harm is being caused by the warm spell, as so early in the season it is not as serious a question as it is later on in February or March. As to the bees wintering outside, the change has been for the good, as in our locality they had no good cleansing flight late in November. .\t present all the colonies have had a flight inside the past 10 days, so with normal conditions from now on, good wintering is reasonably assured. Last fall our bees had no flight from some time in October until the following March, and yet they wintered fairly -well. Naturally with much better con- ditions this fall, we are hoping for the best results in wintering this season again. < • » Freight-Rate on Granulated Honey Just a few days before our recent convention in Toronto, an extensive honey-dea'er in British Columbia wrote me asking that I bring the matter of freight-rates on granulated extracted honey before the meeting, and see if they would not take steps to have the •question presented to the Railway Com- mission of Canada. In writing me he stated that in his opinion granulated honey in barrels or crated tins was just about as safe to handle as cord- 7i.'ood, in so far as loss to the railways is concerned, and he thought that a separate classification should be made for the granulated article. The idea seems reasonable, and I have been wondering if any of the rail- ways in the United States recognize a difference between liquid and granu- lated honey. Perhaps some of the Western shippers, or Eastern buyers of carload or smaller lots, can give me light on this question. As it is at present, the excessive freight-rates on honey to the Western Provinces of Canada work out as a real hardship to both producer and consumer, and as my friend in British Columbia says, if the freight-rate was not so high, they in the West could handle much more Eastern honey than is possible under present conditions. While the rate on carload lots is hiff/i, the charges on small lots are almost prohibitive when it comes to shipping as far west as British Columbia, and northern and western Alberta. The matter is cer- tainly one well worth looking after, and even if we could get no relief, any exertion put forth is not likely to do us any harm. The Value of Bee-Papers In response to your invitation, Mr. Editor, this scribbler begs to say that he, for one, values the bee-papers very much indeed. If told to say just why — well, that would require some thought, and could not be answered to the best advantage in only a few words. But the fact remains that ever since I be- came interested in bees the bee-papers have had a peculiar attraction to me, and the different issues of the different papers are always expected with keen interest; and if the mail happens to come in just before dinner, like as not the paper will go to the table with me, and if not on my chair until after the meal is concluded, quite likely hasty glances through the pages will be in- dulged in while the meal is in prog- ress. Of course, such a travesty on table manners would not be allowable if we had comf-any, but just in our own family circle, Mrs. Byer indeed has quite a task to keep me walking cir- cumspectly. Bee-Keeping and Fishing Judging by the responses received about the item of mine in a recent issue in regard to my failing in being af- flicted with the " fishing habit," I judge that other bee-keepers are inoculated with the same germ also. Our friend in Iowa writes me that for the past year all his " fishing " has been done with the "silver " hook, as with them all the streams are dry from the effects of the great drouth. As he adds that the drouth is still unbroken, I surmise that prospects will not be good for the bees next year, and in that respect I can sympathize with him. While in our country the rains have fallen abun- dantly, yet we will have little clover for next year. Oh, well, our streams are not dried up anyway, so if we have no honey to bother with, we will have all the niore time to " go fishing !" Mustard Honey-^AIfalfa Honey Arthur C. Miller says, on page 367, that mustard honey is " bitterer than quinine; it ruins any honey it is mixed with." If by " mustard " he means char- lock or wild mustard as we have it here in Ontario— a weed that grows very plentifully in grain on some farms — some bee-keepers, including myself, who live in localities where this plant is plentiful, will wonder if the picture is not overdrawn. Of course, "locality" may make a difference, and mustard honey in Rhode Island may be different from mustard honey here in Ontario. Be that as it may, while the honey from that source is rather sharp to the taste, and if eaten plentifully will leave a slight burning in the throat, yet when it goes with our clover honey, as it usually does, it cer- tainly does not spoil the honey for table use. Concerning the " blending " of honey that Mr. Miller is so enthusiastic about, while it may be all right for his locality and others, justaround Toronto a fellow would have to be pretty care- ful what he was doing. Certainly in that market "color" counts, and when a honey is of good color and good body, it is pretty sure to be a real good article. Of course, our white honey is practically all white and alsike clover, and basswood. January American Hee Journal As to alfalfa, I have tasted the West- ern product only once, but if memory serves me rightly, I believe I liked it real well. Here in Ontario, when alfalfa yields — whether because of slight mix- tures with other honey or other causes — the honey is o/f in color, and the flavor not nearly up to our clover honey. " It lacks character ; it is in- sipid; and consumers are quick to drop it." My, that is a hard crack at the main variety of Western honey, especially on this side of the Rockies. What do our Colorado friends think of it, anyway ? Get after the author of the quotation, would be the advice of this chap, who is far enough away from the would-be combatants to feel pretty safe. Anyway, I have a feeling that said author is quite able to look after himself, so I am not adverse to stirring up a little trouble when chances look so good ! Going South for Winter, Like the Birds I have read and re-read what Mr. Wilder says in the December issue in connection with his plans for " winter- ing" in the future, down at Braden- town, Fla. If I understand his invita- tion correctly, the terms for other bee- keepers to " bunk " in the same house with him are, briefly: Rooms free; board furnishing at "tenant's" own expense, furnishing of room to be left for another chap in case the first occu- pant can not "come back." I have always heard that it was "cheaper to move than to pay rent," but this is one better, as you are not forced to move, and pay no rent. It looks good to this bee-keeper, and if only I was sure of a bumper crop in 11)13, surely I would write at once for apartments to be reserved. I have had a longing for some time to migrate, like the birds, each fall to a warmer clime, and just as soon as financial cir- cumstances warrant, certainly that wish would be gratified. I believe I have already mentioned the fact that prospects are poor for honey next year in our section, so like as not Mr. Wilder's kind offer will not be of any use to this Canuck for a while yet. Bee Short-Course at Guelph Dear Mk. Editor:— Do you know tliat tlie annual honey crop in Ontario is wortli ohl' and a half million dollars, andthat ten thou- sand persons from Point Pelee to the Cobalt rcEions. and further north, are engaged in the business of producing it. keeping three hundred thousand colonics of bees for the purpose ? Even then I venture to say not one quarter of the nectar secreted by Onta- rio flowers is ever utilized. And altliounh honey-prices are advancing every yt-ar. not one-tenth of the honey is consumed in On- tario homes that our people are capable of eating. Now how can this industry be developed ? Mainly by the educational methods now be- ing used by the Department of Agriculture. The successful organization work culmi- nated last month in the biggest annual con- vention of bee-keepers Toronto ever saw. The next event is a '' Bee Short Course" at the Ontario Agricultural College. ,I;in. o to 20. iyi2. This course is free to all who are interested in bees, and every session from beginning to end will be full of information on the care of bees and how to make money from them. During this course Mr. Morley Pettit. Pro- vincial Apiarist, will give a series of demon- strations and illustrated lectures covering all the main features of practical manage- ment in a way that will be helpful to experi- enced bee-keepers and beginners as well. Lectures will also be given on alliedsubjects by other members of the teaching staff, and a few expert bee-specialists will be brought in from the outside to tell how they have made a guccess in their special lines, such as the breeding of Queen-bees. the produc- tion of beeswax, etc. Special time will be devoted each day tO' the discussion of practical topics by mem- bers of the class, and one whole day will be set aside for a conference on foul brood. Remember the dates— Jan. o to 2ci. 1012. No fees; no examination; reduced rates on railways. For program and further information ad- dress. G. C. Creelman. B, S. A.. I,L. D.. Guelph. On t. Pra. O. A. College. Conducted by Louis H. Scholi-. New Brauntels. Tex. Newsy Bee-Keeping Letters and Apiarian Pictures Wanted To begin the year 1912, the editor of "Southern Beedom " wishes to receive from his many bee-keeping friends of the South, newsy letters about them- selves and their successes and failures, together with photographs of their api- aries, and any other important things of bee-keeping, with a description of each picture. These will be welcomed very much at this time, especially, and throughout the year from those who have none to send now. Kindly write a few lines as soon as you find time to do so, and tell some of the good things that have happened in your experi- ences with the bees, and what you have learned about them and their manage- ment. It will be just as interesting to hear why and where failures were made, as well as the successes. It should be remembered that there are to be no conditions as to how you shall write this matter, whether with pen and ink or pencil, or on what kind of paper, nor how long the letters shall be, or how many words shall be used. Just bear this in mind, and in addition, that the editor wears glasses, "by the aid of which he is able to dis- cern all kinds of writing, good or bad, in the English, German or Spanish language." We hope that all of our good friends who have written us from time to time heretofore will continue to do so, and that we may add many more to the list hereafter. With this wish we hope that each and every one of us will have a bounteous harvest this year, and en- joy the best of health also, for without the latter the harvest is not much en- joyment. The Texas Department of Agriculture and Bee-Keeping Bee-keeping has reached such a stage of development in Texas, and informa- tion on apicultural and kindred sub- jects has grown to such an extent, that the Texas Department of Agrictilture, located in the Capitol Buildiuj:; at Aus- tin, Tex., has added to its various branches one on bee-keeping, and its aims are to furnish all enquirers with reliable and authentic information per- taining to this important industry of Texas. This was necessitated by the innumerable inquiries for just such in- formation as has come to the office of the Agricultural Commissioner from time to time ; and to facilitate the work of this important branch, the writer was appointed, several irionths ago, as "Consulting Apicultural Expert" of the Department of Agriculture. All letters for information on bee-keeping questions will receive proper attention by the writer; therefore, to make this branch of the Department an impor- tant one, all bee-keepers and others in- terested are asked to make use of the opportunity of asking questions at any time. It is the desire of the Commissioner, Hon. Ed R. Kone, of the Texas De- partment of Agriculture, to do all in his power in aiding the bee-keepers and others of the State in their voca- tion, and the services of the Depart- ment are at your service at all times. In fact, the Department of Agriculture is yours, and for you to luake use of whenever possible. Gathering Texas Bee-Keeping Statistics Texas produces great crops of honey annually, but how much is not known, and can not even be safely guessed at. The investments in the bee-business are large, but there are no figures to- show the extent of these investments. There are no statistics to show how enormous the bee-keeping industry of the great Lone Star State is today, and if such figures are available we are satisfied that they would be larger than is generally supposed. This industry is an important one, and its develop- ment during the last 10 years has been greater than at any previous time. Therefore, the figures of the old census may safely be multiplied several times- for an estimate of the present output of honey and investment in the bee- business. Just how much to luultiply them nobody can tell. The necessity of reliable statistics of this kind needs no argument. The compilation of such reliable informa- tion from each State in the Union would be a great piece of work at times when it is desirable to show the real extent and worth of the bee-keep- ing industy, either of any State or the whole country. I am just in receipt of a letter that has been sent to all bee-keepers of the State, as far as it was possible to get the names of these, showing that an effort will be made by the State Ento- mologist, of the Agricultural and Me- chanical College, Colle.a;e Station, Tex., to gather reliable statistics from every bee-keeper in Texas, for tabulation. A list of questions accompanies the let- January American Vae Journal ter with blanks to be filled out, and since a stamped addressed envelope in which to send the answer back is sent along, there is no reason why every bee-keeper who gets these should not take the time to give the information desired, and which would be of inesti- mable value to all of us when they are finally compiled. In case there are any of our readers who do not get one of these letters, I ask that you drop a postal card ad- dressed to the " State Entomologist, College Station, Tex.," telling him you are a bee-keeper, and would like to help by giving information about the extent of the bee-business in your sec- tion. In return your name will be put on the mailing list gfor valuable publi- cations published by the Texas Experi- ment Station from time to time. Do not delay this. Do Bees Move Larvae ? From a letter received from one of our German correspondents, Mr. Theo. Koerner, of Fayetteville, Tex., I trans- late the following : Referring to your article relative to bees niovins; eggs or larva;. I can not share a con- clusion with you unless you may be able to explain the following case to me: Two years ago I had a strong nucleus, and for a division-board a comb built half way down was used. As the virgin was lost in mating, another comb of brood was given them from an Italian colony. On the fourth day I examined the nucleus for queen-cells, but found none. Searched the hive for a possible presence of a Queen, but there was none. Now I wanted to unite the nucleus with another colonv. but what did I find on the half-built comb ? A fine queen-cell with larva. This cell was hatched, and soon thereafter the nucleus had a medium-large laying Italian queen. But I had to have the experience of find- ing that this nucleus reared only a "neces- sity product." which quietly superseded again in the fall. Theo. Koerner. This is quite an interesting experi- ence, and enough to make a person think. How did that egg or larva get to that place on the half-drawn-out comb used for a division-board, so to speak .■' The queen out of this cell was an Italian, hence the egg or larva from which she was reared must have been the same as the brood contained in the comb given from the Italian colony. But most interesting is that which our correspondent terms a "necessity product " — a production when the nu- cleus was in dire need of a new queen. That a queen reared under abnormal conditions, or one that is not perfectly developed, is generally superseded sooner than a good, thrifty queen, is not new. Usually such queens are permitted to remain throughout the season as long as honey comes in readily, but as soon as this ceases they are invariably superseded. But we still do not know whether bees are able to move eggs or larvK, do we ? *-•-» The 10-Frame Hive Much discussion relative to the ad- vantages of the 10-frame hive has cir- culated in the bee-papers from time to time, and the result seems to be that this size of hive is pronounced as supe- rior over the 8-frame hive. I am glad to note this verdict, since it is in ac- cord with what the Southern bee- keepers found many years ago. The 8- frame hive is entirely too small for best results in the South, and this has been generally known throughout the country for many years. There are, however, a few bee-keepers who have begun with 8-frame hives, and who continue to use theiu with very good success, but I aiu sure that they might do even better with the 10-frame hive, not only here in the South, but in the North as well. To us who have become used to the 10-fraine width, it is the ideal width for all purposes, especially for supering above. It gives the bees a wider sur- face instead of towering high up and away from the brood-nest — an item that is of great importance. If this width should for some cause or other not be suited to the size of a colony, it is an easy matter to contract to 8 or even a less number of frames with a 10- frame hive, whereas an 8-franie hive can not be enlarged to the 10-frame width. Strong colonies will need, or at least make good use of, a 10-frame brood-chamber if given them, and in my experience this is too small for all conditions, and it becomes necessary to use a shallow super over this to al- low proper room. To give the same amount of room with 8-frame hives would necessitate at least two full- depth bodies, one on top of the other, throwing the top of the colony far away from the main part of the brood- nest below. Another story added would throw it still higher into the air. It is well known that the bees do their best work nearest the brood-nest, and the closer to it we can keep the work the better the results. This can be ac- complished with the 10-frame hives on account of their extra width. Another important item is that the colony has two extra combs in whfch to store honey and pollen in reserve for use at any time, hence the danger of too little honey in the hive, and pos- sible starvation, is reduced. Intensiv^Extensive Bee-Keeping at Long Range There is a great deal of pleasure and satisfaction in a venture that turns out successfully, and if it is remunerative or profitable in addition, this satisfac- tion increases — one becomes more or less enthusiastic about the matter. Such successfulness, then, has much to do with making life worth living, and a successful bee-keeper knows how to enjoy it. That is one reason why we are, almost at the end of the year, as jubi- lant over our more or less successful ventures. In spite of a very dry year, and more or less unfavorable beginning in the spring, a good crop of honey was obtained and disposed of, and that at a good price, with a demand for as much more than was produced, or the entire crop itself. In other words, the orders that came in, and are still com- ing, after we had shipped all the honey we could get together, amounted to over 65,000 pounds, the amount shipped by us this year. On account of the short-crop year our entire output was not even that of last year, although we have almost twice as many bees. Last year our total shipments amounted to over 81,000 pounds. The price this year was one-half cent more per pound than last year, when the average price for the entire year, and for all of the crop, was slightly more than 11 cents per pound. Almost the entire output was bulk- comb honey, or practically all of it, as we shipped less than luilO pounds of extracted honey during the entire year, and this was in only a few case lots with large orders for bulk-comb honey. There were very few, or hardly any, orders for extracted honey this year. Not because there was no de- mand for it, so much, perhaps, as the fact that we have the reputation of be- ing almost exclusively bulk-comb- honey producers. So much about our crop, and the kind of honey produced. Our apiary work is becoming more systematized each year, and short cuts are being adopted, and new methods worked out whenever this is possible. This en- ables us to produce the large crops mentioned much more economically and profitably than heretofore. Our long experience of 20 years is one im- portant item that is most valuable and helpful toward accomplishing these possibilities, of which we used to dream when we first began bee-keeping, and thought of the probability of number- ing our colonies by the hundreds. There is a difference between iwlcn- siz'c bee-keeping and i>i/ensiTc bee- keeping. There is just as much differ- ence between these and iiilensii'c-extoi- sii'e bec-kecping. The latter is what we have tried to carry out in actual prac- tice for a number of years, and our at- tempt has not been in vain. It pays to squeeze just a little bit more out of each colony — that is intensive bee-keep- ing Others believe it pays better to pay less attention to these little details, and depend upon the larger number of colonies to make the certain amount of profit — extensiiv bee-keeping. We have found, however, that the most profitable bee-keeping is to pay the closest attention to both of these items at one and the same time, and thus gain the profits of intensiveness, hence our intensive-extensive bee-keeping. It means a whole lot more work and fussing, some will say, and we grant that. For this extra trouble, however, we are so well rewarded, so that it pays, and pays big. Even if an extra inan or two mijst be employed to assist in car- rying out the ends in view, the greater returns will not only pay for this, but there will be, if the right management is followed, a nice profit besides. The secret of success in this kind of bee-keeping is entirely the ability of the bee-keeper to carry out in every detail each and every problem that must be attended to at the right and proper time. It takes a man of good judg- ment, foresight, and sound executive ability to do it, but a man with a will and determination can adapt himself to the circumstances after a few years' experience in bee-keeping. It may be well to bear in mind, however, that not every person is "cut out" for such a place. In many persons either one or the other necessary essential require- ments is lacking, and these can not, in manv cases, be attained, no matter how January American "Bae Journal anxious and determined a person might be to learn them. We can compare this matter exactly with other lines of work where the masters of industry have at- tained great ends in tlieirundertakings. while others, with apparently the same chances, but a lack of certain essen- tials, went to the wall. But we wish to put in a word of warning, or explanation, before we say anything more, and that is. that we are not writing these things as boasting ourselves over what we have done. Not at all, for the thought never oc- curred to us until we felt, as we were penning these lines, that some of the readers, especially those who do not know us so well, might think that was our aim. Our reason for giving these experiences are to encourage others to adopt the intensive-extensive ways of bee-keeping, and nothing more, and as we have gained much by the experi- ences of others, we are as willing to give ours in return. However, to make this long story short, our aims are to improve our bee- keeping, and keep not only right up- to-date, hut Just a little ahead of that, if it is possible to do so, and if we find that we can profit therefrom. As we saw Rogers, the aviator, fly over our apiaries today, on his "from coast to coast trip," we felt as though it would not be long ere we would be flying to our apiaries in a flying ma- chine, and it is rather doubtful whether or not some of us may not remain just up-to-date enough to do just such "stunts" some time in the near (?) future. Then that will be part of our ititetisive-cxtcnsii'e bee-keeping. Contributed Articles^ The Basswoods as Honey-Trees BY G. M. DUOLITTLE. A correspondent wishes me to tell the readers of the American Bee Jour- nal all about the basswoods ; how early in the season it can be told whether they will bloom or not; if there are years in which they yield no nectar; and if it will pay to move an apiary to a basswood locality a score of miles away. Regarding how early in the season we can tell whether there will be a basswood bloom, I will say that, in common with nearly if not quite all trees, the fruit-buds are formed for the next year's production nearly one year in advance of the time of blossoming. This is certainly true of the basswoods, as these buds are mostly formed dur- ing June and the first half of July, so that the results of next season's nectar- yield, so far as buds and flowers are concerned, are already formed in em- bryo, while the readers are perusing this article, on the apparently hare and lifeless branches of the basswood trees as we behold them these zero days of winter. They wait only for the warmth of spring to bring this dormant life into growth. It is possible that with a microscope these buds might be made to tell their secret holdings, even in mid-winter, but as there is no need of such haste, I have never tried to see as to this. As soon as these buds unfold, some time during the coming May, then we can know to a certainty in this matter, and this will be in good time for know- ing whether to make preparations for moving the bees or not. As soon as the leaves start out a lit- tle we can find the bunch of buds at the base of each leaf, if wc examine closely, as yet curled up quite compactly, and looking somewhat like the half of a white sweet-pea seed, or perhaps a very tiny, fuzzy caterpillar would de- scribe it better. With each week this bunch of buds grows so that in (wo weeks this little, fuzzy caterpillar has unfolded and lengthened out till the " fly-leaf " (that carries the bunch of mature basswood seeds over hill and dale for rods around, with every pass- ing breeze or wind in the fall, thus propagating itself in every nook and cranny within this circuit, unless dis- turbed by the oncoming of the wood- man's ax) is very easily seen, and the tiny buds begin to separate themselves so that they can be counted. At the end of about 7 weeks from the time the trees begin to show their green in the spring, they open their flowers filled with nectar to invite the bees to a sumptuous feast. Of course, a cool season will retard the time of bloom a week to 10 days, and a very hot season will advance it very nearly as much, but the above is the rule. By going over my old record-book, kept for more than 40 years, I find that June 28th is the earliest I ever knew bass- wood bloom to open in this locality, and July 16th the latest. Thus the in- quisitive and knowledge-seeking eye can tell nearly 2 months in advance as to the promise for a yield of basswood honey. Regarding a failure of nectar from this source, I will say that up to about 10 years ago, I never knew such a thing as an entire failure, although there were years during which the weather was not propitious for a continuous secretion of nectar during the whole time of the bloom. At that time we had so cold a spell after basswood commenced to leaf out, and was so forward that the little fuzzy ball of buds could be seen that ice formed fully half an inch thick during the night, and that year there was not any basswood bloom at all on account of freezing. Since then a freeze killed all the buds on the low ground, but on the hills there was some bloom, but not enough to give anything like a full yield. Aside from these 2 instances, the shortest flow I ever knew gave a 3 days' yield, in which honey was so plentiful that the bees could not pre- pare room fast enough to store it, with a gradual winding up of 2 days more, 5 days in all. The longest yield was of 25 days' duration, with 3 of them so cold that the bees could work only a little during the middle of the day. The condition of the atmosphere has much to do with the secretion of nec- tar in the basswood flowers. The most unfavorable weather is a cold, rainy, cloudy spell, with the air or wind in a northerly direction. If basswood came in bloom at a time of year when we were likely to have much of such weather, there might be some doubt about the advisability of moving an apiary to a region where basswood is abundant; but, as a rule, we have very little of such weather during the month of July, which is the time of its bloom- ing in most localities. During July we are more likely to have showery weather, with the air southerly, or a still time, and the atmosphere charged with electricity, at which time the nec- tar will almost drop from the blossoms, providing no rain comes within 2 or 3 miles from the apiary. At such times as this I have seen nectar sparkling in the bloom after it had fallen to the ground ; so much so as to attract my attention in the morning sunshine. During such times as these, this nectar is almost or quite honey, not only sweetened water, as is often the case with nectar from clover, teasel or buck- wheat, which makes the basswood doubly valuable over most other honey- secreting plants or trees. Several times when basswood was yielding under such conditions, I have seen fully a bee-load of honey in a sin- gle flower, and from one stem of blos- soms of from 9 to 12 flowers, I have jarred 2 or 3 thick drops of nectar into the palm of my hand, enough so it could be poured from the hand. Such extremes are the exceptions, however, and not the rule. Still, I know of nothing that will give as much honey per day under the same condi- tions as will basswood. One year I extracted the honey from the upper stories of a single colony during bass- wood bloom, and 3 days later I ex- tracted from these same upper stories, 2 in number. Result: t)6 pounds, or 22 pounds per day, as the average for the 3 days from a single colony. Regarding moving an apiary a score of miles to a basswood locality, I will say that I believe basswood to be the greatest honey-producer in the world, and the least likely to fail to yield nec- tar of any plant or tree, therefore I see nothing against such moving, except the expense. Dr. Gallup, now deceased, while living in Iowa, proved years ago that basswood is an enormous yielder of nectar, when he obtained a yield of 20 pounds per day on an average from a single colony, during a period of 30 days ; or GOO pounds from a single col- ony during the 30 days basswood was in bloom, this record being found in the American Bee Journal during the early '70's, if my memory serves me right. This record has never been beaten, if I am correct, by a single col- ony, during the same number of days from any other source. If our correspondent, or any reader of this, can move their bees to a bass- wood locality, and return them at an Januarj' American Hee Joarnal •expense of from $1.00 to $1.50 per col- ony, a surplus yield of from 12 to 15 pounds each would cover this, and all above this number of pounds would be a net gain, even though there should be no increase of stores for the winter, which would almost surely result. By going over my old records I find that the average yield of section honey per colony during the basswood bloom was 55 pounds, covering a period of over 30 years. This is the average yield per colony of the whole apiary, not the yield of an individual colony. Now, to be on the safe side, suppose we call 50 pounds to be the average yield, or what we could expect one year with another from basswood ; and to make it still more safe, suppose we call this extracted honey instead of section honey, and that the cost of moving would be 20 pounds of that yield — then we would have 30 pounds of that yield for profit. This at 8 cents would give $2.40 profit for each colony moved, or $240 for an apiary of 100 colonies, which would be an item worth consid- ering. Borodino, N. Y. Cement Hive Bottom and Cover —Observation Hives BY W. A. MORTON. 1 am sending a photograph of two hives with cement top and bottom. This top and bottom is made of 3 parts coarse sand, and one part Portland Cement Hive Bottoms and Covers. cement. For an 8-frame hive I make them 15x24 inches, and one inch thick, and find them the cheapest, cleanest, handiest and best I have ever seen. I use 3 for each hive — one for a top, one for the bottom, and then lay one in front of the hive to keep down grass and weeds, and they are all exactly alike. Pick up one, and it is either a top or a bottom. They will not crack, nor warp, nor leak, nor blow off, rot or wear out, and will not harbor bugs, moths nor ants. They need nothing under them. The material for one hive costs bees seemed to " boil " the harder for the watching. These hives cost $1.50 each, and if all of the beginners in bee-keeping would have one in the window of their living room, where they could sit down by it Three Observation Hivves of Bees at a Livisg-Room Window. about 8 cents, and I can make one in less time than I can nail up and paint a wooden one. I use >^-inch blocks under each cor- ner of the hive for an entrance, or can nail strips on the bottom of the hive. I have used these covers and bottoms summers and winters, and find them satisfactory. I like my bees as close to the ground as possible, as we have many very windy days, and when the hives are up off the ground the bees can scarcely alight. I find them cool- est in summer and much warmer in winter. Observation Hives in the Window. I also send a picture of a window and 3 glass hives with bees in them. One is a regular 8-frame hive-body. The others are made of two 5-inch supers. I made a 1-inch wooden skeleton rab- betted on the inside to hold the glass, and with a glass top I have a very con- venient observation hive. Under each one I place a feeder so as to feed whenever I wish. In watching the bees I see many wonderful and interesting things that happen in the bee-hive. .April 5, 1910, I took about a quart of bees and their queen out of an old nail keg, put them into the standard glass hive, and fed them sugar syrup. They surely did well. Although the season of lOiO was a very poor honey season, they filled the hive and gave 3 supers of surplus honey, and were in fine con- dition. The otiier 2 colonies were not put in until later, and each gave one super of surplus honey. These hives were in a south window, and were left uncovered all of the time, and the bees seemed to enjoy living in the light. They were not disturbed or annoyed when we set anything on the hives. They keep the inside of the glass clean. It is an old saying that "the watched pot never boils," but the and watch the bees whenever they wanted to, they would find it very in- teresting to themselves and all of the members of the family; and would learn a great many things about the bees and the hive that is a mystery to them now. They will see bees build- ing comb, the queen laying eggs, see the eggs hatch into little larvae, see the nurse-bees feed the larvae and seal them over, and then see the larvse come out of the cells as perfect bees. They would see the field-bees come in with their baskets filled with pollen, and see them shake it ofif over the brood, and the other bees gather it up and put it away. Then other bees come in loaded with honey, which they deposit in the cells, or other bees take from them and put it away. When it gets warm other bees form a line and force air through the hive to ventilate it, and also ripen the honey. If a bug or anything gets into the hive that they want removed, one bee will try it, and if she can not move it, one or a dozen more will come and help, and it has to go. Many persons watching the bees come and go from a hive think all of them are gathering honey, but if they had a glass hive they would see that it takes more bees to do the work in the hive than it takes to gather the honey. Quenemo, Kan. Destroying Moth in Combs BY C. P. DADANT. In the August numberof the " Abeille De L'Aisne "—the organ of one of the most progressive bee-associations in France— 1 noticed the following: "An infallible and infinitely simple recipe for destrosini; mitts and moths, was recently experimented upon with complete success, by a Rouen savant. Mr. Buruet. upon vel- vets silks, woolen rugs and high-priced furs. It consists of the following: ■ Procure from your druggist carbon ;etrachloride. of which you pour a small January American l^ee Journal quantity in a bowl or upon a dish. Place tliis on tlie Hoor of the closet, whicli you must close hermetically. That is all. The vapors liberated by this drug soon destroy mercilessly all the insects of any descrip- tion whicli may be found within the recep- tacle. No inconvenience is to be feared, as the carbon tetrachloride is uninflammable, and it evidently does not have any no.xious influence upon colors or the consistency of the most delicate textures. The important requirement is not to allow it to escape through any fissures or to remain breathing over it, as it acts in the manner of chloro- form. The carbon tetrachloride is supe- rior to the carbon bisulphide because it avoids danger of fire." Denis. I had given but little thought to this article until 1 found a new mention of it from the pen of my excellent and esteemed friend, Dr. Crepieux-Jamin, of Rouen, whom 1 have already had oc- casion to mention as the well-known editor of Mr. Bertrand's Swiss Interna- tional" Revue D'Apiculture." He writes in the October number of " L'Apicul- ture Nouvelle :" ■' Mr. Denis gave notice lately, in the val- iant "Abellle de I'Aisne." of the experi- ments of a rn lb. cans, at S(>- per can. f. o. b. Way mart. Pa. Sample 5c. J. D. Hull & Bro..Honesdale. Pa. For Sale. — Bees, honey, and bee-supplies. W^e are in the market for beeswax and honey. sAtf Ogden Bee & Honey Co., Ogden Utah. Wanted — Position with some good bee- keeper, by a young man of good character, who wishes to learn the business. C F'. Warner, 317 Becker St., Flint. Mich. For Sale— Choice light-amber extracted honey^thick. well ripened, delicious flavor. Price 0 cents per pound in new 60-lb. cans. lAlf J. P, Moore, Morgan, Ky. Small Trees of the Beautiful Magnolia. F'lowers 6 inches in diameter, i year, $1.00, and 2 years, $1.50 per dozen, postpaid. i2A2t R. H. Manly. Riverton. La. Indian Runner Duck Culture Book. In- formation that beginners are looking for, (Special price, 50 cents.) George W. York & Co., 117 N. .Jefferson St., Chicago, III. For Sale— F^mpty second-hand 6o-lb. cans, as good as new; two cans to a case, at 25c per case. C. H W. Weber & Co. 214*1 Central Ave.. Cincinnati. Ohio. Three Months' Trial for 15 cts. for the bee-journal that "Grandpa" can read. Large type. New cover design. Eight extra pages. The Bee-Keepers' Review, 230 Woodland Ave., Detroit, Mich. For Sale Cheap— 55-acre ranch, all fenced' 20 acres in cultivation; good orchard, berry- patch, etc. Good well and plenty of good buildings, in a bee-keeper's paradise, with over 100 colonies of bees in dovetailed hives. i2.Atf L. L. Skaggs, Llano. Tex. For Sale.— One No. 15 Cowan Reversible Extractor, Root make. Has been used only part of one season: in good condition; price $1050. Fifty second-hand T Supers in fairly good condition; price 18 cents each, or the lot for $8. M. C. Silsbee, Rt. 3. Cohocton. N. Y. Complete Comb Honey Outfit for 1000 colonies, consistingof 460 Colonies of Bees in good condition. Hives with worker-combs, supers filled with sections, etc. Corres- pondence solicited from parties meaning business. Address. Frank Rauchfuss, 1440 Market Street, Denver, Colo. iA3t Wanted— A married man to run on shares, an apiary and vineyard. Have 4-room house. !; acres irrigated land planted in grapes, figs, apricots, peaches, blackberries, and other fruit: 72 colonies of black and Italian bees in 8 and 10 frame hives; also outfit for extracted and section honey. Good climate for bees. Write me for any further infor- mation desired, and give experience, etc. Address, Wm. Winkler, Aldama, Est de Chihuahua, Mexico. The Bee-Keepers' Review. — Have you read it ? Just the journal for both the be- ginner and expert. Tells the former in plain simple language just what the latter are do ing. Helps the latter by giving all the latest methods. Send 15 cts. in stamps for three months' trial subscription. Agents wanted in all localities. Subscription price, $1.00 per year. E. B. Tyrrell, F^ditorand Publisher, loAtf 230 Woodland Ave., Detroit, Mich, Honey to Sell or Wanted Wanted — Choice extracted white and amber honey in barrels or cans. Send sam- ple, and price delivered f. o. b. Preston. iiAtf M. V. Facey, Preston, Minn. For Sale. — Absolutely pure California sage extracted honey: several cars white and light amber, in 60-lb. tins, two tins to a case. Write us for samples and prices. Rather Bros., Managers, Hemet Valley Bee-Keepers* Association, 7Att Hemet, Cal South Dakota Convention. — The Soutli Dakota Bee-Keepers' Association will meet at the Auditorium, Siou.x Falls, S. D., Thursday and Friday, Jan. 18 and 19, 1912, beginning at 1 :30 p.m., Jan. 18. In addition to the question-box and discussions of various questions, the following topics are on the program : "Bees on the Farm," by Geo. Web- ster; "What Size Sections are Best for Shipping f by W. P. Southworth ; " What Size of Hive and Sections Shall We Adopt?" by L. A. Syverud ; Presi- dent's Annual Address, by R. A. Mor- gan ; "Wintering Bees," by Rhoda Carey; "Sweet Clover as a Honey- Plant," by R. A. Morgan ; " Our Foul Brood Law — Is it O.K.?" by Henry Gins- bach. For any further information that may be desired, address the secretary, L. A. Syverud, Canton, S. D. Wisconsin Convention The 33d an- nual convention of the Wisconsin State Bee-Keepers' Association will meet in the Supervisors' Room at the Court House, Madison, Wis., Feb. 20 and 21, 1912, beginning at 10 a.m. Tuesday. The last convention provided for premiums of $-5, $3, $2 and $1 respec- tively, for the four best papers, each paper to occupy not less than 5 min- utes, nor more than 10 minutes. This is open to all members, and all papers must be handed to the Secretary not later than the first day of the conven- tion, otherwise they will not be admit- ted for contest. The main feature of our conventions has always been the Question-Box, and we want you to come prepared with questions, or if you can not come, send your questions to the Secretary, and you will hear of them through the printed proceedings. George W. York, President, and N. E. France, Manager and Treasurer, of the National Association, will attend this meeting, and both have promised just what Vie may expect from them. Headquarters of the bee-keepers is usually the Simons Hotel — a clean, moderate-priced house. To secure a room, it will be necessary io write a week ahead of time, and enclose $1.00 in your letter. We invite every member to renew his membership. We invite every bee- keeper to become a member. Augusta, Wis. Gl'S Dittmer, Sec. January Amc*rican Hee Journal SPECIAL CLUBBING and PREMIUM OFFERS In Connection With The AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL . Sample copies free, to help you interest your friends and get subscriptions. If you will send us names of your neiehbors or friends we will mail them sample copies free. After they have received their copies, with a little talk you can get some to sub- scribe and so either get your own subscription free or receive some of the useful premiums below. They're worth getting. We eive you a year's sabscription free for sending us i new subscriptions at $i.oo each. BEE-KEEPERS' NOVELTY POCKET-KNIFE Tour name and addrefisput on one side of the handle as shown in cut. and on the other side pictures of a queen-bee, a worker, and a drone. The handle is celluloid and transparent, through which is seen your name. If you lose this knife it can be re- turned to you, or serves to identify you if you happen to be injured fatal- ly, or are uncon- scious. Cutise.xact size. Be sure to write exact name and address. Knife delivered in two weeks. Priceofknife alone, postpaid, $1.10. With year's subscrip- tion. $1.90. Free for j new $1 sub- scriptions. BEE-KEEPER'S GOLD-NIB FOUNTAIN PEN A really good pen. As far as true usefulness goes it is equal to any of the high- er-pnced, much- advertised pens. If you pay more it's the name you're charged for. The Gold Nl^ IS guaranteed 14 Karat gold. Iric lum pointed. The holder is bar d-rubber. handsomely finish- ed. , The cover fits snugly and ca 1 t slip off because it slightly w dgesoyer the barrel ateither end. This pen is non-leakable. It IS very easily cleaned, the pen- point and feeder being quickly removed. The simple feeder gives a uniform supply of ink to the pen-point without dropping, blottingcr spotting. Every bee- ke eper ought to carry one in his vest-pocket. Comes in bo.x with directions and filler. Each pen guaranteed. Here shown ?a ac- tual size. Price alone, postpaid. $1.00. With i year'."- subscription, $1.7o. ^Iven free for 3 new subscrip- :ions at $I.oo each. QUEEN-CLIPPING DEVICE The Monette Queen- Clipping Device is a fine thing for use in catching and clipping Pueens' wini;s. i% incheshigh. Itisused by many beekeepers. Full printed direc- tions sent with each one. Price alone, post- ' paid, 25 cents. VVith .-i year's subscription. $1.10. Ciivi-n free for 2 new subscriptions at ti.oo. each. /'r raj IDEAL HIVE-TOOL A special tool invented by a Minnesota bee' keeper, adapted for prying up su- pers and for gen- eral work around theapairy. Made of malleable iron. 8% inches long. Th' middle part is 1 1-16 inches wide and 7-32 thick. The smaller end is I 7-8 inches long, 1-2 inch wide, and 7-32 thick, ending like a screw-driver. The larger end is wedge- shaped having a sharp, semi-circular edge, making it almost per- fect for prying up cov- ers, supers, etc.. as it does not mar the wood. Dr. Miller, who has used it since 1903 says. January 7. 1907; "I think as much of the tool as ever." Price alone, postpaid, 40cents. With a year's subscription, $1.20. Given free for 2 new subscriptions at 81.00 each. PREmiun QUEENS These are untested, stand- ard-bred. Italian Queens, reports of which have been highly satisfactory. They are active breeders, and produce good work- ers. Sent only after May 1st. Orders booked any time for 1908 queens. Safe de- livery guaranteed. Price. SOcents each. 6 for $4.50. or 12 for $8.50. One queen with a year's subscrip- tion. $1.60. Free for 2 new It, subscriptions. HUMOROUS BEE POST-CARDS ^-C-^^^JtvC^OwoNT «u BEE HY HOHtX '■ -■■=" - Ana CHCtR THIS LONELY MCART7 Tor I WOULD nuo you /ill the tit^ And wt WOULD ftfi^ft PAftt '^ HS=3 a34 passes, bound m handsome cloth, with erold letters and deHigm, Illustrated with 112 beautiful half-tone plcture.s. taken by Dr. Miller. It is a good, live story of successful bee-keep- ing" by one of the masters, and shows just how Dr. Miller works with bees. Price alone. $1.00. With a year's subscriptlt/n. $1.75. GivEX fhbk for 3 new subscriptions at $1.00 each. Advanced Bee-Culture, by W. Z. Hutchin- son.—The author Is a practical and helpful writer. 380 pages; bound in cloth, beautifully illustrated. Price alone. $1.20. With a year's subscrli-ttion, Sl.yo. GivEX fkee for 3 new sub- scriptions at $1.00 each. ABC&XYZof Bee Culture, by A. I. & E. R. Hoot.— Over 5U0 pages, describing every- thing pertaining to the care of honey-bees. 400 engravings. Bound in cloth, price alone, $1.50. With a year's subscription. $2.25. Given frebj for 6 new subscriptions at $1.00 each. Scientific Queen-Rearing, as Practically Applied, by G. M. Doolittle.— How the very best, queens are reared. Bound in cloth and illus- trated. Price alone. $1.00. With a year's sub- scription, $1.50. GlVEX FREEfor 2 new subscrip- tions atSl.OO each. In leatherette binding, price alone, 75 cents. With a year's subscription, $1.25. Given free for 2 new subscriptions, $1.00 each. Bee-Keepers' Guide, or Manual of the Api- ary, by Prof. A. J. Cook.— This book is instruc- tive, helpful. Interesting, thoroughly practical and scientific. It also contains anatomy and physiology of bcee. 544 pages. '2U5 illustrations. Bound in cloth. Price alone, $1.20. With a year's- subscription, $1.90, fiivEX free for 4 new sub- scriptions at $1.00 each. Langstroth on the Honey-Bo, revised b7 Dadant.— This classic has been entirely rewrit- ten. Fully Illustrated. No apiarian library is complete without this standard work by " The Father of American Bee-Culture." 520 pages, bound In cloth. Price alone, $1.20. With a year's subscription, $2.00. Given free for 4 new sub- scriptions at $1.00 each. The Honey-IMoney Stories — 64-page book- let of short, bright Items about honey. Has 3* fine Illustrations, and 3 bee-songs. Its main object is to Interest people In honey as a daily table article. Price 25 cents. With a year's sub- scription, $1.10. Given free for one new sub- scription at $1.00. Three copies for 50 cents; or the 3 with a year's subscription, $1.30; or the S copies GIVEN free for 2 new subscriptions at $1,110 each. Amerikanisehe Bienenzucht, by Hans BuHclibaner, is a bee-keepers' handbook of 138 pages, which is just what our German friends will want. It Is fully Illustrated and neatly bound In cloth. Price alone. $1.00. With a year's subscription, $1.70, Given FUEEfor 3 new sub- scriptions at $1.00 each. THE EMERSON BINDER A stiff board .miMide like a book-cover ^vlth cloth back. Will hold easily 3 volumes (.SO num- bersl of the American Bee Journal. Makes ref- erence easy, preserves copies from loss, dust and mutilation. Price, postpaid. 75 cents. With a years subscription, 1.50. Given free for 2 new subscriptions at $1.00 each. WOOD BINDER Holds 3 volumes. Has -n'ood back but no cov ers. Price, postpaid, 20 cents. With a year's subscription $1.10. Given free for one new sub- scription at $1.00. BEE-HIVE CLOCK A few of these handsome "bronzc-inetal" clocks left. Base 10 1-2 Inches wide by 0 8-4 Inches high. Design Is a straw skep with clock face In middle. Keeps excellent time, durable and reliable. Weight, boxed. 4 rounds. You pay express charges. Price, $1 60. With a year'a subscription, $2.'i6. Given fueb for 5 new aub- scrljptlons at tl.OO each. George W. York & Co., 117 North Jefferson St., Chicago, T.'inunry American Tiee Journal Best White Alfalfa and 2d-Hand Cans Every bee-keeper should see to it that all who want honey in his locality are able to get it. When your own honey is all sold don't fail to send somewhere else for more, and thus keep the local trade supplied. We have a larije quantity of the Best White Alfalfa Honey in new (iO- pound cans, two cans in a box, which we can ship promptly at the following prices: One box of 2 cans (120 pounds of honey) at 10 cents per pound ; 4 or more cans, at 9?^' cents per pound — all f. o. b. Chicago. Better order at once, as this grade of honey is not at all plentiful. Winter is just the best time to keep your local customers well supplied. They will like this line Alfalfa honey, for it is " licking good." We have a lot of Second-Hand 'j-gallon Tin Cans that we have emptied ourselves, so we know they are clean and good. They are all right to use again. We have them crated in various size crates, and, in lots of 25 cans, will let them go at $3. .50, or 10 cents each, f. o. b. Chicago. If wanted 2 empty cans in a box, we will furnish them in lots of 10 or more boxes at 30 cents a box, so long as they last. In buying the crated second-hand cans the buyer can make boxes for them if desired out of any odd lumber he may have about his place. These cans certainly are a bargain. You can get them now and keep them in a dry place until next season when you will likely have need of them. We have a limited num- ber of these second-hand cans, so you better order early. National Honey Company, 117 North Jefferson St., Chicago, III. Myers Famous Lockstitch Sewing Awl Is designed particularly for farmers' use. but it will be found a time-saver and money-saver in nearly every household. It is not a novelty, but a practical hand-sewing machine for re- pairing shoes, harness, belts, carpets, rugs, tents, awnings, canvas of ail kinds, gloves, mit- tens, saddles, etc.; you can also tie comforts. The Awl proper is grooved to contain the thread or waxed end. and the point being diamond shape will go through the thickest of leather, green or dry. any thickness. The "Myers Awl" can be used with either straight or curved needle, both of which come with the outfit, and veterinarians will find it indispensable for sewing up wire cuts in stock. The " Myers Lock-Stitch Sewing Awl " is a necessity for the people; can be carried MYERS Famous Lock Stitch SEWING AWL SewsLe Quic Danzenbaker Victor Bee-Smoke (n pocket or tool chest; nothing to lose, always ready to mend a rip or tear. Better than rivets because it is portable. Can be carried in mower or harvester tool-box. threshing kit. or anywhere. If you save one trip to town for mending, you are money ahead. Every farmer needs one. every man who teams needs one. It is the most practical hand-sewing machine for actual use ever devised. Put up with straight and curved needles, waxed thread, illus- trated book of directions, and everything ready for use. Our Special Offers of this Famous Sewing Awl. We mail the MVERS Lock-Stitch Sewing Awl for $i.oo; or club it with the American Bee Journal for one year— both for only $i.6o; or we will mail the Awl fret- as a premiurn for sending us only Tjcd AVt« Subscriptions to the American Bee Journal for one year, with $2.00. Surely here is an article that will be very useful in every home. Address all orders to— George W. York & Co., Chicago, III. "A Year's AVork in an Out- Apiary" is the name of a booklet by G. M. Doolittle, the well-known honey- producer of New 'V'ork State. He tells how he secured an average of 114^ pounds of honey per colony in a poor season. It is fully illustrated, and tells in detail just how Mr. Doolittle has won his great success as a honey-pro- ducer. The price of the booklet is 50 cents, postpaid, but we club it with the American Bee Journal for a year — both for $1.:)0. Every bee-keeper should have a copy of this booklet, and study it thoroughly. Address all orders to the American Bee Journal, 117 North Jefferson St., Chicago, 111. "Bee-Keepers' Guide" This book on bees is also known as the "Manual of the Apiary." It is iri- structive, interesting, and both practi- cal and scientific. On the anatomy and physiology of the bee it is more corn- plete than any other standard Ameri- can bee-book. Also the part on honey- producing plants is exceptionally fine. Every bee-keeper should have it in his library. It has 544 pages, and 295 illus- trations. Bound in cloth. Price, post- paid, $1.20; or with a year's subscrip- tion to the American Bee Journal — both for $1.90. Send all orders to ♦»"» CiCce of the American Bee Journal, s'lXb IN'CHES. Shown above in a standing and reclining position. In the latter the grate is under, that it may have a full head of smoke ready on the job at a touch of bellows. The perpendicular Fire-Draft Crate, forc- ing air both ways, makes and cools the smoke, forming a Double Fire-Wall for «e- eurely riveting the double-braced brackets to the cup. that is firmly bolted to the valve- less bellows bv Locked Nuts. The One-Piece cap can not clog. It is the coolest, cleanest, strongest, best, and larg- est net capacity of all smokers, selling at onedollar ji 00). We guarantee satisfaction. Price, postpaid. Si.oo; or with the Ameri- can Bee Journal one year— both for $r.70. Address. GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 117 N. Jefferson St.. CHICAGO. ILL. n A D il F O ' Foot-Power DAnllCO Machinery Read what J. L Pahknt, of Charl- ton, N. Y.. says: 'TVe cut with on* of your Combined Mfichines, last winter. 50 chaff hives with 74n. cap, 100 honey-rackB, &00 brood-framc& 2,000 honey-boxes, and a grreat deal of other work. This winter we haTa double theamount of bee- hi v«*, etc., to make, and we eipect to do It wlt^ tbiB Saw. It will do all ybo say 1» will." Catalog and price-tiHt Crea. Addnm, W. F. ft JOHN BARHZS. Mt Rak7 St.. Ka^«trd« IlL Please mention Am. Bee Joamal when writing. Dr. Peiro will continue to give the readers of the American Bee Journal free advice regarding the subject of Surgical and Medical treatment. Many.have availed themselves of this offer. Return postage is all you need to send. Address, Dr. Peiro, 2148 Sun- nyside Ave., Chicago, 111. January American Hee Journal White Sweet Clover Seed Sweet Clover is rapidly becoming one of the most useful things that can be grown on the farm. Its value as a honey-plant is well known to bee-keepers, but its worth as a forage-plant and also as an enricher of the soil are not so widely known. However, Sweet Clover is coming to the front very fast these days. Some years ago it was considered as a weed by those who knew no better. The former attitude of the enlightened farmer today is changing to a great respect for and appreciation of Sweet Clover, both as a food for stock and as a valuable fertilizer for poor and worn-out soils. The seed can be sown any time. From 18 to 20 pounds per acre of the un- hulled seed is about the right quantity to sow. We can ship promptly at the following prices for the white variety: Postpaid, one pound for 30 cents, or 2 pounds for 50 cents. By express f. o. b. Chicago— 5 pounds for 8ilc; 10 pounds for $1.50; 25 pounds for $3.50; 50 pounds for $6. oil; or 100 pounds for $12.00. If wanted by freight, it will be necessary to add 25 cents more for cartage to the above prices on each order. George W. York & Co., 117 N. Jeff. St., Chicago, III. LIOMT UP! You can transform any kerosene (coal oil) lamp or lantern into dazzling brilliancy with our wonderful Bright Ligbt Bamer. 60 candle power invisible and unbreakable Steel Mantle. Brighter than electricity, better than gas or gasoline, and perfectly sale. No generating — simply li?ht like any kerosene lamp. Nothing to get out of order. Positively will not smoke or flicker. Ar^FlMTQ lA/'AIMTF'fl everywhere. Sells like wUdSre. r^.XMM^l'^ M.i:9 HW ri.L-%M.MjMM An opportunity of a life time, work all or spare time. Experience unnecessary. Make bi^ money — be indepen- dent. Write today. Act quick — territory gointr fast. Cninplrfe sample, post- paid, 30c. 4 lor $1.00. Money back if not satisfactory. BRIGHT UGHT CO.. Dept. 5, Grand Rapids, Mich. Plemie meotion Am. Bcc Journal when writing. ¥( GRAY WORKERS Carniolan Alpine Queens Select Tested Queens March, April, May, $5.00 ; June, July, August, $3.50. Select Untested " —June, iu\y, August, $2.00. Shipped to all parts of the world postase free. Safe arrival guaranteed. Interna- tional Money Order with every order. Dead queens replaced if returned in 24 hours after arrival. Kcferences in respect to financial and commercial responsibility of the under- signed Association can be had at every Imperial-Royal Austro-Hungarian Consulate in the United States and Canada. Write for our booklet. Orders for Nuclei and Hives can not be filled until everything concerning this line of business is arranged properly. Remit money order, and write p:nglish to the- Imperial-Royal Agricultural Association, Ljubljana, Carnlola (Krain), Austria. 12A3 4S3 — I B = IX\ ITVnN Are our Specialty. Winter your bees in Protection Hives. Liberal earlyordor discounts A. C. Woodman Co., Grand Rapids, Mich. MAKE YOUR HENS PA^ Kl^V.T? ""• fgEI- BOOKS Ml VOU how. O'JRNe. 191.2 H.itcher .in.l Ittoodcrs will give you stronirer chicken. Pka»e mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. Bkkswax Wanted.— We are paying 28 cents, cash, per pound for good, pure yellow beeswax delivered at our office. If you \vant the money promptly for your beeswax, ship it to us. either by express or freight. A strong bag is the best in which to ship bees- wax. Quantity and distance from Chicago should decide as to freight or express. Per- haps under 25 pounds would bettor be sent by express, if distance is not too great. Ad- dress. Georgk W. York & Co.. II- N. Jefferson St.. Chicago. III. Ptease mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. OVJiOT^ The larccpl, best keepioE, handaomPHt Onl produced from Northern (Jrowo Seeds. 6al ^eedA an; grown in the exlreujf North, pedieirpe etocks, mid for purity, vitiililj and yield are uosurpasBed. Catalog Itlld. 8 UAKkET ROUTS, 13c>. The followiDE ^re the three most por'uhir ions: One Inrce package each \V htto Portugal. Yellow Olobe l>snTerA. aod Bed WetberftOeld, to test, 120, FOK 16c. 10,000 kerin'ts of splendid Lettuce, Radish, Tomato, Cabbage, Turnip, Onion, Celery, Fariiey, Carrot, Melon ami Flower Seeds producing bushels ofveRetables and flowers for 16c- postpaid. Our great Plant and Seed Cat alogfreo for the asking. Write to-day John A.SalzerSeedCo.210S.8thSUa Crosse, Wis STRONGEST.FENGE MADE Made of Double Strenpth Heavily Galvanized \Vlre. Requires fewer posts and outlasts all others. Lowet r> /-< The first part of it contains a short article on " Honey as Food, written by Ur. t.,. O. Miller. It tells where to keep honey, how to liquefy it. etc. The last is devoted to "Honey Cooking Recipes" and "Remedies Using Honey." It should be widely circulated by those selling honey. The more the people are educated on the value and uses of honey as a food, the more honey they will buy. . Prices. prepaid-SampIe copy for a 2-cent stamp : 50 copies for 90 cents : 100 copies for $1.50 : 250 copies for $3.00 : 500 for $5.00 : or 1000 for $9.00. Your business card printed free at the bottom of front page on all orders for 100 or more copies. Address all orders to P-O-R-T-E-R SAVES TIME HONEY MONEY At All Dealers Each, 15 cents ; Dozen, $1.65 If your Dealer does not keep them, get sample from Factory — Postpaid, each 17 cents ; dozen, $1.80 — with Complete Instructions. R. & E. C. Porter, Mfrs. Lewistown, III. Pleas* mention Am. Bee Joamal when wHttaa. We Make a Specialty of Manufacturing SECTIONS They are the Finest tn the Land- None Better. Our Prices will make you smile. We want ID mail OUR BEE-SUPPLY CATALOG to every bee-keeper in the land, it isrKlit. Ask for it. ,,, . , ,, H. S. Duby. St. Anne, III., carries a full line of Our Goods, ond sells them at our regular catalog prices. AUG. LOTZ & CO. Boyd, Wis. Please mention Am. Bee Joamal when writfal£. Special Prices on Bee Goods For 60 Days. Dovetailed Hives I'i-story. Si.15 each. Hoffman Frames. $2.25 per 100. Just make us a Bill of the Goods you misht need for IQ12. and we will quote Lowest Prices. __ We make all kinds of Bee i - ?g.^ Goods. FINE QUEENS at all ^"^^^^ — "»" times to be had. Untested. 75 cts.: Tested. $i.oo. CHESTNUT HILL MFC. CO. lAtf Biglerville, Pa. Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. Bee-Supplies We are Western Agents for lAtf "FALCONER" Write for Fall Discounts-we can save you """"c. C. demons Bee-Supply Co. 128 Grand Ave., Kansas City, Mo. Please mention Am. Bee Journal w*«« GEORGE W. YORK H. CO. Chicago. 111. This tine wc Honey-Spoon and the Ameri- can Bee Journal for one year-both for only $1.75. Send all orders to to George W. York & Co.. 117 N'. Jefferson St.. Chicago. 111. January American fUm Jonrnal Are You Good at Figures? These Books would help you much subscriptions and renewals. Tlie postpaid price of ' Practical Brief Figuring Makes huurins; easy and attrac- tive. It contains "short cuts " for the merchant, manufacturer, me- chanic and farmer, besides a trea- tise on the Civil Service Examina- tion in arithmetic. Freaks of Figures Is a collection of interesting and very amusini; mental diversions for parlor entertainments and so- cial gatherings for old and young. Both of these books are printed on an excellent quality of paper, and neatly bound. We have completed arrange- ments with the author by which these booljs may be secured by all subscribers of the American Bee Journal at a nominal figure as fol- lows: We will send you the American Bee Journal for one year and a copy of either "Practical Brief Kiguring" or " Freaks of Figures." prepaid, for $1.30. We will send you the American Bee Journal for one year and a copy of both books, prepaid, on receipt of $1.70. These offers are good for new Practical Brief Figuring" is 60c; George W. York & Co., 117 N. Jefferson St " First Lessons in Bee-Keeping " 'CAPONS DouA/eftt brinf< the largest profltei — liHi'J more than other poultry. Ca- ponizingifl easy aud pnon learned. Capons sell for 300. a pound, while ordinary poul- try briDBS only 15c. a pound. Prosrcssivo poultr.vmen know these thinf;s and use PILLING \^r^^s. Sent postpaid. $2.60 per set with " Easy-to-use " iDBtructione. . . , We also make Poultry 5forA-er, 2BC. Gape tVbrm IJxlraclor,Xc FreTich Killing Knife, 60o. Bookitt, "Guide tot oponiiint." Fan. G. P. PILUNG&SONC0..23J&ArcliSti.. PhJaaelpVi.. P«. Ptease mention Am. Bee Journal when writins. Souvenir Bee I'ostal Cards We have 4 Souvenir Postal Cards of interest to bee-keepers. No. 1 is a Teddy Bear card, with stanza of poetry, a straw bee-hive, a jar and section of honey, etc. It is quite sentimental. No. 2 has the words and music of the song, "The Bee-Keeper's Lullaby," No. 3, the words and music of "Buckwheat Cakes and Honey;" and No. 4, the words and music of "The Humining of the Bees." We send these cards, postpaid, as follows : 4 cards for 10 cents, 10 cards for 20 cents ; or 10 cards with the American Bee Journal one year for $1.10. Send all orders to the office of the American Bee Journal. FIGURE THIS OUT FOR YOURSELF If you buy Bee-Supplies NOW that you will need in April, you save money at the rate of 12 percent on the $. THREE PERCENT is the amount of our early order discount on cash purchases in January. January to April is just three months — % of a year. Now 3 percent for 3 months is interest at the rate of 12 percent per year — so you see why we urge early orders accompanied by cash this month. ANOTHER reason is that we can serve you better now than three months hence. In a few weeks we will be putting up carload shipments for our dealers and distributing centers, and every efifort in our big plant —the largest establishment in the world devoted to the manufacture of bee-supplies — will be directed to filling rush orders. Yon will be just as an.xious for your goods as our other patrons, and will deserve and receive the same attention— no matter what the amount of your order may be, but We can Serve you Better Now and we want to make it worth your while to place an early order. Try this on a part of your list anyway. Saving at the rate of 12 percent per year ought to interest everybody. We Manufacture Everything in Bee-Supplies Get our 1912 catalog which gives descriptions, illustrations and prices on everything from bee-hives to bee- books, from frames to comb foundation. Get this Catalog NOW. THE A. I. ROOT COMPANY, 213 Institute Place, Chicago, Illinois U. W. BOY DEN, M^r. (Jeffrey Building) Tel. 148-1 Nor til. XjEnuEf American Vee Joarnal Results Count When you buy Comb Foundation you RESULTS. look for The Dittmer Process Comb Foundation is the right SMELL, the right TASTE, and the right FIRMNESS to give Best Results. The Dittmer Process Comb Foundation is .so like Beeswax the Honey-Bees would SHAPE and MOULD for themselves, it makes it very acceptable to them. This assures a Full Capacity Honey Crop, and remember, to you, Mr. Bee-Keeper, Honey is Money. A Liberal Discount Offered on all Supplies. Write for Prices. Gus Dittmer Comjiany, - Augusta, Wisconsin. -^i^^ii' TRAPPERS GET BUSY BIG MONEY IN FURS Ovt^r ten million dollars will be paui to trappera of far bearing animals during the cumiiig umter. Any man oi buy livinj: in the country can add a goodly 6UIU lu lii8 eamniKa by trai'imit,' during spare iiio- uunts. W'efarnisliA l'.5i» iLL'TKLV tliKEacuuiplete Tranper'a (iiiide which tells you the size of trap and kind of bait louse for the different animals, how to re- move the Bkma and prepare them for market. We also funiish the best traps ajid baits at lowest prices. \\'e recrivemorefura direct fruni trapping grounds tlian any oth*-r house in the world, therefore can pay the highest prices for them. Our price liats,Bhipping ta^'S, etc., are also f KEE for the aaking. if you are a trapper or want to become one, write to xlb today. \\ e will help you. F. C. TAYLOR & CO. GREATEST FUR HOUSE IN THE WORLD 30 Fur Exchange Buildlna* St. Louis, Mo. "Griggs Saves You Freight" - TOLEDO - Is the point to get Goods Quick and at least cost. 6 Per Cent Discount Tliis month. Send list of Goods needed and let us figure with you. Can take Honey and Wax in e.\change for Supplies. S. J. GRIGGS & CO., 24 N. Erie St.. TOLEDO. O. "Griggs Tlie King-Bee." Back Vols. American Bee Journal Back Volumes of Am. Bee Journal.— We have some on hand, and would be glad to correspond with any one who may desire to complete a full set. It may be we can help doit. Address. American Bee Journal. 117 N. Jefferson St.. Chicago, 111. An Investment IN THE National Orchards Company SAFE and Highly Profitable. .\11 necessary conditions for successful Apple and Fruit industry exist at the Company's property. The Practical .\pple-Man will appreciate the fact that the property of this Company is located on the Columbia River, about 70 miles north of the famous VVenatchee Apple District in the State of Washington. The utmost investiga- tion is invited. For particulars write — National Orchards Company, 117 North Jefferson St., CHICAGO, ILL. The Campbell System INSURES your crop against DROUTH Our i-xpi-rience in 1910 and I'Jll has proved that good crops can be grown with less than eighteen inches of rain- fall. Those who followed the Camp- bell System in 1!U0 had a crop in 1911. Don't Take Any Risks for 1912 Catnplit'll's ()iiblicati()iis explain the system. Campbell's Scientfic Farmer $1.00 Campbell's Soil Culture Manual - $2.50 Combination Price - - - $3.00 Address. Campbell's Soil Culture Co., Lincoln, Neb. When yon write ask abont the Campbell Correspondence School. 8Atf TEXAS HEADQUARTERS Root's Supplies for Bee-Keepers. Makers of Weed New Process Comb Foundation. Buy Honey and Beeswax. Catalogs Free. Toepperwein & Mayfield Co. Cor. Nolan & Cherry Sts., 4Atf San Antonio, Texas. Mexico as a Bee-Country B. A. Hadsell. one of the most experienced and largest bee-keepers in the world— has made six trips to Mexico, investigating that place as a bee - country, and is so infat- uated with it that he is closing out his bees in Arizona. He has been to great expense in getting up a finely illustrated 32-page book- let, describing the tropics of Mexico as a Bee-Man's Paradise, which is also superior as a farming, stock-raisingandfruit country. Where mercury ranges between 55 and 08 Frost and sunstroke is unknown. Also a great health resort. He will mail this book Free by addressing. 7Ai2t B. A. Hadsell, Lititz, Pa. I'kase mention Am. B*t Journal whea wriHof. ~ COST SALE Of BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES for the next 4 months. Too big Stock to carry over. Write your wants; I will make price to suit. Sept. 26, IQII. W. D. Soper, fl^filt Jackson, Mich. Closing Out Offer We Have Some Copies Left of ttie Book "Bees and Honey" By Thomas G. Newman bound in cloth, that we offer cheap to close out. It contains 160 pages, and is bound in cloth. It used to be a one- dollar book, but we will mail them, so long as they last, at 50 cents each; or with the American Bee Journal one year— both for only $1.20. Surely this is a bargain. The book is well illustrated, and has some good infor- mation in it, especially for beginners. Address all orders to George W. York & Co., 146 W. Superior St., Chicago, III. January American ^^e Jonrnal The Olive— Its Cultivation and Commercial Value By Col. E. S. WEEDEN This emblem of peace and prosperity is one of God's priceless gifts, minis- tering to man's physical, mental and financial advantage. It is the poor man's food, and the rich man's luxury. It is also the emblem of immortality it never dies of old age. There are olive trees in Rome now over 2000 years old, still flourishing and fruitful. If the identical tree from which the dove plucked a leaf to carry to Noah has not been destroyed by violence, we assume it is still living, and has been bearing fruit all these ages. It is a sturdy, vigorous grower, and when planted in stony places (if all else is satisfactory) it will wrestle with the rocks and wring from scanty soil suffi- cient nourishment to insure life, growth and fruitfulness. It will live where all else will die of thirst. Yet such con- ditions are not to its liking, and if neg- lected it will be extremely slow in de- velopment. For example, in the Medi- terranean country — its native land — the grower expects to wait 14 years for a harvest, while in Butte Co., Cal.— its paradise — under kindly conditions it will smile its thanks with a showing of fruit the third year, and the fourth will give a harvest worth gathering. Doubt- less its slow development in the first instance is due partly to a less favor- able location, but largely to less intel- ligent care. The olive finds a difference between the culture given by an Italian, and the intelligent industry of a citizen of Cali- fornia. 1 Mis tree will grow almost anywhere in our State, yet it has a clear-cut pref- erence as to soil and location. In the Coast counties and Southern California it suffers greatly from the "black scale," requiring a vigorous, persistent, expensive battle for its life. But in the warm interior valleys, and deep, rich, red soil of the foothills of Butte county, it has no enemies of any kind. The " black scale pest " can't survive our summers — too much warm sunshine and absence of humidity. It is unwise to plant any fruit where it will not be al I'/x best. The sun does not shine on a spot of earth anywhere, that will produce such quantities of olives and of such supe- rior quality as those grown here. With tliese great natural advantages, and with intelligent, industrious care (with us), the olive is one of the larg- est and most speedy "money-makers" of the fruits of our wonderful State. When 0 or 10 years old a net return of $200 an acre is easily within the reach of any man, and this return will be steadily increased for many ages. Some orchards now 20 vears old give returns of $600 to $800 an acre; and still older groves, a yet larger result. Afterthe sixth year the olive requires comparatively small care. An average man of average intelligence and indus- try could care for a grove of 10 acres in Butte county (where there is no "scale" to fight), except at harvest time. But there is one great advantage in harvesting, it extends over a period of a month, and if crowded, the " buyer" will take the fruit on the tree, doing his own gathering. This is because we have in Oroville, The Khman Olive Co., the largest and best equipped es- tablishment of its kind in the world, with a well-instructed force ready to gather with great speed all the olives that can be bought "on the trees." These people are the " discoverers " of the art of pickling n'pe olives. Formerly olives for pickling were gathered when green. Being hard — because green — they were not so easily bruised — bruising spoils them. To cure ripe olives successfully, great care is required in gathering and in the curing process. It is also necessary that the olives be grown on such soil as insures a firmness of texture, and such soil also insures the highest food-qualities, and "Oi,i\K Branch"— WITH Olives. the most ex(|uisite flavor. It is because of our soil and climate, and because of the skill and intelligence in handling and curing them, that "Ehman's Oro- ville Ivipe Olives" are famous the world over. Not merely in our own country, but also in England, France, Germany and Italy, the high-grade hotels, the high- toned clubs, the rich and the titled, all want Oroville Ripe Olives. Our factory people tell us the only reason they do not sell ten times as much of this fruit as they do is because I /ley can I fret the fruit. There is (|uite as much difference be- tween ripe and green olives as there is between ripe and green peaches. Don't for a moment imagine you have tasted " the llavor of an olive " until you have eat»n some of Ehman's Ripe Oroville Olives. Cull there be an OTer- frochictioii of " pickled ripe olives ?" I strongly sus- pect not. We are now importing over $6000 worth of olives every year — simply be- cause our people can not grow enough of them. We have just discovered the value of olives as food, and as a result the de- mand the past .5 years has increased enormously. Even our natural in- crease in population would exceed all possible increase in growth of this fruit. Remember, olives have been grown since the days of Moses, and history does not report a single instance of "over-production." Remember, further, that the olive is an " arid fruit." It can not be grown in commercial quantities anywhere in the United States outside of California. The only danger that confronts the intending grower is that he ivon't plant enough of them. Think of the kind of an income "your successors" would have in 20 years, if you would plant 40 acres of olives — say at least twenty-five thou- sand dollars a year. Even 10 acres with an income of $6000 a year zuould look good to some people. Oroville, Calif. Col. E. S. Weeden. [If the reader is interested to have further information, write to Col. Weeden. He will be glad to reply direct to any questions. Col. Weeden kindly sent us a gallon of the Ehman Oroville ripe olives re- cently, and they surely are fine — ever so much better than the green olives, <<■(■ think. — Editor.] WANTED WHITE HONEY Both COMB and EXTRACTED Write us before dispos- ing of your Honey Crop. s Beeswax ® —WANTED- HILDRETH & SEGELKEN, 265-267 Greenwich St., | NEW YORK, N. Y. I STRAWBERRIES I ^.T. w .41 r a \v be r r y , l;:isi>t>trry. hlackbrrry :iii,l i.iluT siiiull fruit I'latitw. (irapc VlnCR, •Shnil.l.cry eto. My KKEK c liial.ik- Ic-lls thf trutti and ami iiiintca fair priori fur k'o.mI 8r»Mk true to itainf. If li.trr.'BtcL write today. \V. K. Al.l.l'.fi. 17 HarL.-l SIroot, SalUbiiry. fld. Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writinf. January American l^ee Journal Chicago. Dec. 2H— Sales nf honey have been slow during the month of December, and are likely to be so for some little time in January. The Western honeys do not give the satisfaction that the honey pro- duced in the neighborhood does, for the rea- son that the people are accustomed to a flavor they do no not find in Western honey. Prices on fancy comb range from I7@i8c per lb., and other grades are from i@5c per lb. less. Extracted, from 8@qc for white, and ambers are ranging from 7e8c. according to flavor and kind. Beeswax is steady at from 30®32c. according to color and cleanliness. R. A. Burnett & Co. Cincinnati. Dec. 28.— The market on comb honey has fallen off somewhat, only demand for fancy white selling in retail way at J4.00, to jobbers at $3.60 to$3.75. accordingjto quant- ity. Extra white extracted in 60-lb. cans at 10c: light amber in 60-lb. cans at 8':!C: amber in barrels. 7@7'3C. Beeswax in fair demand at $33 per hundred. The above are our selling prices, not what we are paying. C. H. W. Weber & Co. New York. Dec. 28.— Trade is rather QUiet just now. which is generally the case around the holidays. Stocks of comb honey are rather light, on account of the short crop, and receipts are only of moderate size, and we do not expect any more large shipments from now on. Prices hold firm at former Quotations. Extracted honey— while white clover is scarce, there seems to be an abun- dant supply of all other grades. We expect to see lower prices from now on. For the present we quote; California white sage, QC per pound; light amber sage. 8c per pound; while alfalfa. «(°8'2C; light amber alfalfa' 7(37';c; buckwheat. 7@7'5C. Beeswax quiet at !oc per pound. HiLDRETH & Segelken. Kansas City, Mo.. Dec. 28.— The demand for honey still continues to be light, and we don't look for a much better demand until after the holidays. January and February are generally good honey months. We quote; No. I white comb. 24-sections. S3. 25; No. 2. $2.75@$3.oo; No. I amber. $3.00; No. 2. $2.50(82.75. Extracted, white, per pound. 8;4@gc; amber. 8®8;;c. Beeswax. 25®28c. C. C. Clemons Produce Co. Indianapolis. Dec. 23.— Demand is good for best grades of honey. W^hite comb sells for i8c in lo-case lots, linding prompt and ready sales. Amber grades in slow demand with lower prices. Extracted seems to be plentiful, and is selling at ii@i2c in 5-gallon cans. Beeswax is in good demand, and pro- ducers are being paid 31c. Walter S. Pouder. Denver. Dec. 5.— We quote our local mar- ket in a jobbing way as follows: No. I white comb honey, per case of 24 sections. Sm5; No. I light amber. $2.>jo; No. 2. S2 70. White extracted, oc per pound: light amber, 8c; strained, 6^4@7/^c. We pay 2bc cash, and 28c in trade, for clean, average yellow bees- wax delivered here. The Colo. Honev-Producers' Ass'n. F. Rauchfuss. A/^r. Cincinnati. Dec. 28.— The demand for honey is rattier good, considering the great quantity that is still in the West unsold. We continue to sell fancy comb at S3. 75 to $4.00 a case; fancy extracted honey at gSiic a pound, according to the quantity and qual- ity i)urchased; while foramber extracted in barrels we are getting from 6!i(n-7/WyW¥¥¥yxyXy^yy^XWWWyyyyyxy^¥¥¥¥¥WyyWyXX( N N H N N N N N M N H N N H N N N N N H N N N N N M N H K E ^ You Want a Home E m ^ ^ ^ ^ s ^ ^ s ^ ^ WHERE pure water is plentiful, comes when you wish, and stays when you will ; WHERE cyclones are unknown, and blizzards impossible ; WHERE crops never fail from drouth, and the unhoused harvest is never damaged by storms; WHERE your stock can feed and fatten on pas- tures that are always green ; and you can work in your fields with profit and pleasure every day in the year — except Sunday ; WHERE you can grow to perfection all the pleas- ant fruits, and all else that can contribute to make your home a paradise ; WHERE you can raise two crops of some things (on the same ground the same season), and continu- ous crops of other things, giving you "a money har- vest " to sell every week in the year; WHERE "sunny days" cover two-thirds the time, and yet sunstroke or "death or damage from heat" are unknown ; WHERE bees banquet in fields of never-fading flowers, securing rich stores of honey — which they do not consume "in wintry hours;" WHERE you can grow practically all the nuts and fruits of commerce to perfection and in enormous quantities. Remember that Apricots, Almnnds, Rai- sins, Figs. Olives and Washington Navel Oranges can not be grown in commercial quantities anywhere in the United States outside of California. Hence, a good price is assured, and over-production impossible. YOU WANT A FAIRY FARM WHERE you can (with the help of your boys) take the best care of it — thus forever ending the tor- turing ghost of "hired help;" WHERE "your boys" will get rich on berry- patches, and "the women-folks " with poultry — as a by-product; WHERE you can get more net cash every year from ten acres than can be wrested from a quarter section of the best farm land in the Mississippi Valley, and all this while escaping the lonesome isolation and dreary drudgery inseparable from the larger farming. You want to know all about this wonderful land. You can secure full and accurate information by writ- ing to ^ Col. E. S. WEEDEN, OROVILLE, CALIF. ^ „ Stating you saw this advertisement in the American Bee Journal. Reference— Editor American Bee Journal. ^ February, 1912 Volume Lll. No. 2 JJ^-f-A/HY ot OwUego DEE Journal The Oldest Bee-Paper in America V 250-CoIony Out-Apiary of A. G. Woodman Co., of Nichigan. Part of 300-Colony Apiary of John F. Otto, of Wisconsin. I ■I I K 1^ ^ Oklahoma State Fair Apiarian Exhibit of Geo. H. Coulson— (2S feet long and 14 feet high.) K7^ 34 I -^^g^ 'where, not s,\i particular as to soils and climes. For 10c Stamps We Mail A package of our Famous Oats, together with a lot of other rare larm seed sam- ples, as also our Mammoth Catalogue, If you ask lor same. JOHN A SALZER SEED 00.. 210 5. 8th St.,LaCro8Be.Wla. Pka«e mention Am. Bee Joumal when writing. HENS LAY AND PAY BY THE PHILO SYSTEM CPCC Booklet hy E. W. Philo. entitled riVEiLi "A Little Poultr>- and a Living." Or NfW 96-p-age book, "Making Poultry Pay." lOc. Both books and the new eniarsed edition of the Philo System lext'book, $1.00. or all three books with our monthly mag. azine. Poultry Review, one year, $1,50 E. R. PHllO, 42 North Ave., Elmira. N. V. Pka«e mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. STRONGEST FENCE MADE FROM FACTORY DIRECT TO FAHM 26-incIi Hog Fence, 15c. 47-inch Farm Fence,. _,23!2C. ' 60-inch Poultry Fence 30c. 80-rod spool Barb Wire, $1.40 LMrtiivstv rcoiitains and heik'hts. i mr lar-'e Free Catalog,' ite Information yuii should ha\e. [COILED SPRING FENrE CO. Box £9 Winchester, Ind. Pkoae mention Am. Bee Joumal when writing. Langstroth Honey-Bee on the Revised by Dadant. Latest Edition. This is one of the standard books on hee-culture, and ought to be in the library of every bee-keeper. Bound in substantial cloth, and has nearly 6011 pages. Revised by that large, practical bee-keeper, so well known to all bee- doni — ^Ir. C. P. Dadant. Each topic is clearly and thoroughly explained, so that by following the instructions of this book one can not fail to be won- derfully helped on the way to success with bees. We mail the book for $1.20, or club it with the .\nierican Bee Journal for one year — both for $2.00. This is in- deed a splendid chance to get a grand bee-book for a very little money. GEORGE W. YORK & CO. CHICAGO, ILL. FOR SALE Alsike Clover Seed. Small Red. Mammoth. Alfalfa. Blue Grass. Sweet Clover, Red Top. Rape, Timothy. Millet, etc. Also, high-bred Seed Corn. 2Ait APIARIAN SUPPLIES. Catalog Free. F.A.SneM, Milledseville, Carroll Co., III. Plrase mention Ara. Bee Journal when writing. BEES AND HONEY fllSf II 111- B^B ^1^ NEWMAN DADANT The above is the title of a new and revised edition of what for many years was the book called "Bees and Honey," written by the late Thomas G. Newman, editor of the American Bee Journal. Mr. C. P. Dadant, whose reputation as a honey-producer and e.xpert bee-keeper is unquestioned, revised the book re- cently. The last edition consisted of 100 pages, but the revised edition, hereafter to be known as "First Lessons in Bee-Keeping," contains nearly 200 pages, and is perhaps the most generously illustrated bee-book of its size now published, as it has over loO pictures. "First Lessons in Bee-Keeping" is principally for beginners in the bee-busi- ness, as its name indicates. It contains the foundation principles of bee-keeping — just what every beginner ought to know in order to sfart right with bees. It does not pretend to cover the subject in so thorough manner as do the higher- priced and larger bee-books, such as "Langstroth on the Honey-Bee," Prof. Cook's " Bee-Keepers' Guide," etc., but there are a large number of very impor- tant preliminary principles that should be well understood by every one who intends to take up bee-keeping, and this book is just the thing for that purpose. It is printed on excellent paper, and well bound in pamphlet style. The out- side appearance of the cover of this book, is entirely different from anything yet seen on a bee-book. One can know without reading a word that it is some- thing about bees, by simply looking at the cover, either front or back. We intend to present a copy to any person who sends us $1.00 for a year's subscription i/t adi'cnne to the American Bee Journal, whether a new or renewal subscriber; but. of course, the booklet w/f.v/' Ac «.s-A-ca' /or when subscribing and sending the dollar. The price of " First Lessons in Bee-Keeping," bound in strong paper, is oO cents, postpaid. We would suggest that every Journal reader secure a copy of this book in connection with your own advance renewal subscription, and then show it to your neighbor bee-keepers, and get them to send in their subscription ; or, if you wish to sell the book to your neighbors, we will make you a liberal discount for such purpose. But be sure to get a copy of the book yourself, so as to see what a beauty it is. Address, George W. York & Co., 117 N. Jeff. St., Chicago, III. «oo QOOSieeoocccosieco9oooQioosooooQce«>eceooQCiocccoscociso NARSHFIELD GOODS BEE-KEEPERS :— We manufacture Millions of Sections every year that are as good as the best. The CHEAPEST for the Quality ; BEST for the Price. If you buy them once, you will buy again. 1 § We also manufacture Hives, Brood- § Frames, Section-Holders and Ship- ping-Cases. Our Catalog is free for the asking. I Marshfield Mfg. Co., L Marshfield, Wis. | Plcae mentioii Am. Be« Journal when writisg. I This is Advertising You Can't Buy | ^ Nowadays any one in the Bee-Supply Business with the necessary money can jljC advertise. ^£ But there is one kind of Advertising that is not bought and can not be l)OUght. ^' This is the Good Words that go from mouth to mouth about I LEWIS BEEWARE I DADANfS FOUNDATION | ^ AND ^ I THE SOUTHWESTERN BEE CO. i ^^ We urge you to ask any Bee-Keeper about these Goods which are being sold by us exclusively in Texas, and also all about the I Southwestern Bee Co. 3 ^ You are the Jurv, and You are the Judge— ^ I TEXAS BEE-KEEPERS! ^ We constantly carry on hand at our New Place of Business— at 1022 South Flores ^ Street San Antonio— several carloads of the Famous Lewis Beeware and Tons .«; of Dadant's Foundation, as well as American Can Company's Cans in large ^ ^^ quantities. ^^ ^ Come right to us when you are in the market. We sell what you have to buy ; T^ ^4- we buy what you have to sell. 3V ^ j§ ^ Don't experiment with poor Bee-Hives or inferior Foundation. ^ -%' Let Lewis and Dadant and the Southwestern Bee Company be your Slogan, and if, you will go into Port at the end of the Season with a full cargo successfully ^^ produced. ^ I SOUTHWESTERN BEE CO. | ^ 1022 South Flores Street, j^ h San Antonio, Texas | 5N»si«. ■T\, '%! (Entered a» second-class matter July 30, 1907, at the Post-Offlce at Oblca^o, 111., under Act of Marcb 3, 1879.) Published Monthly at $1.00 a Year, by George W. York & Company, 117 North Jefferson Street, GEORGK W. YORK, Kditor. DR. C. C. MILLER, .■\ssociate Kditor CHICAGO, ILL, FEBRUARY, 1912 Vol. LII -No. 2 Editorial Comments Bee-Keeper.s' Couveiition.s .•\ ,K;ood deal has been said, one time and another, as to what is the best way to arouse interest in those who attend conventions, and to hold that interest. The matter is of so much importance that it would not be a bad thing to have a pretty general discussion re- garding it. When two bee-keepers meet, small time is likely to elapse before they be- gin to talk bees. If a third member is added to the number, the interest is likely to be greater than with only two, and in general an increase of numbers means an increase of interest. Yet when the number becomes sufKciently great there is likely to be some con- fusion, and it becomes desirable, if not absolutely necessary, to have some or- ganization with a presiding officer. Thus, instead of a chance meeting, we have a convention. Just what is the best way to till up the time of a convention to get the most pleasure and prolit out of it is not easy to say. What may be best for one time and place may not be best for another. Based on the idea that two or more bee-keepers are always inter- ested in talking bees, the time may be taken up with discussions of a more or less conversational character, a (|ues- tion-box furnishing topics for discus- sion. So it has been the case in some conventions that the entire time has been taken up with the i|uestion-bo.\. There is some danger that when the '|uestion-bo.N holds a prominent place there may be more or less loose talk without very much careful thinking. A written paper gives more chance for careful preparation, and in some con- ventions such prepared articles take up most of the time. Some, however, will object that the proper place for written papers is in the bee-periodicals. and that they can get more good out of such reading in the quiet of their own homes. This objection has all the more force if the bee-keeper is under considerable expense for railroad fares and hotel bills. As a compromise, some advocate a short paper to introduce a topic, to be followed by extempore discussion. The danger in this case is that tlie paper is likely to be exhaustive rather than introductory. Also there is dan- ger that instead of short papers the papers may be so long as to take up the whole time, leaving no time for dis- cussion. There is no denying that at a con- vention those who attend desire es- pecially those things that they can not get elsewhere. Prominent among these is the social feature — the meeting of other bee-kee-keepers face to face — and also the oral discussions. Much, very much, depends upon the presiding officer as to whetherextempore discus- sions shall be profitable or not. Timely suggestions on his part, and more or less strict holding to the topic in hand, may make all the difiference between failure and success. Latterly there has been a tendency toward thinking that less time should be taken in discussing matters directly in the line of practical management of bees, and more as to other matters of organization. More business and less bee-talk. It is a question of no little interest as to whither this may grow. Experience teaches, and in at least one case it has turned out not entirely as expected. Speaking of the Ontario convention, J. L. Byer says in ("dean- ings in Bee Culture : The convention was strictl.v a /v/w//rv» one. and it was a quesiioii in tin? mind of some if tliis fealnre was not overdone a bit. W'liile we may argue as the writer lias often done) that details of management, etc.. should be discussed in local conventions, yet the fact seemed apparent at our late convention that many come to eet information who are not as yet interested in freight-rates, co-opera- tion, and a host of other questions that the more seasoned bee-ke'-pers no doubt riglitiv think should be paramount. This fact was made clear by the lively discussion that fol- lowed any subject or (uicstion that would occasionally crop uji concerning actual management connected with the apiary. To my mind it seems clear that we nuist be careful in future conventions, and not jump too quickly from one extreme to another, else there be danger of cutting out the at- tendance and interest at ovu- lueelings. The whole subject is one of very great importance, and there is very much left to be said. Those who have had experience in attending conven- tions, and have given the matter care- ful thought, may do well to give to our readers their views as to what helps to make a good convention. Our columns are open to them. Itaces of Bees In an address before the great Ger- man convention of bee-keepers, re- ported in Bienen-Vater, Dr. Weygandt says that the original honey-bee was the Caucasian, and from this all others are derived. Even today it shows the greatest inclination to variation, and from it the breeder may obtain almost whatever he wants by careful and con- tinuous selection. He thinks that each race of bees is best adapted to its own locality, a view in which he by no means stands alone. In other words, the native bee is best. However it maybe in other countries, it will hardly do to apply that doctrine too closely, if at all, to this country. Properly speaking, we have no native bee. The black bee was here first, it is true; but the black is really an impor- tation comparatively recent. Because it was first does not at all argue that it is the best. The proof of the pudding is the eating; and the hundreds who had the opportunity, when Italians were introduced, to try blacks and Italians side by side, were practically a unit in saying that more honey could be obtained with Italians. Board of 4)ireftors' ^leetiiifj t)n another page Secretary Tyrrell, of the National Association, gives a somewhat condensed report of the proceedings of the meeting held by the new Board of Directors at Detroit. Jan. -Ja. IDia. We trust that all our subscribers will read that report very carefully, and try to realize what it will Fcliruary. loi- American ^BeeJonrnal mean to the beekeeping industry of America to do tlic several things there outlined. Perhaps a lew comments on the Dc- DlRECTOR E. D. TOWNSEND. troit meeting of the Board of Directors will be appreciated. In order to have all the good coun- sel possible, Vice-President Pettit, of Canada, and Treasurer France, of Wisconsin, were retjuested to meet with the Board. (The President is r<- ('rs from start to finish. Mr. Townsend is one of Michigan's largest operators of bees; Mr. Foster and Mr. Buchanan are not only extensive bee- keepers, but State inspectors of api- aries for Colorado and Tennessee, re- spectively. Mr. Crane is perhaps the largest bee-keeper in Vermont, and Mr. Wilcox is one of the most promi- nent bee-keepers of Wisconsin. Surely all of them have the best interests of bee-keepers at heart, and will do their utmost so to manage the business aflfairs of the National Bee-Keepers' Association as to make its membership one of the very best investments any bee-keeper can possibly find. Co-operative Apiarian Experi- nieiit.s in Canada Canadian bee-keepers are to be con- gratulated on the activity of their Pro- vincial Apiarist, Mr. Morley Pettit. In- stead of conducting a number of e.x- periments himself on a small scale, he took up a single experiment and con- ducted it on a large scale by means of Co-operative Fxperimentation. A very meaty circular of S) pages was sent out to all the bee-keepers of On- tario whose addresses could be ob- tained, proposing the united carrying out of an experiment which was indi- cated by the striking title, "'Natural Swarming: How to Prevent It." In this was contained some information of the most elementary character, such as would be needed by one without knowledge of bee-keeping, and also matter that would not fail of the most interested attention from practical bee- keepers, discussing the general matter iif swarming. Sooner or later every practical bee- keeper asks the question, " What is the cause of swarming ?" This question is not answered in the circular, but "some causes of Sc>.-aymiiiff " are thus given : 1. The supers are crowded with honey; there is still plenty of nectar in the flowers ; but the bees have no comb space in which to store it. 2. The colony has a queen with great egg-laying powers; but the brood- chamber is too siuall for her, and has become crowded with honey and pol- len. She has an egg or larva in every cell, and young bees are not hatching rapidly enough to give her room to lay, yet she must be idle or seek a new home with a wider field of usefulness. '■\. The secretion of nectar in the fiowers is continuous Init slow. The (|ueen is constantly stimulated by the incoming sweet to lay, while the de- mands of the harvest are so light that the workers live much longer than is usual in a heavy harvest. The hive becomes over-populated and crowded. 4. The hive is poorly ventilated, or sits in the sun. .'i. Bees often swarm when they are superseding an old queen. An application blank was enclosed, to be filled out and returned by those m.iking application for the experiment. The applicant was required to promise to conduct the experiment according to directions as far as possible, and to report on it by filling out a report blank in the fall, whether the experiment was successful or not. To producers of extracted honey was sent a sheet entitled, " Experiment No. 1." The instructions in this directed that at the time of spring cleaning an even number of colonies should be chosen, not less than 10 nor more than 20. These to be as nearly alike as possible in every way, specific instructions being given as to the par- ticulars in which they should be alike. Then the experimental group was to be divided into two equal lots. Lot A and Lot B. Lot B was to have precisely the same treatment the whole apiary would have received if the co-operative experiment had never been heard of. For the management of Lot A the following instructions were given : Let us suppose that Monday is"Apiaiy Day." Kvery Monday after the beginning of fruit-liloom eacli colony of Lot A is exam- ined to note tfie progress of its development and give necessary treatment. Watc'iung Kok Swarming-Impui.se. When clover honey starts coming in .lune. the watch for swarming-inipiilse begins in earnest. It is necessary for one who is beginning the study of swartn prevention, to look at every brood-conib of every hive once a week for the next few weeks inilil the swarming season is past. This sceius like a lot of work; but it does not take nearly so much time as one would think. 'I'he stirring up the I>ees makes them work all the better, and it is a great satisfaction after one day spent in the apiary to be able lo go off about other work and know there will not be any swarming for a week at least. When one compares this with the \vorry of fussing with swarms and losing them before and after they are hived, the work of the weekly exaiuination sinks into insignificance. Giving the Queen Room. When on the weekly examination we lind cell-cups with eggs, it is lime to start giving DlKKilOK WESl.r.\ (_'. KllSTEK. the oneen room Kemove a comb from the outside of the brood chamber, and put an empty worker-comb orfrarueof wired foun- dation in the center of the brood-nest. If the colony is quite strong, or if the (lueen- FeliriKiry, 191. American IBae Journal cells contain larva', it maybe given two Of tliree such frames. All queen cells with eggs or larva' must be destroyed. To miss tiestroyinj.' even one. may mean that it would he dcvelojH'd .ind a swarm issiu;. In every T? Director Kk.'^nki in Wii.co.x. case alternate foundation or empty combs with brood. In removins combs from the broodcham- ber. follow this order: First empty combs and combs of honey until they are out. then sealed brood. If the empties are clean and the honey white, place tliem in the extract- ing supers of the same hive if they will fit), also the brood unless it is needed for mak- ing increase or building up weak colonies. When ciueen-cells for swarming are found far advanced, the final remedy is to take .Hway all the combs of brood but the one which has the least brood, and give empty worker-combs or frames of wired founda- tion. Of course the object of the experi- ment was to secure a comparison of the results obtained from Lot .\ as compared with those of Lot B. To producers of comb honey was sent "Experiment No. 2." In this the following ground is held : " About the only way to avoid having natural swarms is to make artificial ones." So instructions are given for weekly ex- aminations, just as was given to the producers of extracted honey, and then when eggs are found in queen-cells, and indications point to swarming a shaken swarm is to be made. That is, the brood-combs are taken away from the hive, most of the bees having been shaken from them, leaving in the old hive the queen, most of the bees, one worker-comb, and enough frames to fill out the hive, these frames contain- ing half-inch starters of foundation. Of course, using such shallow starters is open to the objection that drone- comb will be built, and concerning this Mr. Pettit says: One disadvantage of hivinson starters is the great quantity of drone-comb that will be built in the brood-chamber. This can not very well be avoided. Owing to the un- certainty of the honey season, and the necessity of having sections well filled we must crowd the super work by giving little or no material to build on in the worker- chamber, and the excess of drone-comb is the result. As soon as the while honey is ready to come off. the frames containing most drone-comb must be removed from the brood-chambers and worker-combs, or full sheets of foundation, put in their place. Then if the fall honeytlowis not sufficient to fill these up for winter, feeding can be re- sorted to. Some one may say : " But this can hardly be called experimenting, for these plans of management are in effect well known to experienced bee-keep- ers." To a certain extent this is true, yet it is probably also true that the great majority of bee-keepers have never tried the plans given, and to them the carrying out of such plans in comparison with their previous plans would be e.xperimenting in a most em- phatic manner. In his report of the results of this co- operative experimenting, Mr. Pettit says reports were received from 62 bee-keepers, 24 of these reports being quite full. As might be expected, some of the bee-keepers were better satisfied with excellent plans that they *liad previously used. On the whole, however, there was a gain. Summing up the whole of Lot A and of Lot B, it was found that only 18 percent of Lot A cast prime swarms, as against 38 per- cent of Lot 1;. As a result of this control of swarming and the extra attention given to the colonies of IvOt A. the average return in honey was 8^ pounds per colony as against 75 3 pounds per colony of Lot B. In addition to this, there was an average number of 7 combs per col- ony built in Lot A. and ^ combs per colony in Lot B. The likelihood is that this increase of 10 percent in the amount of honey obtained will stimulate others who are not doing as well as they might, and Mr. Pettit will be watched with interest from this side the line to see what further he may do. colonies readily liear u|) with the depriva- tion, brames of foundation I full or starters ?l are given in place of the brood taken away, which will at once be drawn out. and as long as such a colony has that to do, or to care for uncapping brood, it will not give off any swarm." The author further asserts that a good point about such nuclei is, that their queens can easily be observed and tested as to their value. He denotes queens by one year cut- ting the right wing, and the next the left one. He further says that the nuclei often need feeding; vi/., with honey and pollen. So much from the pamphlet. In reply to questions I put by mail to the .tuthor. he has answered : " It is necessary carefully to remove all and every bee from the frames of brood, be- fore giving same to nuclei, as such might otherwise kill the young queen. As the ■ ripe" frames of brood will give to the nuclei young colonies' thousands of young bees within a few days, a strong colony should soon result. More than one frame of brood should not be given at a time, because the bees can not care for more; the cells of the frame of brood must all be capped, as the young bees of the nuclei can not do this, not as yet ilying out "A ^trarme hcc on ihe/ramr of hroui/ to dc f.'ii'cii HI iff /it kill the queen." My idea is that one might follow this method when both swarming is to be pre- vented and increase made, by working an apiary in series of 10 or 12— /./'.. for every unit of such number, dequeen one of the inost vigorous colonies and proceed as stated. It seems to me that the mode of procedure first given is worthy of wide dis- cussion, and. so far as I am concerned. I could not see it too widely commented upon, criticized, supplemented, bettered, or more especially adapted for our country. My home is u miles south of the center of the New York and Pennsylvania State line. With the coming season my inclination is to give this a thorough trial. I wish, on behalf of same, to be as well posted as possible. The only question in my mifid now is whether to give the colonies from which frames of capped brood are taken, frames with but starters or full foundation. I no- tice that with " shook swarming" some ad- vocate giving only starters. I have naturally cotnpared the method re- Uepre.s.siou of Swariiiiug On page 263, of the .-Xraerican Bee Journal, was given a brief review of a pamphlet printed in Germany whose title, translated into English, is " Why Do So Many Apiaries in the Villages Stand Empty ?" A correspondent who has this pamphlet is especially inter- ested in one chapter, and writes as follows : Dr. Mii.i^KR; -1 have a German pamphlet entitled. " Warum Stehen auf den Doerfern soviele Bienenhuetten leer ?" 1 understand in every way Cierman as well as English, and think the publication a very good one. A part of same especially of interest to me is underthe heading: ',V " F'^xcessive .Swarm- ing Must Be Prevented." and a way is set forth which includes increase, which, it seems to me. I have not seen suggested else- where in its entirety, and I would be pleased not only to have your opinion of it, but hope to see a further discussion thereof in the .\merican Bee Journal by others as well. 1 translate as follows; "N'othing is easier than to suppress swarming and bring about increase arti- ficially. It is done as follows; When the colonies are in their highest State of devel- opment Ihe says end of May; I would say for my latitude, end of .\pril ' I. dequeen the best colony as apparent by wealth of honey, number of bees. etc. Make use of the queen elsewhere. The colony will make a lot of queen-cells, every one of which will be well cared for. the same being in its fullest strength or vigor Shortly before the young queens are to slip out. divide the colony into as many nuclei as there are queen-cells and frames of brood. Six to 8 nuclei may be ex- pected; with good weather, the young queens will be mated after 3 days, and soon begin to lay. At this stage frames of brood are to be taken away from other colonies in order to bring about their swarming pro- clivity, and these same frames are given to the nuclei so as to strengthen them. This is of great help to the latter, and the strong UlRKI TOK J. E. C'RANK- as yet. ferred to with "sbook swarming.' though. 1 have not practised either. It seems to me now a question whether the German method offers anything superior to "shook swarming." The main point about swarm iirevenlion seems to me. is to February, iqij. American l^ee Journal L'ive the bees so much to do. thai, as it were, tlie swarmine impulse is aborted. .\nd in "shook swarmine " this is done by a iff/'/c tion of tlie brood-cliatnlier. .Accordini; to the " HiKule Bee-Book." anil I^'on's bee-book, on "sliook swarming." it is best lo let tlie colony to be shaken, have only narrow stripsor starters of foundation. .\nd this, to tny mind, indicates the degree of depletion necessary, in this country, at least, for ttie ijurpose intended. Now. it seems to me. that the tjerniaii method does not by far involve as much de- liletion to most of the colonies that are not to swarm. Suppose, as stated, the German I)lan is undertaken in units of to colonies; the one which is to be dequeened and divided up into colonies is. of course, deiilcted. But liow about the other -j ? Suppose there would be 8 queen-cells started; that would afford s nuclei. Now. as each nucleus can take only one frame of brood at a lime, there would be o colonies to supply eacli all but one one frame of capped brood; it would lake probably H days for the same to hatch, and then another frame could be taken from each of the colonies. Bui would not such depletion be loo slow require .or extend over more lime than available) to prevent swarming ? Compare the depletion in "shook swarni- ing" — leaving to the bees at once starters of foundation iw/r— with this German method, wherein only one frame of brood is to be taken away. I have lo-frame hives; this would leave each colony with u frames of comb, with honey, brood and bees. Does it nol look as if the (ierman method at best, in this country — /. <•.. considered climatically, laliludinally. and generally idiosyncrally— might (irove a failure ? I ■^'\i\\ 10 be enabled lo size up llie mailer as thoroutfly as possible. L'lster. Pa., Dec. '>. Cii.-\s. liEVNDERS. It \s, liardly wise for one to commend or condemn any plan without first committing it to the bees to see how it may pan out. Besides, wiiat may be very good for one bee-keeper may not always be good for another. Yet for the sake of bringing out some general principles, it may be worth while to give a close discussion to this matter. The heading of the chapter to which particular attention is called is : " Ex- cessive .Swarming IVIust Be Prevented." If the only object be to prevent vxccx- sive swarming, then a much simpler and easier plan is the common one that has been given so many times in these columns: Set the swarm on the old stand with the old colony close beside it; a week later move the old colony to a new stand. Your desire, however, is doubtless to use the plan to prevent swarming alto- gether; and so to learn about any pos- sible danger-points. The best colony is to be dequeened when at the highest point of develop- ment. The author thinks that wnuld be about the end of May, and you think it would be the end of April in your latitude. You are in latitude 4",j degrees, the same as the latitude here. If bees were forced to start queen-cells here in April, the queens would generally be worthless. Of course, some seasons are earlier than others, hut April would always be too early, and often the tirst of June would be too early for .^'hw/ queens. At any rate, wait till the bees begin naturally to start queen-cells preparatory to swarming. You are ])lanning on one frame of brood for each nucleus, and then to give to the nuclei frames of lirood without any bees. That will be likely lo result in more or less chilled brood, for the nuclei will have few bees, and you will not llnd it easy to have no un- sealed brood in the frames given. It will help matters if the brood be kept lor a week or so over an excluder on a strong colony. Even so there may be danger to the sealed brood if there he too few bees to cover it. Taking brood from the strong colo- nies is expected to prevent their swarming. This is very unreliable un- less all but one frame of brood be taken. Sometimes taking a single frame will prevent swarming; some- times taking half the brood will not seem to make a particle of difference. So you can place no certain dependence upon it. I do not understand how queens in nuclei can be "tested as to their value." To test a queen as to its value is to tind out about its prolilicness as a layer, or the amount of honey stored by its worker progeny. You could not tell much about either of these in a nucleus. When you take away a single frame of brood from a strong colony, the case is quite different from a shaken swarm. The latter is much like a nat- ural swarm, and much of the comb built will be worker-comb. When only a single comb is taken, if the frames given them in return be not entirely tilled with foundation, the bees will be almost certain to build a large propor- tion of drone-comb. There is a very wide difference be- tween the amount of depletion that takes place in shake-swarming, as compared with taking away one frame at a time. Take away all the brood, or all but one, and you have put the col- ony in much the same condition as a natural swarm, no matter whether yon use starters or full sheets of founda- tion. When you take away only one brood the depletion is so little that it will generally have no effect in the way of prevention of swarming. In reply you may say that if one brood be taken away each week for 9 weeks, the total depletion will be just as much as if the whole !1 brood had been taken at one time. That's true, but the result will not be the same. If you should go without fond or drink for 100 days, it would probably end your career as a bee-keeper. Instead of that, suppose you abstain for 200 days the half of each day, say from 0 each evening to li the next morning. The abstinence of half a day each day for 200 days would make a total abstinence of 100 days; but the result would be <|uite different from taking the abstinence all at one dose. Just the same with the swarming. Taking away one brood each week would not prevent swarming one time in -jd. C. C. M. Miscellaneous ^ News Items Prof. A. J. Cook, of California, so well known to the older bee-keepers every- where, has recently been appointed Horticultural Commissioner for the State of California, by Gov. Johnson. This is indeed a magnificent appoint- ment, and things horticultural in Cali- fornia may soon be expected to go for- ward by leaps and bounds. .And, then, with Prof. Cook's bee-keeping proclivi- ties, we may in the near future see the horticulturists of California holding joint conventions with bee-keepers. When these two allied interests once pull together we may expect to see such an advance in both fruit-growing and honey-production as this world has not yet dreamed of. We hope that the great State of California may be the leader in such united effort. We hardly know which ileserves the more congratulation. Prof. Cook upon his appointment, or the State of Cali- fornia upon its good fortune in secur- ing the services of such an experienced, loyal and worthy Horticultural Com- missioner as Prof. Cook. Perhaps it is equal. At any rate, we wish Prof Cook unbounded success in his new position, and California great progress along every line of work which Prof. Cook directs. ^. Association of Apiary fnspectors. We have received the following which will surely be of interest lo inspectors of apiaries the country over: ( )n Dec. .10, loii, in Washington, n. C. there was formed a tenu^orary organization (if the Association of .A[iiary Iusi_)eclors of the United .Stales and Canada, with a view- to increasing the efficiency of apiary in- speclion. li> bringabout a greater uniformity in the laws, and more active co-operation between the various inspectors. A committee on permanent organization was formed to report at a meeting lo be field in Cleveland. Ohio, in December. 1012. in connection \\'ith the meeting of the .Associa- tion of I'^conomic iMilomologisls. Prof. Wil- mon Newell, of College Station, Tex., is chairman of this committee. A standing committee was also appointed on Legislatioti. for the purpose of drawing up a law incorporating llie necessary and desirable features. 'I'he undersigned was appointed chairman of this committee. .All apiary inspectors and orticial ento- mologists of tlie United Stales and Canada, who are interested in the advancement of apiculture, are invited and urged to join in this movement for an increased efficiency in the light against the brood-diseases. Vat the present it was decided to levy an assess- ment, $1.00 per year, on each member, to pay necessary expenses. It is hoped that ar- rangement may later be perfected for af^lia liou with the Associ.-itiou of Kcouomic Kn- lomologists. Requests for membership and the assessment may be sent to the under- signed, kesiiectfuily. !■', F. Pnil.I.ii'S, flurcau of ICntouiology. Washington, I), C Dk. Burton N. Gatks. -Amhersi, Mass.. Cli,iiriii,iii. We hope that every inspector of api- aries in the United States and Canada will unite with the new organization. Its efforts can but result in good to the whole bee-keeping industry. Let every inspector send at once his annual dues of $l.nil to Secretary Phillips, and get in line for more advanced and efficient apiary inspection. Growing Sweet Clover. — We have no dciiibt that it more bee-keepers knew how to grow sweet clover they would be sowing acres and acres of the seed. A very good way to learn is to read how other people have succeded. In a FchriKiry American Hee Journal recent issue of Gleanings in Bee Cul- ture we lintl the following from two successful growers of sweet clover — one in Iowa, and the other in New- York ; An Iowa Experience. I'l.AN No. I.— Sweet clover nuisl be sown on land well supplied with humus or lime, or both, as it will not grow well on ground badiv worn, nor iu soil that is strongly acid or sour. In order to start sweet clover on such land, plow the ground to a fair depth; pulverize, and top dress heavily with ma- nure. Then sow the seed and harrow in the manure and seed together. A light applica- tion of lime would be of great benefit; but a good catch can be secured without tlie lime. I'l.AN No 2.— .'Vnother way to secure a stand is to plow a field that has been seeded for at least two seasons to timothy, clover. or both. While it is better to plow in tlie fall, the spring will do. Before seeding work the ground just as you would for corn ; sow the seed, and cover, using a common iiarrow. and your success will be sure. Many have old hogpastnres that are over- grown with bluegrass. Those lields. when broken up. make very excellent ground for sweet clover. Sow one-half of such fields to sweet clover, and note what nice, green, succulent feed the pigs will have all sum- mer long, when the bluegrass is dead and of no use to pigs. . , , , Plan No. 3.— Any held that has grown 50 or 60 bushels of corn an acre can be sown to Early Champion oats, barley or wheat, and still make possible a stand of clover. .Sow ij^ bushels of oats, and ^t less of either bar- ley or wheat, taking care that the ground is fairly smooth. This nurse crop will work well, provided there is not a severe drouth to spoil the clover. This seldom happens in the corn belt. The clover should be well up in the grain at harvest time. If the grain is cut high from the ground it will be better for the clover. Often a tine cutting of hay will be secured later in the fall, about Oct. 1st, or a tine pasture for stock. There is much to recommend this plan. COMMEN'rs.— The seed can be sown any time between early spring and the last week of July; but it makes such a strong growth the first summer, seeding should be done when convenient in«.-Vpril or May, using 20 pounds of hulled seed per acre. The seed should be hulled. If unhulled seed is sown, about one-third of it fails to germinate the first season, and doesn't come up until an- other year. Then, again, the unhulled seed often results in uneven growth, too thin in some parts of the field and fair in others. The sower should bear in mine that proper elements of the soil are necessary at first, because of the lack of sweet clover bacteria in the tieids. Just the right conditions are required to start the nodules on the sweet- clover roots, which, in time, burst and mul- tiply and fill the soil. Do not make the mistakeof trying to grow two or three crops of corn antl then sow to sweet clover, as the land has not yet a sup- ply of the bacteria required to grow it. After it has been growing on the land for a few years, and the bacteria are started, you will notice how much better it thrives. Many hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of bushels of this seed have been tlirown away because it was not sown on the right kind of ground. The bluff deposits of the Mis- souri River basin seem to grow sweet clover at once under any conditions, and in all of the States it appears to have much less trouble in getting a stand. Sweet clover succeeds on lands so tilled with alkali that nothing else grows well.— Frank Covek- UAI-E. of Clinton Co., Iowa. A New York E.xperience. I have never tried to raise a lot of sweet clover, but have always had several small patches around our premises. It has come up almost as quickly and as surely as radish seed, whether I have sown it in the spring. summer, or fall, .-^bout Aug. 15 we gathered some seed (stripped it off by hand,, some be- ing black and some green. I sow-ed this where I had had a small patch of early po- tatoes, first going over the ground several times with a hand cultivator. In a little over a week the ground was all evenly cov- ered with young plants. I doubt whether they will winter; but as the seed was put on fairly thick, 1 think there will be enough that did not conje up to make a stand in the spring. The seed was unhulled, of course, and the white variety. My experience, al- though on a small scale, is that it has never been praised too highly as a fertilizer of the soil. .About six years ago one of our neighbors gave us a small handful of sweet-clover seed for our Mower garden— perhaps a table- spoonful. I sowetl it in a shallow trench and covered it with about half an inch of soil. It came up all right and made a rank growth. 'I'hc next spring, after it bloomed, I dugout the dead roots, spaded it well, and planted a row of sweet peas in the same spot. We have always had very pretty sweet peas; but these were a marvel— great sturdy stalks, huge dark-green leaves, and the bloom was wonderful — the finest sweet peas I ever saw. I puzzled my head trying to find out what I fiad done to those peas to get such fine plants; then after a while I " tum- bled. ' It was the sweet clover of the year before.— Geo. .SuuiER, of Cattaraugus Co., y. Y. Our Government and Bee-Keeping On page 8 we referred to some good work done by the I^egislative Commit- tee of the National Bee-Keepers' Asso- ciation. .\s a partial result the Secre- tary of Agriculture has sent out the following to the various publications: Koi'i. Brood. The census of luio shows a decrease of almost 800.000 coloines of bees on the farms of the United States. There is also a con- siderable decrease in the number of farms reporting bees. Since bee-keeping is one of the important and profitable minor branches of agriculture, this decrease among farmer bee-keepers is unfortunate. No returns are available for bee-keepers in towns and cities. Bee-keeping is fast becoming the business of the specialist, and the number of men who devote their entire attention to the business is rapidly increasing. However, there is no reason why the average farmer can not keep a few colonies of bees to sup- ply honey for home consumption with per- haps some surplus for sale in good j-ears. The United States Department of Agri- culture attributes most of the reported de- crease to the brood-diseases of bees, which are now found widely distributed in the United States. The Department has knowl- edge of these diseases in about 20 percent of all the counties in the United States. Where disease exists bee-keepers often lose colo- nies, and attribute their loss to some other cause. Because of these facts, the Depart- ment advises persons interested in bees to inform themselves concerning these dis- eases. It is quite possible to keep bees with profit with disease prevalent in the neigh- borhood, provided the bee-keeper knows how to treat the disease. Farmers' Bulletin No. 442, " The Treatment of Bee-Diseases. ' will be sent free on request to the Secretary of .Agriculture. Washington. D. C. We hope that the foregoing an- nouncement will be widely published, for it can only result in benefit to bee- culture. If any of our readers have not had a copy of Farmers' Bulletin No. -i42, we hope they will send for it at once. It can be had for simply the asking. ■*• Gralting-Wax. As there are doubt- less many among our readers who have occasion to use grafting-wax, we take the following from that unusually good farm weekly, the Rural New-Yorker: Will you give me a reciiie for makinggraft- ing-wax ? What I bought, when the hot weather came, ran off, leaving the graft open, letting the air in. J. S. M. A standard grafting-wax calls for rosin. 4 parts by weight; beeswax. 2 parts by weight, tallow, rendered, one part by weight. Melt all carefully together, but do not let it boil. Pour the hot liquid quickly in a pail of cold water, and with greased hands flatten the wax under the water so that it will cool evenly. Let it get cold and tough, but not brittle; then remove from the water and pull like taffy until it is alike ductile and fine in grain. If lumpy remelt and pull again. \Iake into balls or small skeins and put away in a cool place. When wanted soften with heat of hand or in hot water. Tfiis is an excellent wax for all purposes: it may be made softer by using a little more tallow, or tougher by a rather larger propor- tion of beeswax. The Banat Bees As we have had several eu(|uiries abnut the Banat bees, we have requested Mr. Grant Anderson, of Texas, who is familiar with them, to tell of their important points: l'"or the benefit of those who have never had the pleasure of handling or seeing the Banat bees, I will give a description of tliem in tlie columns of the " old reliable " Ameri- can Bee .lournal. The Banat bees arc natives of Hungary, and are neighbors to the famous Carniolan bees, which you know come from Carniola, .Austria. The Banat bees are classed by some men as cousins to theCarniolan bees. which they very much resemble. In color the Banat bees are a dark gray, somewhat darker than the Carniolan, and have no trace of yellow on them; while the Carniolan may show some copper bands and yet be pure. In size the Banat bees are a trifle smaller than the Italians, and a little more pointed at the tail. Their actions are the same as the Carnio- lans. being very (uiiet and gentle under ma- nipulation, and go on with their work while you handle the combs. The queens are very gentle, and good, pro- lific layers. In color the queens range from an orange to a jet black, and it is a common thing to see light and dark queens hatch from cells grafted with the larvie of one queen. The yellow queens produce workers a shade lighter than do the dark queens, and it is reasonable to believe that a golden bee can be produced by careful selection in breeding for color. ■The Banats are white cappers, and good honey-gatherers. They are not bad swarm- ers. and gather but little propolis. They de- fend their hives well. As breeders the Banats are about the same as the Italians, and let up on their breeding when the honey-flow lets up. The Banats are good all-purpose bees. Grant Anderson. " First Lessons in Bee-Keeping." — In the course of a short review of this book the British Bee Journal says : The present edition has been revised by Mr. C. P. Dadant, one of the most success- ful honey-producers and the reviser of the last edition of Langstroth's book, so this is a guarantee that the work is well done. The book before us is principally intended for beginners: it contains the foundation prin- ciples of bee-keeping, and is not meant to take the place of the larger works on the subject. Progress in bee-keeping has been so great during the last w years that we are not surprised to find that much which ap- peared in the earlier editions has had to be left out. new matter taking its place. Iowa Bee-Keepers' Association, — De" cember li'.l, liUl. the Tri-State Bee- Keepers'Association met in Sioux City and at this meeting the Iowa delegation organized the Iowa State Bee-Keepers' .Association, with W. P. Southworth, of Salix, Iowa, as president; C. L, Penny, of Le Mars, Iowa, secretary and treas- urer. Three vice - presidents were chosen to boost the organization in their districts— Frank C. Pellett, of At- lantic ; Frank Coverdale, of Delmar; and J. L, Strong, of Clarinda. As a committee on program for the next meeting, the following were named : C. L. Penny, J. B. Espy, R. A. Morgan. Iowa needs the .-Vssociation, and its organizers expect the enthusiastic co- operation of every bee-keeper in the State, and each one is urged to send in his name and membership dues at once to the secretary, C. L. Penny, of Le Mars, Iowa. To be in harmony with the new Con- stitution of the National Bee-Keepers' .Association, the membership dues were fixed at $l.oii per year. Some may say February, loi; American l^ee Journal that their dues are paid up in the Na- tional, and, therefore, they will delay sending their dues to the State Asso- ciation ; please do not do this, but send in your dues at once, and your mem- bership in the National will be ex- tended. The new .Association needs funds with which to begin work at once. The first business will be to arrange for a l)ig convention to be held at a time that will be most convenient for the largest nvmiber of bee-keepers, when the organization will be per- fected and immediate steps taken to secure legislation to assist in checkins the spread of bee-diseases in the State. No State in the Union can produce better honey than Iowa, and by mutual assistance the bee-keepers can greatly increase their yields, and improve mar- ket conditions. Let every one interested in bee-cul- ture join the big cluster at once by sending in his name and any sugges- tion that he has to offer. Rfporter. The Northern Michigan Bee-Keepers' .Association will hold its next annual meeting at Traverse Citv. Mich., March l:i and 14, llHl Whiting Hotel will be the headquarters. Special rates have been arranged for, and also the Hotel's parlor on the second floor has been ottered to us for the meetings. A good program will be provided, and we would like to see many new faces. If vou are so you can come, better do so. We are sure you will have a pleasant time. Ir.-^ D. B.\rti.ett, .sVc. East Jordan, Mich. Ventura Co., Bee-Keepers' Club .At a meeting of the Ventura County Bee- Keepers' Club, held at Fillmore, Calif., Jan. tl, 1912, it was unanimously voted to join in a body the California State l!ee-Keepers' Association. Inspector .Allen was tipheld in the matter of quarantining all f|ueens and bees from outside of the county on ac- count of bee-diseases. All queens and bees shipped into Ventura coimty must bear an inspector's certificate, or they will be destrcjycd when they arrive. E. F. McDi)N.\Lii, Set-. Santa Paula, Calif. Northern California Convention. — The Northern California Bee-Keepers' .As- sociation held its (ith annual meeting at Sacramentn, Calif., on Wednesday and Thursday, Dec. -JT and -JS, llMl. The sessions were fairly well attended, and had a good representation from all parts of the State, the north and central parts especially. The topic, " 'The Value of Organiza- tion,'' was thoroughly discussed, and a committee was appointed to meet witli a committee from the California State Bee-Keepers' Association from Los .Angeles, and see if it could not be ar- ranged to have one State organization. Both organizations were requested to make some alterations in their con- stitutions, and report at the next meet- ing for final hearing. .A State .Inspector was agreed upon, and the necessary steps taken to have such an olVice created; and all societies were urged to co-operate and prepare a bill to present to the Legislature some time this session. Prof. A. J. Cook was present, and gave an hour's talk, and one and all desired that he go on longer, as his discourse was very interesting, and the only regret was that there were not more present to enjoy the important facts that he brought out. C. Ha\iser was elected president, L. D. Walker, vice-president ; Win Gear, of \'orden, secretary and treasurer; and Mrs. L. D. Walker and Harry Hill directors. The meeting proved a benefit to all present, and the other counties in the State were urged to organize similar associations, then to have inspectors appointed, and all to agree upon the State Inspectors' Bill. J. C. Frohlicer. Berkeley, Calif.. Dec. 20. The National Association. — F'i nally we have something of great interest to present to our readers concerning the proposed work of the National Bee- Keepers' .\ssociation under its new Constitution, adopted last November, and as interpreted by the Board of Directors elected at the same time. As announced in last month's Ameri- can Bee Journal, the Board met, and the following is a condensed report of the work they e.xpect to undertake for the members of the National Associa- tion during 1912, as reported by Secre- tary Tyrrell, who was also elected as secretary of the Board for the Detroit meeting : What the National Bee-Keepers' Association Will Do this Year The meeting of the Board of Direc- tors held in Detroit, Mich., Jan. 2'6, 1912, was probably the most important of any Board meeting held in the his- tory of the .Association. Plans of re- organization had tij be considered, as well as just what the Association would and should do for its members. Honey-Croi' Reports. One of the most important needs of the bee-keepers, as it appeared to the Directors, was an accurate knowledge of crop conditions. To get this, it was decided to send out crop reports early in the season to every member, and from the information so obtained, ad- vise the members, cither direct or through the bee-papers, as to the con- ditions. P.\l K.VCES K(IR Ho.vev. The Board also found that the ques- tion of honey-packages was an impor- tant one. At the present time there is not near the uniformity there should be. No special weight of tin or size of can has been adopted in the past, and many shippers were using a tin en- tirely too light. Samples of lioney- cans were inspected by the Board, with the decision that the Secretary be in- structed to make the best possible ar- rangements for furnishing the mem- bers with the tin honey-packages the coming season. The orders will be handled directly through the Associa- tion office, and will not be sent by the member to the can manufacturers as in the past. In discussing the question of pack- ages for comb honey, and realizing that there are a number of different kinds and shapes in the market, it was thought best that in order to promote uniform- ity of a comb-honey package the Asso- ciation should take steps to secure for its members, at the lowest possible prices, the double-tier 24-pound ship- ping-case, which was adopted by the Association at its last convention. These cases could be furnished ac- cording to specifications so that every member buying through the National would be using e.xactly the same case as every other member. In order to induce a more general adoption, it was thought advisable to furnish them at a low price. The Secretary was also instructed to investigate paper shipping-cases, as well as glass packages. This action was not taken with an idea of getting into the bee-supply liusiness, but to promote the using of uniform pack- ages by the members, which, then, will simplify the question of marketing, and eventually raise the price the bee-keep- ers can obtain for their honey. M.\RKETiN(; Honey. The question of marketing honey was thoroughly considered, and many plans presented. The one finally de- cided upon was that for the coming season the National .Association should act in the capacity of a broker for its members where desired. It is not ex- pected or desired that all members will ship their honey through the .Associa- tion, but realizing that many are not in tcuicli with the best markets, it was thought that no better move could be made than to assist these members in obtaining the proper returns for their honey crop. To do this, selling agen- cies will be established in several of the larger cities, and the sales will be directed through the .Association. A member having honey to : ell could first get instructions from the Secretary, who is e.xpected to keep in close touch with market conditions, take into con- sideration the freight-rates, and then give the member full instructions as to shipment. The .Association does not intend to buy and sell honey, but simply to assist the producers in finding the l)est possible market. Organizing Loc.m. Br.\.ni.hes. Tlie promotion of local branches will be encouraged, and wherever a local branch desires to get out a book- let, such as has teen used by the Michi- gan .Association, assistance will be given by the National Association. This feature will be encouraged. The advertising of this booklet will be cared for by the National, but will probably be confined to the four bee-papers on the start. I'^ B. Tvrrkli., SW. 2:!0 Woodland .Ave., Detroit, Mich. We hope that every member of the .Assciation who has not as yet paid his dues for 1912, either direct or through his local organization or branch, will do so at once. Perhaps it will be well for us to give American l^ee Journal here a copy of the new Constitution, as adopted in November, 1911, and which went into effect Jan. 1, 1912: Constitution of the National Bee- Keepers' Association ARTICLE I.— Name. This organization shall be known as the National Bee-Keepers' ."Association. ARTICLF. II.— Object. The object of this .Association shall be to aid its members in tht business of bee-keeping; to help in the sale of their honey and beeswa.x, and to pro- mote the interest of bee-keepers in any other direction decided upon by the Hoard of Directors. ,\RTICLE III. — Pl.\n of Org.vnization. This organization shall consist of one central organization witli its vari- ous branches. These branches may be in any locality where 2.5 or more members of the National Association decide to form a branch. ARTICLE I\'. — Membershit. Section 1. — Membership shall be e.x- tended to any person interested in bee- keeping, and who is in accord with the purposes and aims of this Association. The annual membership shall be $1.00; one-third, or .jo cents, of which shall go into the fund of the local treasury where such a branch is maintained. Sec. 2. — Whenever a local bee-keep- ers' association shall decide to unite with this Association, it will be re- ceived upon the payment by the local secretary of one dollar ($1.00) per mem- ber per annum to the Secretary; but ruary. loi. American l^ee Journal Bee-Keeping In Dixie^ Conducted by J. J. Wilder. Cordele. Ga. Apiarian Opportunities As 1 go to and fro over the countVy I look out through the car windows with eager eyes and view it from a standpoint of an energetic bee-keeper. Then I drop my eyes, and from my en- terprising spirit comes, "Oh! the opportunities for our industry!" Thou- sands of hustling men could be in the field of apiculture, not only making honest livings, and increasing their business, but money besides. Truly, the golden opportunities of our lovable industry are shining bright- er than ever before, and it is up to iis to embrace them. Viewing the situation of our indus- try at present, I can only say that we have made progress, but with the great opportunities that are within our reacli. I am proud of the future of bee-keep- Making and Keeping Good Resolutions It is rather late for Xew Year's reso- lutions, but as the bee-keepers' busy season is near they may be more ap- propriate. I wish to state a resolution, or whatever you may call it, which the writer made once. When I was about 14 years old I at- tended a country-cottage prayer-meet- ing, and the leader read the 6th chap- ter of St. Matthew, in which these words of the Savior are recorded, in the :33d verse : " But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall he added un- to you." Of couse, from the previous verses I knew he meant temporal things. .\fter reading the chapter we knelt in prayer, and with these words fixed in my memory, I prayed about thus, secretly: "Lord. I have loved you ever since I can remember, and I am a poor orphan boy. and i need clothes, money, education, and every- tliine this world can give me. and in tfiis verse you have promised it all to me. And. Lord, if you are going to fiiltill this promise in my case, you had better go abouf it at once, for I am right now seeking your king- dom and righteousness, and it shall be mv last effort on my dying bed." Well, that resolution has been kept, and will be kept, and has been the foremost thing in my life. But, what about the Lord's part of it r .\bout 2ii of us country boys left home about the same time, and went into a wicked city to live. All of us were about "Jl years old. But the rest of the boys had a common school edu- cation, such as they could obtain out in the country in those days, but I had none, not even enough to write my name ; and. too, the rest of the boys had far more sense than I had, and I well knew it, but somehow they had too much sense, or not enough of the right kind to form or make a resolu- tion and stick to it. Oh, the multiplied millions of young men today that are lacking in this kind of sense! Well, ere long there was a way made for me to start to school, and I went 4 years in succession, and at the end I was ready for a business or vocation. My continued prayer was, " Lord, don't let my life be a failure." And I started out with willing hands to work, and have been advancing every since. Goil be praised for what 1 have done, whether it be little or much. The most of the other boys went into wickness, lived unclean lives, and are in their graves; and those living are my juniors in business life. All be- cause they did not anchor their lives in some precious promise of the Lord's, or resolve and stick to it. The Lord lias fulfilled his promise in my case. Wilder's Comb Foundation Fastener for Shallow and Deep Frames The cut herewith shows the founda- tion fastener which I use for fastening comb foundation in frames in chunk- honey production. The cut shows the device so plainly that it needs no ex- planation. When I lirst began chunk-honey production in a wholesale way, I used only starters in the shallow frames, but by experimenting I learned that full sheets of comb foundation were far this was not satisfactory, but the bes I could do. While thinking over this difficult problem one night until nearly day, this device came into my mind like a Hash, and the next morning by sun-up I had a rude model made, and was fast ening in full sheets of foundation. I soon found that it was a success, and solved this difficult problem, so it has been my only device for this purpose for two seasons, and I have used only full sheets of foundation since. Our chunk-honey supers are hxed up ready for the bees, at the home apiary, and hauled out on wagons over rough roads, many of them for 30 miles, and are removed from the wagon and placed on the hives, and we rarely ever have any trouble from foundation breaking down. I wish to mention just two things necessary in operating it in order to give perfect satisfaction: When the point of the lever touches the founda- tion it mashes it to the bar, and as it passes off the foundation it gives it a smearing mash, and of course the foun- dation must be warm enough to smear and not break. Then with new frames a piece of firm beeswax must be rubbed heavily over the part of the bar that is to receive the foundation. This fills the pores of the wood and leaves a well-waxed surface, and when the foun- dation is properly applied with the machine, it adheres tirmly to the top- bar. It is not necessary to use any wax on old frames, or frames that have been used once. The machine is fastened down on a table or work-bench by means of two screws, and it is strong and durable, and you can use as much muscle power on it as you wish, but it is not neces- sary. It works easily and rapidly. This is the onlv device I have ever WlI.IlKK'^ CoMl: I'm N|i.\ I liiN I'.\STKNKK H SllAI I.nW AMI DKKI' KK.\ME> better in these frames when they could be fastened securely, but this was ;i difficult task, much of the foundation falling out in handling and hauling the supers out, and the bees would break it down by clustering on it heavily; and on account of this no end of dis- satisfaction arose even when we used the greatest precaution, fastening it by the melted-wax plan. So I almost abandoned the use of full sheets in the frames, and used mostly starters; but invented, and give it to the bee-keeping world. Since the invention many bee-keep- ers have tried the machine, and it has been well tested and has given perfect satisfaction. Granulated Comb Honey Many of the Dixie bee-keepers seem to have been behind the past season in February, iiji. American lee Journal removing, packing and shipping tlieir tall crop of honey, and much of it granulated. One bee-keeper writes that he has quite a lot of it in this con- dition, and wants to know what to do with it. There are a lot of consumers who prefer it in its granulated form. They liave been educated to eat it, and to heat it up if they preferred it in the liquid form, and «e bee-keepers should do more towards educating our custo- mers on this point. A label stating why some honey would granulate, and what to do with it in case it should granulate before it was consumed, ■iliould be put on every jar, can or pail. This would go far towards relieving the situation. The majority of the bee-keepers know the sources of honey that are liable to granulate early, and when the bees store it, and they should take it off, pack it, and put it on the market as fast as the bees finish it. But when a bee-keeper is caught late with a lot of it on his hands, already granulated solid, better keep it over until ne.xt summer and work it over, and put it on the market while the weather is warm, and it will not granulate so early, or before it could be consumed, which would surely be the case if it was worked over now. What I mean by "working it over," is to heat it up thoroughly, and if it is chunk honey, remove the comb after it is heated, and sell it as e.xtracted honey, unless it can be heated sufficiently so as not to melt the comb. This can't always be done, or at least it is my e.xperience. Then another bee-keeper writes wanting to know if he can feed back his granulated honey in early spring. It might be done if the bees were very short of stores, to stay immediate star- vation; but it could best be fed back to them later, just before the honey- flow, when the weather was more set- tled, and it would not be so apt to give them dysentery, and cause dwindling. The granulated honey or cane syrup is bad to bring about tiiis disease, and it is best to keep it away from the bees. If it was heated up and thinned some by adding water, and fed back later, when it would not be so likely to dis- ease the bees, they might store too much of it in the brood-chamber and crowd the queen, and thereby do a lot of harm. Far Western ^ Bee-Keeping Conducted by Wesley Foster, Boulder. Colo. The Quality of Alfalfa Honey Mr. A. C. Miller, in the December .American Bee Journal, says: "For several years past, white lioneys have been steadily declining in popularity in some markets, and amber orgolden honey has come into popular fa\or. Jnst what the reason is it may be hard to determine, but 1 believe that one very potent cause has been the advent of alfalfa honey. It lacks char- acter; it is insipid, and consumers are quicii to drop it. A common remark is. tiiat ' it is suearfed honey.' and I have heard that from many a person who has never seen a bee manazine or tcNt-book. At any rate, the honey is not what they want. The amber honeys have been found on trial to have a 'real honey taste.' the tiolden color looks attractive on the piale. and it is becoming Iiopular. " Mr. Miller's castigations of alfalfa honey are the outcome of an observa- tion of conditions in a market where the stronger-flavored honeys have long held sway. The taste of the people who speak so about alfalfa honey has been brought up on strong honeys. No one who is accustomed to alfalfa honey would ever call it tasteless. It is de- nominated as a beautiful, mild-flavored honey. We see a good many ICastern- ers out here — in fact, the bulk of our population is from the East — and I liave heard our alfalfa honey praised so often as being free from tliat strong, disagreeable twang so common in Kastern honey, that I am surpriseil to hear this re|iort from Mr. Miller. I'.ut, then, there are all kinds of tastes, and I would be pleased to see every one get the lumev thev like, and lots of it. The shipping of a mild-flavored, light- colored lionev. such as alfalfa, to a market where strong, twangy, throat- burning honey is wanted, is a mistake, e.xcept that the Western honey is searching for a market, and the effort will continually be made to educate the tastes over to alfalfa honey. Regarding amber honey, I agree with Mr. MilleV that it is very attractive, as much so as the white. I do not think that the bee-keepers of the West can afford to blend tlieir honey to the e.xtent the Eastener can. The Westener will do better to sell his alfalfa honey on its merits of flavor and color, and at the rate it is being shipped into the East I do not see that the consumers are dropping its use as fast as they are taking it up. There are certain districts in the East that seemingly can not get enoiil^h Western comb honey (alfalfa), and others that absorb large quantities of extracted alfalfa. Our Colorado people eat honey as I never saw it eaten in the East. It is common for some of our Boulder gro- cers to sell a hundred cases (li4-lb. cases) of comb honey, and a ton or two of extracted, in one season. Peo- ple will eat alfalfa honey in large amounts more readily than they will the stronger-flavored honeys. Alfalfa honey is nilni. Eastern honey is only tas/id. The condition Mr. Miller speaks of is easily explained. The home-grown honey is soon exhausted, and the dealer, in order to supply the demand, sends his customers some of the alfalfa honey of which there is a lar.ge supply, iii7ly to find it does not give the s;itis- factinn in every case because it was not the same as they (the consumers) got before. Whether your honey is strong or mild flavored, try to keep your trade supplied with the same grade from one year's end to the other, and alwavs. The Cost of Honey-Production Not long since I had the pleasure of hearing an address by Joe Wing, on "Some Phases of the Live Stock In- dustry." In telling of his work for the Tariff' Board, in detenriining the cost of wool-production at luune and abroad, he made some strikiu.L; statements In making a trip through Michigan, inter- viewing sheep-owners, he did not find one man in ."iO who knew what he was making or losing on sheep. Many a one found upon figuring that he was losing, and making up on other farm products. Changes in methods would liave remedied this in many cases, but some quit raising sheep when they re- :ilized they couldn't do it e.xcept at loss. The instance of the old German grocer who could not tell what his selling cost was, is a parallel case. When questioned further if he knew whether he was making or losing money, he replied ; "Veil, when I starts in business. I rents store-room, house. %o in debt for goods, wagon, horses and all. Now 1 has my own store paid for. my own house, no mortgage, my Koods are all paid for; 1 has money in the bank, and an 8o acre farm. I thinks 1 am doing pretty well makin;; some moneys. I don't know how much." These cases cited illustrate the posi- tion of many bee-keepers. They are doing well, but they dn not know how well. A few points may awaken ideas as to the advantage of more thorough methods. An apiary in the West, equipped for comb or extracted honey, represents an investment of ^'7 or $8 per colony. Some cost less, smiie more. Probably the average bee-keeper requires abmit one dollar's worth of supplies per hive each year. In my own apiary, I find that the work of caring for ray bees, preparing supidies and packing the honey, requires about 2.') days per bHi colonies. At this rate, one man should be able to care for .50il or 601* colonies of bees with little hired help. If each of us could get at the cost of producing our crop, and at the same time introduce more systematic methods, we would soon be able to care for probably twice as many bees as we now think possible. There is one point that is very evi- dent as I become more familiar with Colorado bee-keepers. That is, that management counts for far more th;ui the yield per colony. The specialists who are producing e.xiracted honey and are making the most money, do not average over 50 pounds to the colony, and this at 7 cents per pound is not a very large income per colony. I have m;iintained for some time that a comli-houey producer who could average one case of honey per hive, could do well if he had an economical system of management. What we need is to cut out the fuss -fuss and dabble; eliminate the useless motions, and hold the essential principles in the living-room of our minds. Fihruary, loi- American Hee Journal i^ Growing Nectar-Rearing Plants and Treee A county bee-keepers' asssociatiqn in Ohio is Koing after honey-flora in the right way, telling the railroads they can save their enibankniaiits by sowing sweet clover. I shouUl like to see our bee-associations become militant, ami raise their membership fees to about SIO a year, the money to be spent in furnishing trees, such as basswood at cost to whomever would plant and care for them. In Colorado the planting of catalpa and the locusts is urged for furnishing fence-posts, and these are both honey-bearing trees. OrchanI men are planting alsike clover in their orchards, and here is a chance for help if the bee-associations could furnish the orchard men with seed at a reduc- tion in price. Sweet clover is coming into its own. and it is up to the bee-keepers to help the farmers in linding out its value. The associations over the country could each appoint a committee to gather sweet clover seed, cleome seed, and seed of any other valuable honey- plants, the committee to be paid say $2 each per day, and the seed to be sold to members and others as far as it would go, at actual cost. I think every association should have a few members who would be willing to spend a few days each year at this work. There are seasons here in the West when sweet clover, cleome. and other honey-plants get well-nigh killed out, and it would be profitable for the association to make efforts to get these plants re- seeded so that the range may remain valuable for bees. There are hundreds of acres of seep- land in the gulches on the sides of the mesas on the Western Slope in Col- orailo, that are good for nothing but pasture, and sweet clover will improve It as pasture. Then, I have seen sweet clover and alsike growing together in these gulches. .\lfalfa will be cut earlier, as the dairy industry comes into the West more and more, and we shall have to see to it that our ranges are supple- mented by other honey-plants. The alfalfa seed districts will always fur- nish honey, and the alfalfa when plowed up and put in wheat will contain con- siderable bloom that will help out, but the immense expanses of purple bloom are not so plentiful as they once were, and we shall have to look out for it. The developing of an alfalfa of greater honey-bearing qualities is doubtless possible, but we have lu) one as yet working on it, and I do not think we can e.xpect anything of this kind very soon. We can collect sweet clover seed and cleome seed now, and we can line our roadways with basswoods, locusts and catalpas, and have alsike in our orchards. It may not pay us to plant these alone for their honey, but basswood makes a beautiful shade, and catalpas and locust are valuable for fence-posts as well as shade. What shade-trees are planted might as well be honey-bearing, because they then add a perfume and sentiment to the roadsides, and who does not appreciate the hum of the bees ? Southern Beedom- Conducted by Loris II. Scnoi.i . New Braunfcls. Tex. " Keep Better More Better Bees " That motto of the late W. Z. Hutch- inson, to "Keep More Bees," appealed to the writer long ago, and that was one of the aims with which we started out, and was responsible for our large number of colonies now. But we have found that there was another essential in connection with keeping more bees that was overlooked by many extensive bee-keepers, and that was the matter of keeping not only large numbers of col- onies of any kind of bees, but bcUcr I'lca. That has been our aim in bee- keeping, and unconsciously at first, almost, we found ourselves not only " keeping more bees," but striving to " /;i-t'f' bfUfr moi'c hc/h-r drts.'^ There is a whole lot in this. To number the colonies by the hundreds is all right, but to have these numbers of better bees, makes a great, big dif- ference. It means that only average crops will be obtained with the former, but the latter will give enough more in return to warrant keeping better more better bees. Our e-xperience has taught us this, and therefore our motto shall continue to be, " Keep Better More Better Bees," and our aim shall be to live up to it constantly. Advantages of Divisible Brood-Chamber Hives At this time of the year the writer receives many enr|uiries asking for in- formation about the shallow, divisible brood-chamber hives used so success- fully and extensively in our large num- ber of apiaries. The question, " What are the advan- tages of the divisible hive .'" has been asked more than any other, in spite af the fact that we have mentioned these from time to time. But there are al- ways new readers as well as those who did not give the matter more thought when they read the articles of ours on that subject, and for this reason it w^ill be well to go over the ground again, perhaps a little more fully than at any previous time, since new ideas creep out as one works with the bees. Presuming that the readers know that we use the /n-i'rintu- hive, bottom- boards and covers ; that the bodies of the brood-chambers ,ind the supers are all alike — .">?s inches deep — and that the frames in both are the same, shallow Hoffman self - spacing frames, .jfs inches deep, with plain top-bars vs-inch wide and |^-inch thick, without a goove or saw-kerf on the underside to receive the foundation, we are ready to proceed. One of the main advantages is the interchangeableness of the various shallow stories, or the frames from one part of tiie hive to another, .-\ggravat- ing indeed it is when the apiarist would like to place a comb with some brood or honey in the super above, to entice the bees up into it, or when he wishes to place a comb of honey from the super into a brood-chamber where stores are needed immediately. And that is the trouble found in apiaries where deep hives are used for brood- chambers, and shallow supers above them. It might be argued that the same full-depth bodies should be used for supers, but this is impracticable in this day and time of shallow supers, for not only comb honey but e.xtracted honeyas well. Besides, it is the brood- chamber in which the divisible shallow- frame stories play the most important part, and give us advantages that we can not obtain with the deep hives. One of the most serious objections against deep-frame brood-chambers is the fact that the bees store a rim of honey abo\e the brood and up to the top-bars and seal it there. This once here, the bees are loth to go over this and above to work in the supers when these are given. To get around this trouble without going to a lot of work about extracting the honey — which, es- pecially in extensive bee-keeping, is out of the question— is //;cm«/« rfrt.soH why the divisible brood-chamber hive was adopted by us. By having the brood-nest in two shallow stories we can alternate these and keep the rim of honey away from above the brood. By putting the upper story with the honey in it below the one on the bot- tom-board, the bees will remove the former upper rim of honey now in the middle of the brood-chamber and make room for the queen, and as there is brood in the upper story, the bees must go above this into the supers and store the honey exactly where the apiarist wants it. Thus the two halves of the brood-chamber can be exchanged when- ever it becomes necessary to do so, which, however, is not needed more than the first time with most of the colonies, once they are well started the super-work. Thus keeping the col onies busy and contented keeps them from swarming, and they store larger crops of surplus honey instead. This is one of the greatest arguments for the shallow hive. This advantage of alternating the shallow stories before the honey sea- son ever begins, is one of the best ways of stimulating brood-rearing, and secur- ing tremendous colonies of bees for the honey-flow. With the deep-frame hives this is not so easily done, and the prevention of the swarming fever can not be so absolntelyaccomplished with- out much work and fussing, as com- pared with the ease by which it can be done with the shallow hives. .\nd it is well known that if this can be prevented half of our yearly battle is won, and nur profits from the larger crops of honey obtained will be greater. Either as brood-frames or for comb iir extracted honey, there is no neces- sity whatever of wiring the shallow frames like the deep ones must be Ffbruarv, 1912. American Hee Journal doni-. And tlie saving on comb foun- dation is a valuable argument in their favor in addition to no wiring, in that thin super foundation, of which there are a good many more sheets to the pound, will fill more frames than the lirood-fcumdation that must be used, and that with wires in the deep frames. This is a great advantage in produc- ing comb honey that is cut from the frames, as the septum is hardly sus- ceptible in the finished product. For this purpose the deep combs with heavy foundation would be entirely out of the question. In giving the colonies super-room, especially early in the season, when it is best to give them less room at a time, these shallow supers offer advantages that are worth more than the average person supposes. And especially val- uable are tliey for giving room to weak colonies tliat can not care for more room, or when the honey season is not a good one; besides, we have found, time and again, that liees do more and better work if less room is given them at a time, and given oftener, even dur- ing the best honey-flows. Indeed, the use of them, we claim, are largely re- sponsible for our success in obtain- ing just a little more honey from year to year than we might have gotten with deep hives. That is not all, but the giving of the proper amoiuit of room is in such shape that the best work in it can be done — shallow and spread out wide — as near to the brood-nest as it is possible to get it for best results. And after tlie work in them is com- pleted, the finished shallow supers are removed "in a jiffy," since the bees can be easily driven from them with a small amount of smoke after the cover is raised. This fact alone has enabled us to remove more honey from the Iiives in half an hour than can possibly lie taken off in any other way, and it is possible to remove all finished and sealed honey much earlier than with deep combs, as it takes longer to seal the deep ones entirely. At certain times the latter are not finished en- tirely at all, and the consequence is that they are removed with part of the comb unsealed. With the shallow su- pers the upper one is entirely com- plete, while the lower ones are only partially so, and taken nfT without dis- turbing the lower ones, and a better grade of honey is obtained. With deep frames it often occurs that brood is in the lower half of the combs, while the upper part is perfectly sealed. Some bee-keepers, yea many, remove these and extract them entirely, resulting in a product that is not very palatable to those who know some- thing about such things. With the shallow supers the upper one is re- moved without any of the brood of thiise below. And the sami- applies re- markably to the instances when honey- llows slacken up suddenly and the greater portion of the upper part of deep comb-honey combs is sealed over but can not be removed without great loss on account of the lower portion l>einR unlit for the market, or can Hot Ik- removed at all until after later Hows. Witli the shallow supers the upper part is removed, the lower left to be finished during the next How, and so on. The honey once in the honey-house, the delicate combs make the finest comb honey. For extracting, the honey- knife uncaps them so much more rap- idly with one stroke of the knife that it does not take much longer to uncap them than deep frames. .•\nd if this oft-repeated argument — that too many frames must be handled and uncapped- were true, the time saved in removing the honey from the hives, handling the frames by whole cases or stories in- stead of singly, the ease of uncapping, the saving of comb foundation, to- gether witli the numerous advantages in the bee-yard and elsewhere — all of which enable us to accomplish just so much more — overbalances so largely this objection that it is not worth men- tioning. But if we mentioned n// the good points — how well they are adapted for (|ueen-rearing ; for finding the queen- cells along the bottom-bars of the up- per story by simply tilting it up and looking underneath ; how easily rapid increase can be made with them ; swarming prevented, and a dozen others — it would be necessary to write a book on the subject, so we refrain. Conducted by J. L. BvER. Mt Joy. Ontario. An Old-Fashioned Winter Following a month of warm weather during December, the first two weeks of the New Year we were treated to a very cold nMr'as/iidiud winter variety. At this date (Dec. 17) there are signs of a change to warmer temperatures, which will be welcomed by the bee- keepers, as the bees will have a chance to move about the hive a bit. Of course it is too early for colonies to suffer very mu;h as yet. unless short of stores — in that case it is a common thing to find the bees starved in the hive even if there are stores in some other places except where the bees had been clustered. Italians vs. Blacks as Foul Brood Resisters Answering Mr. Foster's question (page 11) about Italians being more immune to foul brood than blacks, I would say that here in Ontario the claim is made only when the term foul brood is applied to the Furopean va- rietv, commonly called " black brood." So far as I know, very few. if an\ . claim that they are more resistant to the well- known variety commonly now called American foul brood. As to robbing, the Italians are cer- tainly worse than the blacks, but, of course, it is a fact as well that they de- fend their own Iiives better than the blacks. Carrying out this reasoning, it seems quite clear that the Italians stand to contract the disease oftener bv robbing than is the case with the blacks; and, indeed, this has been my experience with the disease. But as to resisting the disease after it is con- tracted, any claims made along that line are, in my opinion, pure " moonshine." Bee-Keeping at the College at Guelph These notes are being written at the .-Kgricultural College, Guelph, Ont., where 1 am spending a few weeks. The different Short Courses are in progress, and among these classes the bee-keep- ers are quite conspicuous. .-Xboiil 40 are in attendance regularly, while many others from different points drop in from day to day. Well-known bee keepers have been giving lectures among the most prominent being Mr Clark, of Borodino, N. Y.. E. R. Root of Ohio ; and H. G. Sibbald of our own Province. Mr. Root will give an illus- trated lecture one evening during his sta)'. and, judging by the interest dis- played in the various classes, it looks as if the hall will be well filled. These Short Courses in connection with the dift'erent agricultural industries can not help but be a great help to the at- tendants, as the courses of lectures and demonstrations given are of an in- tensely practical nature. So-Called Sting-Prool People On page 7 something is said about " people whom bees will not sting," and while there may be rare instances of this kind, as Mr. Doolittle claims, I have yet to meet the first one. True, 1 have more than once met men who made that claim, and when they were inclined to boast about it too much, it has always given me great pleasure to shatter their illusion when the oppor- tunity presented itself. Notwithstand- ing what Mr. Doolittle says, I have an idea that under some circumstance.- bees would sting tniy/io,/\\ and I would like very much to test the matter out on some of these " sting-prooJ' " fel- lows. Blending Honeys Telling tales out ol school is against the rules, but sometimes a subtle hint of some of the facts adds to the gaiety of life. Not so very Inng ago I was a guest of the Ontario Hee-Keepers' Associa- tion, at a convention held in Toronto, and in speaking of the magnilicent honey displayed in all the markets, and at the show of farm products then be- ing held. I commented on the extract- ed liiuiey all being nearly water-white, and suggested th.it if the bee-keepers would practise blending their honeys, and doing it with judgment, they could sell their off-colored (/. ,-.. not white) for as much as their best. Such a mess as I stirred up! A stocky little chap ■\'lini;iry. igu. American liee Journal named Byer, fairly overuhelmod me witli his criticisms: tlicn another and another " sailed in," but when they held up long enough for me to ask a c|uestion. it developeil that not one of them had given it a careful test. That made me feel just a little better, and I began to think that possibly some of them might give my suggestion some consideration, and some day try it. when there slowly rose another man. 1 braced myself for another assault, and this was what I heard : as advised, and sellirit; it ill and around To- ronto for the same price tlie rest of yon secure for sour wliite honey." The silence which followed was audi- ble. Artiur C. Mu.i.er. f'Tovidence, K. 1. [The foregoing is given as a brief reply to Mr. Byer's item on page 1.'5, and as it came in late, we did not refer it to Mr. B. for his approving comment. But we'll risk his objection. The joke seemed to be on some Canadians. — "I have for years been blending my honey G. W. i.] Contributed Articles^ "Is Sugar Good for Bees?" BY C. 1'. U.\D.\XT. The .American Bee Journal for No- vember, n'll, contains a quotation from the British Bee Journal with the above title, in which " A Roman Bee- Keeper " condemns the use of sugar in feeding bees, and ascribes to this prac- tice the diseases and mortality among bees in Great Britain as compared with Italy. The editor very properly con- tradicts this statement, and cites Sam- uel Simmins in the defense of sugar. .\s the American Bee Journal editor asks for statements giving convincing proofs that good sugar is harmless, 1 wish to add my testimony on this sub- ject. The elder Dadant was the first suc- cessful importer Of queens from Italy on a large scale. Before our importa- tions of I87-I, there had been but very few queens imported. Grimm alone had made a large importation from tiermany, but this was colonies of bees and not tfiieens only. The successful transportation of queens was much more difficult than that of full colonies. The previous importations of Wagner, Colvin, Mahan, Langstroth and others, were confined to a few queens, with very irregular success, the bees in most cases dying of diarrhea, or from an overloaded abdomen. Xo one knew exactly the conditions required. It was not until my father's unsuccessful trip to Italy, in l(<7j, which was almost a disaster, that the conditions neces- sary to succeed were ascertained. The main requirement to keep the bees that escort the queen from dying on the trip, is a food containing as little nitrogenous substance as possible. Pure white sugar was found the most assimilable food, ne.xt in line being the light-colored honeys similar to white clover, containing a minimum of pol- len. Thanks to the faithful efforts of the Italian Giuseppe Fiorini. who fol- lowed our instructions to the letter, we secured hundreds of queens with less than ■> percent of loss, even though some of them were a month or more on the way. From these beginnings came the practise of putting up queens and bees with sugar candy in lieu of honey. It is now proven by daily practise the world over, in the matter of mailing bees, that the food that contains the least amount of water and nitrogen is the best to keep them healthy in con- finement. Dysentery or diarrhea ap- pears when the bees have been long confined upon water food or unhealthy stores, such as fruit-juices harvested late in the fall, honey-dew from aphides, or fall honey containing a large amount of pollen-grains floating in it. Good sugar candy or thick sugar syrup always carries bees through in good shape. The trouble, if any, in England, has perhaps been from the feeding of bees for winter w'itli syrup w'hen they were in bad condition and had a certain amount of unhealthy food already stored in the combs. No apiarist who follows a line of economy will feed his bees sugar syrup when they have an abundance of good honey. It is un- necessary and troublesome. But when there has been a failure in the honey harvest, the bees are more prone to store fruit-juice in the last warm days of fall. The apiarist then makes up the shortage with sugar. He should pre- viously remove all this unhealthy food. If he has not already done so, he may charge his failure to the sugar syrup, when he should charge it to his own ignorance of the conditions and re- quirements. That there is but little feeding with sugar syrup in Italy, as stated by " A Roman Bee-Keeper," owing to the high price of sugar there, is true. But that there is less disease there than in coun- tries where they feed sugar when needed is incorrect. Foul brood is far from being unknown in Italy, and the "May disease." which is similar to, if not identical with, the "Isle of Wight dis- ease," has stricken entire districts from time to time. To illustrate this, I need only refer to the May, Ifln."), num- ber of L'Apicoltore, of Milan, in which the editor says : "One thing, however, we hold in apore- hension— il is the fear of the 'mal di mas- aio, which afflicted us last year, and not ourselves alone. It is a grave malady which causes the total loss of the spring crop and lessens that of summer without counting that the decimated colonies do not succeed in recovering the needed strength. and suffer thereby until the following year." In the January, liHKi. number a long description is given of this disease as it ran its course among the bees in the Marclie districts, especially in the Province of Ancona. Those who are acquainted with bee- culture, in our Western States, know how much trouble bee-keepers have had in a few of the best honey-produc- ing irrigated valleys, with foul brood, in spots where both the excellent honey crops and the low prices of honey on the local markets have made the use of sugar syrup impracticable. I unhesitatingly assert not only that 1 positively know sugar to be harmless to the bees, but also that the feeding of good sugar syrup, where the bees are short of stores, is immensely prefer- able to the feeding of honey of un- known origin. It took years and years before the bee-keeping world became willing to accept the assertion of 1). A. Jones and others, who, after Schirach. stated that foul brood was transmitted mainly in the honey. Cheshire exam- ined honey from diseased colonies, and because he failed to find traces of the bacillus there, condemned this as- sertion. But it is no longer a theory, and we have at last come to accept the ideas of Schirach. published in 17t)!i. which indicate the fasting of bees as the only positive cure for foul brood. Every day more proofs of the validity of this claim come to the front. We are slow to progress. It took centu- ries before the rotundity of the earth and its motion around the sun were accepted otherwise than as being the vagaries of cranks and sinners, and we still have people who deny Haeckel's and Darwin's "evolution" evidences. But I am running away from my sub- ject. Good sugar syrup, or properly made sugar candy, is equal to the best honey for bees that are to be confined a long time, whether it is for transportation or for winter. But for spring feed, for breeding, the requirements are entirely different. We then need watery food. This will be clear to our mind if we watch the adult bees in quest of water at the risk of their life in cold, spring days, when the breeding has begun. , It is also clear that nitrogenous food is needed — witness their search for pollen at this time and in lieu of pollen, flour, meal, etc., which they eagerly gather. A friend suggested, years ago. that we should make the syrup very thin when to be used for breeding, and serve it warm to the bees. This proved an ex- cellent idea. If plenty of pollen is to be had. at the same time, I do not see why the bees would suffer. Such food is certainly better than doubtful honey or nothing. However, no one would consider syrup as superior, or even equal to wholesome honey at that time. As long as there is no confine- ment, honey loaded with nitrogenous matter is harmless, and is probably much the best for brood-rearing, ow- ing to its well-known pre-digested condition. But I would be tempted to consider sugar syrup as best when the May dis- ease is feared, were it not that some experimenters have reported the dis- ease to occur even in colonies that had been fed with this substance. Paralysis, vertigo, the May disease, the Isle of Wight disease, and consti- pation, appear to be different names applied to varied forms of the same Fcljruary. 191 - (American B^c Journal malady. Tlie exact cause will sooiu-r or later l)e found, but it is certainly not in sugar syrup. " Bacillus depilis,'" and the newly discovered "nnsenia apis," are both charged with it, but a number of dissenters object, apparently with good reasons. The disease is not new. It is mentioned by Delia Rocca, Huber, and Bevan. The last-named writer calls it"\ertigo." Hamet, who places constipation and vertigo under two different heads, reports the exis- tence of both diseases as an epidemic in France in the middle of the V.nb Century. And as to foul brood, we all know that Aristotle mentioned it :^3i» years before Christ, and many cen- turies before sugar was manufactured. I believe it is as unreasonable to ob- ject to sugar as food for bees in sea- sons of scarcity as it is foolish to rec- ommend the extracting of all the honev in the fall to replace it with sugar syrup, whether the honey was good or not, under the plea of economy or profit, as was done bv some a few vears ago. Hamilton, 111. No. 2.— Improving the Honey- Bee EV .\RTHUR C. MILLER. The increased honey-yield which is possible by even a reasonable amount of effort in selecting and breeding bees is little realized by the majority of us. At every assembly of bee-keep'ers the works of indiviciual colonies are re- counted, but rarely does one hear of any intelligent attempt to perpetuate the good results. An interesting ex- ception to such condition came to the writer's attention a few years ago, and has been watched by him ever since. A ^professional honey-producer had often noticed the differences, and made effort along the usual lines, but with only indifferent results. .About Ulu.j he learned of some of the more advanced ideas on breeding, and began anew his efforts to improve his stock. His first step was a careful study of all his colo- nies in an effort to lind one at least |)Ossessing marked superiority to the rest. He took special pains not to be misled by any possible results of ma- nipulation or environment, and he finally picked 2 colonies as possessing desirable characters considerably above the average stock. From one of the colonies he reared Mj (|ueens the first year, allowing them to mate as they would. The second year he reared from the original breeder !I2 queens, making every effort to mate them to drones from the queens of the |)revious season's rearing. This was done by forcing to excess the drone- production of those queens and sup- |)ressing the drones of other colonies. The second year the colonies headed by the young (jueens of the selected stock showed honey-proiluctiou much above the average of the rest of the yard. 'l"ho third ye.ir found him with l-.'i colonies of the selected stock, and H4 of other grades. The selected stock yielded much more than the others. During the season of ]!M)!) one apiary had 2."i() colonies of the select stock, and yielded an average of (u pounds of comb honey per hive, while another apiary — one that he bought, on equalK good pasturage— with the same sort of hives and treatment, yielded him but 22 pounds per colony, over half of it extracted. The restdts seem to prove beyond dispute that he found and per- petuated a true and valuable mutation or " sport." • One of these queens was sent to the writer in U)(I8, too late to show what the bees would do as honey-producers, but early enough to permit the queen to build up a full colony of her own bees. During the following winter and spring their hardiness was carefully compared with that of a strain o'f known character, and thev ranked ex- ceedingly high. During i'.iu!) many of the drones from this queen mated with queens of the writer's stock, and in every such instance the drones stamped their character strongly,being decidedly dominant over the queen stock. In reciprocal crosses the same dominance of the new strain was apparent. It was very easy to determine what the cross- ings were because the two strains were very different in color, shape and sun- dry reactions. It is the writer's belief that if bee- keepers would pay less attention to color and more to the habits of their bees they would gain knowledge of them which would be of great help in tracing blood. And until control of the mating of queen and drone is se- cured we must ilepend upon such scrutiny to identify and retain the re- sults of our labors. If color is " fixed," as it was in the two strains just cited, then it is a very valuable ally; but color is perhaps the most variable part of the bee. Few of the commercial queen-breeders pay any further attention to the drones they are to use than to take pains to suppress those from mothers whose workers are not well marked, and as drones from the average run of even the better strains of the yellow races are in coloring quite variable, it is small wonder that color is not often to be relied on. But there are (lueens which produce drones as uniformly marked as the most critical could wisli, and by use of such drones color may become a dependable factor. Observations lead to the belief that queens usually mate near home, and that it is the drones that wander far a-field, but if a little pains is taken to obtain a supply of a few thousand drones from a selected queen, and sup- press all others in the immediate vicin- ity, it will be found to be rare that a queen will mismate. As a result of many years' work, it is the writer's conviction that with reasonable pains along the lines indicated in the fore- going, it is possible to make much progress in breeding bees, perliaps almost as well as if mating was under positive control. The persistent efforts of the bee- keeper referred to herein, coupled with his natural ability, has produced results not only gratifying and prcplita- ble to himself, but exceedingly valuable to the rest of us .is an example of what can be done. Providence. K. I. Combination Device for Swarm Prevention and Comb-Honey Production in Brood- Chamber BY \VILI.L\.\1 1. I'OOLE. A new method for obtaining comb honey in the brood-chamber and the prevention of swarming was experi- mented with by Mr. Frank Darrah, in his apiary at Van Cortland Park, N. Y. While visiting Mr. Darrah one day at I. -Part of Ae'iakv oe' Frank Darraii. his apiary last spring, my attention was drawn to this experiment which I became interested in, and through the kindness of Mr. Darrah I am writing this article in the ho]ie that some of the American Bee Journal readers will become interested in it and help carry this new method further. The experiment was tried in a hive 20x20x!t.!i inches, in which was insert- ed !l frames of brood ami a queen. These II frames of brood were centered in the hive, and on each side was placed a queen-excluder used in the same way as the division-board. This queen-excluder was made of the ordi- nary perforated zinc with a strip nailed on the top so as to let it hang on the rabbets on the two ends of the hive on which the brood-frames hang. It ex- tended down flush with the bottom of the hive to prevent the (|ueen passing under it. When the brood-frames were put in the hive close to.gether. and the queen- excluder placed on each side, it left room on each side of the excluders to X'li'w 111' HrvK .Showiso .Sections in BhoodCiiamher. place two conib-lioney section-holders. One comb-honey section-holder was placed on each side of the hive at the liottoni with 1 sections in each, -I'^x- l,'.;xl's inches, and another section- holder was placed on the top of each Fcliriiarv. loi. -^^^^=<( American ^ee Journal with tlie ends of the IioUlcr made liigh enoiigli to reach the rabbet of the hive which the brood-frames hang on, and by nailing a little strip on the top of tiiese section-holders it would rest on the rabbet holding the brood-frames. By having the two section-holders on each side it would enable one to put Hi sections in the brood-chamber. The super nsed on this large hive would contain 'Mi -i '4x4 '4 .\1 's-inch sec- tions, which, in the case of Mr. Darrah, when looked at on July 2:ld last, were Idled and capped ready for taking off. The great advantage of this nietliod is in putting in the sections early in the spring in the brood-chamber when the tirst honey starts to come in, as at this time the bees store excessive amounts in the brood-combs, and tend to crowd the laying space of the (|ueen; and later, during the warm weather, it tends to lower the temperature of the hive, W'hich is usually congested with bees :ind brood. In my case the bees tilled the outer combs completely full, and the other combs over one-third fnll, but by the experiment of Mr. Darrah, this congestion was overcome and gave the queen ample room to lay. It was thought by friends of Mr. Dar- rah that the bees would lill these lii sections partly full with pollen, but to their surprise there could be found not even a trace. .As soon as these li.i sec- tions are tilled they conld be replaced bv another set. The frames in this 3— I'ART OF .Al'I.AKV (jl \Vm. H, I'liOLE c"c SON hive of Mr. Darrah's were tilled with brood and eggs, even to the outer frames. This method wonld be an expensive one for a man having several hives in his apiary, but it would be protitable for him to have .5 or 6 of these hives in his apiary to use in the spring in build- ing up the colonies which did not win- ter well, by giving them one or two frames of brood from these large hives. The bee-keeper who tries this experiment will tind it profitable both in getting frames of brood from this strong colony, and also in obtaining a honey-flow from the brood-chamber in tlie spring and fall. It is hoped by the writer that this ex- periment will be tried by other apicul- turists, and that he will hear more from them throtigh the columns of the .■\merican Bee lournal. Vonkers. .\. Y. Fumigating Comb Honey, Etc. BY F. i;reinfr. A portion of our comb honey was removed from the hives July I, and stacked up in the honey-house. It was the intention to fumigate it after a week or 10 days, and some stacks were thus treated. Indeed, the most of it was subjected to the fumes of bisul- phide of carbon. My sulphide gave out, and when we crated the untreated honey, we found some infested with the wax-moth larv;e. Particularly were such cases afi'ected containing pollen. .A very few sections were utterly ruined; others were only slightly dam- aged, and we crated them with the No. - grade, after they had been cleaned up by the bees. A colony, which is be- ing fed liberally, either for the purpose of finishing up unfinished comb honey or to supply them with winter stores, may be trusted to do the work of re- storing such slightly damaged honey after the honey season has come to a stop. In one of our yards the late crop was not taken otif until frosty nights came in September. It was a very simple matter to remove this honey. We needed neither escape - boards nor smoke. There were no bees in the supers. This late-taken-ofT honey was not sulphured, and no wax-moth iarv;e made their appearance. We neglected or omitted to have our e.xtracting-combs cleaned up by the bees, as has been our custom. The ex- tracting was done late in July. These combs have not been molested by the moth, and have not been sulphured. I.xsETS IX Sections — Beew.ws. Can any one tell us why insets to beeway sections should be cut deeper than 's inch ? We adopted a section with 's inset over HO years ago, and see no reason to have them different. The regular 1 '4 section used to be made with insets or beeways '4 inch deep; the present make is about 3-lti. I was duped with a 4x5 lot one time which had insets }i deep. I had omitted to specify the depth of the beeway in my order. I must say I did not like such sections, particularly as the top and bottom bars of all my wide frames were calculated on the 's inset. Is there any good reason for provid- ing beeway supers for comb honey with more roomy passage-ways than no-beeway section supers ? If so, what is the reason ? Bisulphide of C.\rbon. Bisulphide of carbon is very handy to use for fumigating honey and combs, but is more expensive than burning sulphur. Our druggist charges 3j cents per pound, which is absolutely prohibi- tive. In Rochester I can buy the stulT at $l.uii per gallon, and a gallon weighs 10 or II pounds. .At that rate I can aflford to use it on account of its handi- ness, although even at this price the sulphur at about 3 cents is much cheaper to use. Bisulphide of carbon is sold in gal- lon tin cans, at least I thus bought it. For safety's sake I stored in an empty bee-hive out in the apiary. Before be- ing more than half used up, holes ap- peared around the top of the can which were not observed until all the sulphide had escaped. The lesson to learn from this is to keep such volatile fluids in earthen vessels and well corked. A.\ ExrERiE.ME WITH Bee-Veils. The silk tulle bee-veil is perhaps the most comfortable protection a bee- keeper can wear. However, they easily tear when used over a common straw- hat, although sometimes I had one last me - or 3 years. Of late I have tried the Alexander veil with satisfaction, but I had to make some alterations be- fore it was safe. The vulnerable spots were at the back of the head where [he wire-cloth touches when bending over, and on top of the head where not a few of us are lacking that desirable and natural covering — hair. These defects of the Alexander veil may be remedied. A light, short leather strap going half way around the head may be sewed or riveted to the wire- cloth about 3 inches from the upper edge in such a way that it keeps the wire-cloth away from the head. An extra piece of burlap fastened in the crown will give protection for the top of the head where the hair is missin;;. I received quite a few stings in these spots before I made the described alter- ations, and now the trouble is over. Germ.\n Ixtrodlcixc-Cage. The wire-cloth introducing - cage, brought out of late, will be recognized by those familiar with the practise of the bee-keepers in Germany, as a sub- stitute for the ■■ Pfeifen deckel"— the wire-cloth cover of the porcelain to- bacco-pipe of old. It has given the very best satisfaction to the bee-keep- ers who have tried it, and has very commonly been used in Germany for a great many years. Bottles for Feedixc; Sees. For slow feeding and for giving water, the German bee-keepers often use ordinary bottles, either arranged in the upper story or also as atmos- pheric entrance-feeders. Naples, N. Y. Address to the Michigan Bee- Keepers BY PRES. E. U. TOWXSEXD. /■rieinis and Members of the 42d Annual Convention of Ihc Michigan Stale Bee-A'eefers^ . Issocitition : It is with a good deal of pleasure that I am allowed the honor of presid- ing at this meeting, and without further preliminary I will suggest a few sub- jects for the consideration of this as- sembly that may be of interest to this and subsequent meetings. The lirst and perhaps the most im- portant question I would bring before this convention is. Shall we become an auxiliary to the National Bee-Keep- ers' Association, as the new Constitu- tion adopted by the members last month provides ? You will have an opportunity to de- cide this question at this afternoon session. If this new move of the Na- tional, adopted at their last meeting at Minneapolis Aug. 3u and 31, be ac- cepted by this .Association, /. <-.. that we become an au.xiliary to that body, this may be the last meeting of the Michigan State -Association of bee- keepers. February, 191- American l^ee Journal 1 wouM call the attention of tin- members to the fact that the new Con- stitution ilrawn up and approved at the Minneapolis meeting uf the National, is somewhat of an experiment, as there was no precedent to go by, and that no member need hesitate about voting for it's adoption on account of some niindr defect it may contain, for ample provisions have been made in the new Constitution for adjusting any defects. If we decide to become an au.xiliary to the National. I would advise that local members be elected to fill the several oflices of this branch of the National for the ensuing year. I woubl .ilso advise that the oflices be of an honorary nature, /. e., without compen- sation. The members will see the ad- visability of this when I say that I shall use my influence to make this branch a permanent one, with annual meetings, or oftener, as the members see fit. I would also recommend that this -•Kssociation consider at this meeting the matter of appointing an organizing committee of two in each of the follow- ing centers : Detroit. Lansing. Jack- son. Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids, and Traverse City — with the idea of organ- izing a branch of the National at each of these locations durin.c; the month of January next. This .'\ssociation was the first, I be- lieve, to offer its service to the Na- tional as an auxiliary, so let Michigan be the first to be thoroughly organized along these lines. There are other locations that need to be organized, and these can be seen to in the future. If Michigan can start the year with seven auxiliaries, we ought to be satisfied. This (lllll) has been a very disas- trous year with us, in as much as we have lost two of our most prominent members since our last meeting in (irand Rapids, a year ago. The com- mittee I will appoint upon resolutions will kindly give this matter its due attention. I recommend that suitable resolutions of regret be mailed to the widows of the two departed members — Mr. Hutchinson and Mv. Hilton. The year 1911 has not been up to the average from the honey-producers' standpoint. Many will be tempted to sell their bees after such a discouraging year. I would advise the members to "stick to the bees." Further, I would suggest that this would be just the time to buy more bees, as likely many will be offered for sale, and at satisfactory prices. We need a new law upon bee-dis- eases in this State. Whether anything ought to be done at this session of our Association toward this end I will leave to the members to decide. In conclusion, I want to impress upon the minds of the members the importance of being well organized when in need of anything from our Legislature. If the scheme I have out- lined heretofore in this paper is car- ried out, that of organizing in all the main centers of the Slate, I predict it will double our membership in the State. This larger number of members will have a great influence upon our Legislature and Governor. R.mus, Mich.. Dec. I, liMl. Order and Tidiness in Apiary BY (;. M. nOOI.ITTLE. "Order is heaven's first law," is an expression we often hear used. But w'hen some of us travel about and visit the apiaries of dilTerent bee-keepers, we are compelled to admit that all do not have this matter of suitable neat- ness and order established in their minds. Brother and sister bee-keeper. 1 wish to impress upon you that ours is a noble jnirsuit. and therefore we should deal with it as such. Let us not degrade it bv slipshod and slovenly work. Our methods need not be of the poorest kind, even though we do not feel justified in having palace hives for our bees to occupy. Ther^ is no busi- ness that compares more favorably, nor that is more capable of being carried out in a beautiful way than is apicul- ture. Apiculture is sometimes called " the poetry of agriculture." .-\nd from this standpoint it seems almost like a desecration to see hives at all angles, and at all points of the compass, as though some "joy rider" had lost con- trol of his automobile when passing near the apiary, and the liives had been tossed about in all directions by some intruder who hail "lost his head." I know that there are those who claim that a promiscuous placing of hives is necessary in order to secure the safe return llight. when the young queens go out to mate, but with a prac- tical demonstration of this matter dur- ing over 311 years of rearing queens both for home consumption and to supply the trade, I consider this more of the fancy, or from relying on an oft- repeated dogmatism, rather than hav- ing any foundation on fact. Especially is this true where a proper distance is given between each hive or colony. So many times have I seen apiaries kept in slovenly shape that I wish to make a plea for system, neatness and orderliness. I remember going, some years ago, to the apiary of one of "our great lights" in bee-keeping, and find- ing the hives not only standing at all angles, and in all directions of facing, but from .J to HI would be "thrown" together in a clump, while the vacant places in the enclosure for the apiary would have accommodated all the hives, had they been properly spaced, with an abundance of room sufficient to war- rant the safe return of every queen. Not only this, but the grass and weeds were nearly nr quite as high as the tops I if the hives, while pnor, pollen-laden bees were struggling and losing their Iliads by trying to crawl thmugh the grass to reach the entrance of their home. Then in several places in the vard, and in the corners of the same, were piles of rubbish mixed in with hives, covers, ami bottom-boards that had gotten out of repair, the same be- ing allowed to lie there and rot instead of being stcired in the repair-shop ready for a profitable entertainment for the apiarist on some stormy day. Then it almost made my heart ache to find in another corner a pile of sev- eral hundred frames of comb which had too much pollen or drone-comb in them to be considered worthy of keep- ing longer, as they were in the liives all thrown in togetlier, many of the combs already being more or less con- sumed bv the larvc-e of ' the wax-moth, while the rain and the weather were twisting and rotting the frames which held these combs. Besides this waste, this slovenly manner of affairs was breeding more wax-moths then inu careful and tidy bee-keepers would do, while these same moths would go out to inconvenience and annoy those who had with great pains gotten their api- aries nearly or quite free from the same. Then on going to his shop and honey-house, the shop-floor was cov- ered with sawdust, shavings and dirt to the depth of an inch or two. with pieces of hive-stuff thrown in promis- cuously, while the honey-house part of the same was littered up with all sorts of odds and ends, and every available space piled full of a miscellaneous col- lection of "traps and calamities." The reader may say that it takes time and money to keep things tidy and or- derly. But I wish to say that it: does not take nearly so much time in the long run to do our work, as it did this noted apiarist, who was so noted by his writings and words on the floors of our bee-conventions. In our beginning, it may take a little more time and monev to fix or make an appropriate place for everything; and it may take a little more time always to put every- thing in its proper place, thus having a place for everything, and having every- thing in its place, instead of dropping them where they are last used. It does take a little time to keep the grass mowed in the bee-yard. All of this I am willing to admit, but this is but a " drop in the bucket " when compared with the waste of both time and money which comes to the one who has no place for anything, and allows his bees to wade through " standing timber" before they can get home with their loads of honey; while the moths are eating up and ruining the wax in the combs which are of much money value, even when turned into wax. Therefore, in the end, it is time and money saved, and something which I consider of far more importance, it is temper saved. .•\ man can accomplish much more work when he is in a contented, good- natured, happy frame of mind. And even from a dollars-aud-cents point of view, such a frame of mind contributes to a more profitable investment. And nothing is more conducive to this frame of mind than always to find everything in its place. Of course, the money part of our business must be kept in view; otherwise, in this day and age of the world, it is " over the hill to the poor-house." Hut in my over 4(1 vears of bee-keeping life I have noticed this : The must profitable honey crop is never obtained in a slovenly manner. And this can be said equally when speaking of farming, manufactur- ing, merchandizing, or what not. I know that neatness and order in and of themselves alone do not insure success; but that trait of character that does everything along these lines so thoroughly, so tidily and so orderly, is the trait which brings success. Prop- erly spacing the hives, keeping the bee- yard mown at the right time, cleaning out the shop and honey-house, will not of themselves bring success; but the l'\-ljniar\-. lOiJ. American l^ee Jlournal bee-kfcper who can so arouse liiniself, or herself, tliat they will see the neces- sity of having things " done decently and in order," and the help and inspira- tion which conies from so doing, will not stop tliere. Those will adopt better methods whenever such are seen and fonnd, carefully scan the bee papers and books for all such methods, and get better implements, etc., when need- ed, to carry out these methods. I have been all the more free to write as 1 have here, because for some years of my first bee-keeping my apiary and honey-hotise were of the " heart-ache " kind ; but a visit to one who kept everything up "in shape," and who made bee-keeping a success in every way, taught me a lesson which I have never forgotten. Borodino, N. Y. Dr. Miller's Answers^ Send Questions either to the office of the ."American Bee Journal or direct to Dr. C. C. Miller, Marengo. III. He does not answer bee-lstraw. also dry wheat-straw i.nd oats covered the hives, on all side^ except the front. The water-tight cover! are over all. 1 feel that is right, as I read the Langstroth book. 1. Shoidd the coarse sack-cloth be removed and replaced with oil-cloth next .March, or is it better to keep on the coarse sack-cloth till May? 2. Can I feed water to bees without sweet foods next March ? 3. Why is rye-flour put into the hivo in March? 4. Where can I put rye-flour into bee- hives? 5. Which do you like to keep better, a two-story colony, or a one-story? (•>. Has a two-story colony always two queens — one in the upper chamber, and ihe other queen in the bottom? 7. I put a heavy canvas over the bee- entrances for sheltering from cold winds. Is it right? When warm days come I oi>cn the canvas. Should 1 put the canvas over Ihe entrances in cold weather? %. 1 want 2 queens in a two-story col- • ny. Should I put a honey-board be- tween the two stories? q. Do you remove drone-cells in April ' Ft-liruary. 191 . J^^^^=^ American liee Journal 10. Arr (Irone-cclls larger than worker- cflls? Indiana. Answers. — i. If the bees have plenty of food, better not distiirl) them till warm weather. No harm if the packing is left .>n till May or June. _>. Yes. bees will take water without any sweet in it. and they will be likely 10 po after water about as soon as the weather is warm enough for tliem to fly. 1 1 is a good plan to have water provided close at hand, so they need not have to fly far for it with the risk of gettin.a chilled. A good way is to have a vessel of water in a sheltered or warm place near the apiary, with 2 or 3 inches of .ork-chips on the water. You can get the .<'rk-chips from any grocer who has i;rapcs come in kegs, as generally he throws them away. V Rye-flour and other meals are given to the bees as a substitute for pollen. 4. If you want to put it in the hive, you can sprinkle it into the cells of a comb. But it is not generally put in the hive, but outside. Put it in a shallow dish • •r box outside in the sun. and if the bees :irc in need of it they will take it from there. But if they can get plenty of natural pollen they are not likely to touch the substitute. 5. Unless a colony is very strong, one story Ls enough for it. If strong enough, it can have 2 stories up to the time of the harvest, when one brood-story will be left. 6. No. there is only one queen. -. Such shelter answers a good pur- pose ; only it must not be so close as to hinder the free entrance of air into the hive. S. There must be a queen-excluder be- •ween the 2 stories. Even then you will ikely find one of the queens missing be- :'"re a great while. 0. Drone-comb may be cut out any time after it is wann enough for the I'ces to be flying freely. But the bees will be likely to build drone-comb in the vacancy unless you fill in patches of worker-comb or comb-foundation. 10. Yes. drone-cells measure about 4 ■o the inch, and worker-cells 5 to the incli. Candy-Cakes for Winter Feeding. I:ast season (loii) was a total failure ,- to the honey-crop, and the bees hardly . it enough to live on during the summer. iiid consequently did not get any stores ir winter use. I started to feed them -;. rup the last part of September and the nrst of October, but on account of my biusiness keeping me away from home ■Host of the time, the feeding became very nsufficient, and unless the bees are fed M some way soon, they will starve before -!)rin,g opens, which here is not until May. Will it do to take granulated su.gar mixed '.n honey, make it into quite solid candy. to]] it out nearly the size of the top of the hives, and lay the candy flat over the top-bars, and cover it with cloth or gunny-sacks? I keep my bees in the cel- lar in a dark place, where the tempera- ture during the winter varies from 36 to 45 degrees. I have kept bees for 3 winters, and they have always come out in nice shape, but they have always had plenty of stores before. I have i6 col- onies. This country is probably not the 1)est honey-producing country, but last year (1910) I got from 50 to 100 pound" per colony. I do not know whether the above suf- nested feeding will work or not, but I thought this way would be least disturbing to them. Possibly the candy will melt and run down on them. The colonies ^re small so the heat will probably not be very great. I have no frames with honey, and cannot get them. Minnesota. .•\nswer. — You're all right in your plan. The only question is : How do you mean to make that cand.v? If you mean to heat it so as to melt both honey and sugar and m.ike it into a "solid candy." all right : only be ti'r.v careful you don't overheat it. It will be cheaper to let the bees starv.. than to kill them with scorched candy. If you mean to make so-called "Good" candy, all right again. i)rovided you don't do exactly as you say. but use powdered sugar instead of granulated. Maybe you'll get it under the name of confectioner's su.asar. It would do to use granulated sugar, only it may he too wasteful, for the bees are likely to reject the coarse grains of the granulated. No doubt you have books that tell you just how to make this candy, but it may be no harm to give a few hints. You can make it by using the honey cold, merely mixing the honey with the fine- grained sugar, but there is danger, espe- cially in cold weather, that you will not get enough sugar kneaded in, and then the candy may become thin afterward and run down. It is better to have the honey warm — hot, if you don't scorch it — and then stir in all the sugar you can. When you have stirred in all the sugar you can. then knead some more in. Then let the candy stand in a warm place -• or 3 days and you will find you can knead in some more. Cans of Hot Water in the Bee-Cellar Honey was a failure witii me last year; too nuicb rain. It rained nearly the whole season, but we had a fall How. so my bees tilled their hives for the winter. I put in the cellar 100 colonies, and ever since Xew Year's Day I have bad to fi-bt to keep the temperature at 41 degrees. I put in the cel- lar s-Eallon cans of hot water, nitrht and morning, and I succeed in keeping the tem- perature 44 to 4ti degrees. The warmest it has been outside in the last 10 days is 4 de- grees below zero, and 47 and so degrees be- low 4 times, but most of the time ^5 below, and some days with a gale of wind. Yes.it is cold! G. C. Chase. Robbins, Wis. Nectar-Dearth and then Severe Cold Hemmed in between city houses I have 15 colonies of the finest Italians hereabouts. But immediately after a cold snap of 20 de- grees below zero, a heavy snow fell closing the fronts of the hives for several days. .\fter the cold spell a pint or more of dead bees lay on the bottom-boards, which I scraped out with a yard-stick. Of course, I take it that the cold killed the bees, as tliey had abundant stores, but have wondered if the snow closing the entrances may have conduced to the wholesale slaughter. Last summer's dearth of nectar, with this win- ter's severe cold, has been a severe test for bees, although 1 have hives wrapped with tar-paper, and supers filled with autumn leaves and grass. Some of my colonies were weak in the fall, but all have pulled through so far. Mrs. Fkederuk Griffith. Kansas <_'ity. Mo.. Feb. i. Cold Weather- Feeding Bees Loaf Sugar Beginning with the last day of December, and continuing for two weeks, the mercury fell below zero every night but one. The range was from 4 degrees below to 32 below. Last Sunday morning it was a few degrees above, but on Monday morning it was 20 be- low. Since then the weather has warmed up a little. There is considerable snow on the ground, and there has been much drift- ing. The entrances of my bee-hives have been closed with snow most of the time, and 1 did not make any great haste about remov- ing it. Yesterday, and a few times before. I lifted the cushions and quilts of some hives in order to note the conditions, as far as a momentary glance would enable me to do so. and to insert a little feed right over the cluster. In order to do this I needed to raise only one end of the covers for an instant, and then they were dropped back. I found the bees much livelier than I expected, and also found they had not lost their disposition nor ability to sting. The interview was so short, and the weather so cold I had not thought they would welcome nie in that way. rhefeed I gate was. at first, cube loaf- sugar slightly moistened. about a cinart to the colony, but the supply failed and there was none in town. Ihen 1 went to giving un- tinished sections that had honey in them but shall return to the cube loaf-sugar as soon as I can get a supply from Chicago. The grocery men here have the face to ask i2'/2 cents a pound for it. A mailorder house's price is $1.60 for a 2s-pound sack, and a trifle more per pound in smaller lots. I do this feeding as a precautionary meas- ure. Some colonies do not need it. and some mm: You do not know which is the needv one, and can not find out at this time of the year. Edwin Bevixs. Leon, Iowa, Jan. i3. Entire Failure from Dry Weather The past season was almost an entire failure. In the middle of the season we were obliged to feed to keep the bees from starving. I have fed 20 pounds of sugar and honey to all each colonyi of my bees for wintering. Forty years ago we had a simi- lar experience. This isowingtodry weather, Lee, Mass., Dec. 2'3. .A. Bradi.ev. Following Up Experiments While it is not best under all circum- stances to try everything we read in the bee- papers, the fact still remains that "in a multitude of counsellors there is wisdom." and it only remains for the recipient to use it properly. If no one bad thought enough of Benjamin Franklin's experiments to have followed them up. see the conven- iences this age would have lost. Rocky Ford. Colo.. Jan. 8, A S. Parson, A Badly Bee-Diseased County Monterey county is rotten with foul brood at the present time, and all our bee-keepers will lose considerable. We have a county bee inspector who has no advice to give in the least, or rather knows nothing about any bee-disease whatsoever, and is about in years behind the times. The only thing he can do very well is to destroy an apiarv when no one is at home, by ransacking every hive and turning them inside out looking for disease, and knows nothing after doing so; while the average apiary is as nearly rotten with foul brood as it could be throughout the county Almost all the bee-keepers liave the common California black bees, and they go like hot-cakes when anything hits them. Nearly all have the common cracker-box hives. The American Bee Journal is the only thing that does the bee-keeper any good. Some inspectors know nothing, and at the same time rob the county of so much. Salinas, Calif.,. Ian. 8. Wm. F. Ha< kmas. Done With Sealed Covers The winter of 1011-12 will long be remem- bered by the bee keepers of this locality. For one thing, it has forever knocked the sealed-cover business in the head for me. I winter and have for years before without the loss of a single colony with a feeding- board over the colony with 2 holes for feed- 56 1 *T^^<^^^ -^C February, 191. American Baa Joarnal infill liie board. 1 he deep liivecaps are packed Willi cliaff. Last fall over some of the holes I had propolized cloths; R colonies so hNed smothered. The bees had broken cluster and were scattered over the hive- very large colonies, too. with jilenty of honey, The combs were iced and frozen. .No more sealed covers for me. 1 hear of very heavy losses here. One man witli ;H colonies has only 6 alive now. For one thint', the honey here is very bad. There was lots of honeydew last year. and. of course, theeffectsof that will come later on. but It is snowins; now, and there is so much snow around it's too cold fora good Hight, I hate to write so discouragingly, but every bit of white clover is killed here. Well, white clover always comes back, and I look for a good year 111 ivn. We must take the bad with the good in this life, and be thank- ful for it might be much worse. Marceline. Mo. Irving E. Long. Early Swarming in California What do you think of bees swarmingon the 23d of January? .^i bee-keeper of San Rafael. Calif., asks why the bees should swarm with a few eegs.no larvje, or sealed brood, and just a little store of honey The writer had to " fess up." it was too much for li I m . We have had some fine rains, and hope ihe entire State has been having the same kind of rainfall, as some of the bee-keepers are beginnini: to fear a poor season, etc. We had two spells of hail, and only for a few moments, but no damage. We also had two distinct crashes of lightning with the lollowing of severe and deep thunder-a very unusual proceeding in this section of the country: to my knowledge this is the 4th electrical storm since September 1008 .N'ot many, is it? And the natives prefer earthquakes to cyclones or thunder-storms any time. The bees are bringine; in plenty of pollen and as the almond trees will soon be in bloom, the season for some early honey will be at hand. With early feeding it would be an easy matter to have some nice section honey by the middle of March. The hyacinths, crocuses, tulips and lilies are all put: in fact, we could have the calla Illy to bloom all the year around, with a lit- tle extra care and attention, „ , , „ ,., , J. C. Froih.igek. Berkeley. Calif.. Jan. 26. An Encouraging Canadian Report The past summer has been a rather poor one in this part of Ontario. The weather was too hot and dry for the honey-plants to yield much honey. I had 10 colonies to start with in the springof I'ju. They stored about .soo pounds of surplus honey, about 100 sec- tions of comb, and the rest of it extracted besides 7 new colonies as an increase, i had only 2 natural swarms. Two of my best colonies stored 120 pounds of surplus honey. I had all the honey sold before Christmas 1 sold over $20 worth of honey this year around home. Before I started bee-keeping I don t think there was one dollar's worth consumed around here. I sold $i worth to a lady who keeps a little country store about a mile from our place. She had some honey to sell before she got mine, but she couldn't sell it. so that made it very difficult for me to persuade lier to take mine, but at last I told her if she couldn't sell it in a reason- able length of time I would take it back, so she took It and sold it in a short time. This year I put my honev in flint-glass jars with metal screw tops. I used two sizes; one liolds ^4 pound, and the other i',i pounds When these are put up with a neat label they look very tempting, and sell like hot- cakes. I use some full-depth Langstroth hives and some divisible ones, and I hardly know which IS the better. My hives are all single- w-allec . but Im going to make some chaff ones this winter. I have 20 colonies packed in winter uuarters. This is the way I pack them : About the last of September I look through the colonies and see that each one is strong in bees, and has about 35 or 40 pounds of good honey or syrup. Then about two weeks later I go to one end of the row of hives and take off tlie cover and quilt and lay sticks 10 inches long and ;i inch square, over the tops of the frames: then lay 2 or 3 thick- nesses of Ijurlap 16x20 inches over, and piu on a full-denth super, and fill it nearly full ot chatt. 1 then put on the cover and wrap the hives, sides and tops, with tar-paper, one ply thick, and fasten it with laths and .small nails. I leave the entrance ux^ inch. I hnd this a very satisfactory way of winter- ing bees. I remove the packing about the first of May. I owe a good deal of my success to the .•\mencan Bee Journal, and wish it every success. K. R. Victor Tii'pktt. Quays. Ont., Jan. 11. Cool Weather in California We are having extremely cool weather here this winter, the coldest for many years, and no rain to amount to anything as yet. ,. , „ ,., „ -M. H, Mkndi.eson. \ entura, Calif,. Dec. 30. Buckwheat Yield— Cyprian-Carniolan Bees In the .American Bee Journal for Decem- ber. iQii. on page 35«. there is a difference mentioned as to nectar in buckwheat. Its yield IS all day if the sun does not shine lake a hot. cloudy day and. the bees will gather through the day. I lived on a farm from i86.i to I8.J7. We had a field of g acres so that the snow-water would fill every spring in half of this field. So we would sow It to buckwheat. About i(i7=-6 we had this ot all in buckwheat. When in bloom we had 3 days of cloudy, hot weather, and the bees worked from morning until dark. But when the sun began to shine again you could not see a bee after If my experience will be of anv interest I will keep notes and report results at the close of the next season. E. I'. St John Descanso. Calif., Dec. 20. Drones Mating with Young Queens .. I think TW'. Livingston, of Leslie. Ga.. is at sea about drones mating with young queens. Let me say what I have seen in mv bee-yard. I do not write about so-called Italian bees, as they are of two distinct races. 1 have never seen any Italian queens but their drone progeny always varied from 2 bands to a black drone. Where is the queen-breeder that can breed queens that will bring forth all 3-banded drones and workers, not black drones ? It can not be done. Do breeders take a black rooster to rear a strain of white chickens ? .No- I know it can not be done. Adel. or yellow Carniolan bees. I have ored since 1502— the best bee I have had. I will describe a pure breeding queen of the Adel; She IS yellow, and the abdomens of lier workers and drones are pure yellow- without any black edges on the segments of the abdomen. To prove she is pure we will breed 12 young queens from her worker- eggs. If those 12 young queens' drones are as yellow as the mother queen, she is pure 1 hose 12 young queens have mated, and mine have mated with pure drones, and their drones and workers are marked as the mother queen's drones and workers, pure yellow to tip. without any black edges on the segments of the abdomen. Three of those 12 queens were mismated. one with a black drone. The workers vary in color from a bright yellow to a black worker, but her drones are yellow and pure as the mother queen's. Suppose you allow this queen to lead a prime swarm. Her drones are pure wherever she goes. But her young queens, drones and workers will be yellow and black. The other 2 queens have mated with mongrel drones. There will be all colors or shades, but no blacks. Don t allow any young queens to live of those hybrid queens. This is where we get our mixed stock. If you have a pure motlier- iiueeii. as I have described: rear young queens regardless of what drone they may mate with. Their drones are pure, so every colony you give a yellow queen to. your stock IS yellow drones. When you give each col- ony a yellow queen, and h:ive yellow drones Hying, go over with pure stock, and cull every queen that is not up to the standard. New York State, H B .Man STRAWBERRIES I k.'ri)\v S t r ;i u- lit- r r ^ . lt:isiilH'nv. lUnoklxriv and other Riiitill fruit I'lRiitB. Oram- Vlni'.s Minilili.Ty.pU'. lly KKKK • iiUUi.i; l.llstli.' Triilli ami mil i|ii.if.'s f;iir prlt'i^H f.ir U...I Kill, k truf In name. Jf lie i.nloy W. K Unrkct sti A.I,I.KJt, ><'I. SalUhnrT Urt. I Febniiiry. I'ji "-^fS^i^^-^i American Hee Journal Wants, Exchanges, Etc. [Advertisemcnls in this department will be inserted at 15 cents per line, with no dis- counts of any kind Notices here cannot be less than two lines. If wanted in this de- partment, yon must say so when ordering.) .S.-\Mi'i.E OF HoNEV III years old. and liest MailiUK Case— free. iiAiy C. W. Dayton. Chatsworth. Cal. W.^NTKii — by an expert — bees on shares, or to buy bees. Michiean preferred. Boyd F. Howard. Lnion Center. N. Y. For Sai.k.— Uees. honey, and bee-siipplies. We are in the market for beeswax and honey. SAtf Otiden Bee & Honey Co.. Ogden Utah. For Sale— Choice liyht-anibcr extracted honey— thick, well ripened, delicious flavor. Price Q cents per pound in new bo-lb. cans. i.\tf J. P. Moore. Morgan. Ky. Barred Ko< k— bred to lay. and exhibit. KgKS. $2 per 15; $t per 30. Satisfaction guar- anteed. Louis Van Bulsele. 2A2t Rt. I. Collinsville. 111. ForSai.E-.-\. I. Root Supplies. Kverything needed in the apiary. Send for catalog. Prices right. Sawyer tS: Hedden, Irvington. New .Jersey. I.NDiAN Runner Duck Culture Book. In- formation that beginners are looking for. (Special price. 50 cents.) George W. York & Co.. 117 N. Jefferson St., Chicago. 111. Three Months' Triai, for 15 cts. for the bee-journal that "Grandpa" can read. Large type. New cover design. Eight extra pages. Tlie Bee-Keepers' Review. 230 Woodland .\ve.. Detroit. Mich. Wanted— All Southern Idaho bee-keepers to know they can get all kinds of Bee-Keep- ers'Supplies at home. Write for catalog. I have my own factory. C K. Shriver, 2A4t i62( Bannock St.. Boise. Idaho. ForSai.e— California bee-ranch; tirst-class apiary; concrete buildings in excellent re- pair; good spring water and healthful cli- mate; a comfortable home near the cleanest town in the United .States at moderate price. H. E. Wilder. Riverside. Calif. For Sale CHEAi'-55-acre ranch. all fenced. 20 acres in cultivation; good orchard, berry- patch, etc. Good well and plenty of good buildings, in a bee-keepers paradise, with over 100 colonies of bees in dovetailed hives. isAtf L. L. Skaggs. Llano. Tex. Complete Comb Honev Oitfit for 1000 colonies, consisting of joo Colonies of Bees ingood condition. Hives with worker-combs, supers filled with sections, etc Corres- pondence solicited from parties meaning business. Address. Frank Rauchfuss, 1440 Market Street. Denver. Colo. lAit Wanted — .\ married man to run on shares. an apiary and vineyard. Havi' 4-room house. >; acres irrigated land planted in grapes, figs, apricots, peaches, blackberries, and other fruit: 72 colonies of black and Italian bees in H and 10 frame hives; also outfit for extracted and section honey. Ciood climate for bees. Write me for any further infor- mation desired, and give experience, etc. Address. Wm. VV'inkler. Aldama. Est de Chihuahua. Mexico. Buffalo. Leon Co.. Texas—Golden and 3- banded Italian Queens. .Shipments will be- gin March I5th. Tested Queens. St. 00 each; 3 Queens. J275; 6 or more. B5 cents each. Untested. 75c for one; 3 Queens. $2 00; from ii to io Queens, n; cents each. I guarantee all Queens to give satisfaction. For larger lots of Queens, write for special prices. If Queen arrives dead, send her back and I will send another. Bees and Nuclei. Bees per pound. Sloo; Nuclei, per frame. $1.25. 2.-\if C. B. Baxkston. If k''>'"ls ,irc wauled iiuick. send to roinUT ' Bee-Supplies Standard hives with latest improvements. Danzen- baker Hives. .Sections. Foundation. Extractors. Smok- ers; in fact, everything used about the bees. My equipment, my stock of goods, the quality of my goods and my shipping facilities can not be excelled. PAPER HONEY-JARS For extracted honey. Made of heavy paper and paraf- fine coated, with tight seal. Every honey-prodncer w-ill be interested. .A descriptive circular free. I''inest white clover honey on hand at all limes I buy bees- wax. Catalog of SLippli<-s frre. WALTER S. POUDER, Indianapolis, Ind. t^5'. Massachusetts .-Kvemie. Wisconsin Convention The 3:3d an- nual convention of the Wisconsin State Bee- Keepers' Association will ineet in tlie Supervisors' Room at the Court House, Madison, Wis., Feb. 20 and 21, 1012, beginning at 10 a.m. Tuesday. Headquarters of the bee-keepers is usually the Simons Hotel— a clean, moderate-priced house. To secure a room, it will be necessary io write a week ahead of time, and enclose $1.00 in your letter. We invite every member to renew his membership. We invite every bee- keeper to become a member. Augusta, Wis. Gus Dittmer, Sec. Honey to Sell or Wanted Wanted — Choice extracted white and amber honey in barrels or cans. Send sam- ple, and price delivered f. o. b. Preston. iiAtf M. V. Facey. Preston. Minn. ?"oR Sale. — .Absolutely pure California sage extracted honey; several cars while and light amber, in 60-lb. tins, two tins to a case. Write us for samples and prices. Rather Bros.. Managers. Hemet Valley Bee-Keepers' Association. TAtf Hemet. Cal Crown Bone Cutter FFKI) voiir h*'n« cut crcn l-onc an«h every dav for vnur poullrv. Si i.d al once r-.r free cat^L.-ue. WILSON BROS., B0J814 E3Stor., Pa. Best Made Lowest in Price I trior mtntion Am. Bee Journll waen writinf. " Laug.stroth ou the Honey-Bee" This is one of the standard books on bees. It tells in a simple, concise man- ner just how to keep bees. It was originally written by Rev. L. L. Lang- stroth, who invented the movable- frame hive in IS.'il. The book has been brought right down to date by Dadant & Sons, than who there are no better or more practical bee-keepers in this or any otiier country. It contains nearly GOO pages, is fully illustrated, and is bound in cloth. Every topic is clearly and thoroughly explained, so that by following its instructions no one should fail to be successful with bees. Price, postpaid, $1.20; or with the American Bee Journal one year — both for $2.00. Send all orders to the American Bee Journal. An English Honey-Spoon L-y sh( irr Over in old England they lave a handv honey-spoon, T at least a spoon that has device in its handle that I'll! prevent it from drop- )ing down in theiarof hon- ' on the dining-table, thus iling the fingers and spoil- g the table-cloth. It is a ?ry ingenious idea, and )uld h:ive extensive de- ind amcing honey-consii- •rs, especially bee-keeji- i. It is well plated on ih-class nickel, and has bcaiiiiful raised design on the upper side of the handle, as indicated in the picture herewith. We liave secured some of these very unique spoons, and will mail Ilium at (jo cents each. ii)r. we will send spoon |;uid the American Bee Joiirn.d one year— both for Sl75. The spoon would be fine as a gift for Christ- mas, birtlidays, etc. The editor of the Bee .l.nirnal has used one of these spoons for a nuni- l>rr of months in the honey-glass which_ is al- ways on his table, and he would not like to be without this spoon again, as it is so con- venient, and also unusual in this country. We can fil 1 orders promptly now. You cer- tainly would be pleased with this honey- spoon, and so would anyone to whom you might present it. Send all orders to. GEORGE W. YORK & CO., CHICAGO, ILL. Pkase mtntion Am. Bee Journal when writing. "Scientific Queeu-Kearing " No other book compares with this one written by Mr. G. M. Doolittle. He is an expert in the business. It tells just how the very best queens can be reared. Bound in cloth. By mail, $1.00 ; or with the .•\merican Bee Journal, one year — both for $1.(J0. In leatherette binding, 7.") cents, postpaid ; or with the .•\merican Bee Journal one year — both for $1.2-"). Send to the American Bee lourns' American ^ee Journal Ffbruarv, 1012. )^=^^^^ I Best White Alfalfa and 2d-Hand Cans Every bee-keeper should see to it that all who want honey in his locality are able to get it. When your own honey is all sohl don't fail to send somewhi-re else for more, and thus keep the local trade supplied. We have a larye quantity of the Best White Alfalfa Honey in new Oti- pound cans, two cans in a box, which we can ship promptly at the following prices: One box of 'J cans (12(t pounds of honey) at lU cents per pound ; '1 or more cans, at il-'^ cents per pound — all f. o. b. Chicago. Better order at once, as this grade of honey is not at all plentiful. Winter is just the best time to keep your local customers well supplied. They will like this fine Alfalfa honey, for it is " licking good." We have a lot of Second-Hand .^-gallon Tin Cans that we have emptied ourselves, so we know they are clean and good. They are all right to use again. We have them crated m various size crates, and, in lots of 2.j cans, will let then) go at $'J..']0, or 10 cents each, f. o. b. Chicago. If wanted '1 empty cans in a box, we will furnish them in lots of 10 or more l)oxes at 30 cents a bo.x, so long as tliey last. In buying the crated second-hand cans the buyer can make boxes for them if desired out of any odd lumber he may have about his place. These cans certainly are a bargain. You can get them now and keep them in a dry place until next season when you will likely have need of them. We have a limited num- ber of these second-hand cans, so you better order early. National Honey Company, 117 North Jefferson St., Chicago, III. ■" Uee-Keeper.H' Giii»le " This book on bees is also known as tlie "Manual of the Apiary." It is in- structive, interesting, and both practi- cal and scientific. On the anatomy and physiology of the bee it is more com- plete than any other standard Ameri- can bee-book. Also the part on honey- producing plants is exceptionally fine. Every bee-keeper should have it in his library. It hasri44 pages, and 29-5 illus- trations. Bound in cloth. Price, post- paid, $1.20 ; or with a year's subscrip- tion to the American Bee Journal — both for $1.(10. Send all orders to «■'•» office of the American Bee Journal. American Bee Journal for 1911 We have a number of complete volumes of the American Bee Journal for 11)11, which we offer for 00 cents for the 12 numbers, as long as they last. Or, should there be among our subscribers those who would like to have any c opies of the American Bee Journal for ]0I 1 to complete their volume or other- wise, we will fill such orders at .5 cents per copy. Address all orders to, Geo. W.York & Co., 117 N. Jefferson St., Chicago, 111. "A Year'.s 'Work iu tni Oiit- Apiar.v" is the name of a booklet by G. M. Doolittle, the well-known honey- producer of New York State. He tells liow he secured an average of 114^2 pounds of honey per colony in a poor season. It is fully illustrated, and tells in detail just how Mr. Doolittle has won his great success as a honey-pro- ducer. The price of the booklet is 50 cents, postpaid, but we club it with the American Bee Journal for a year — both for $l.;iO. Every bee-keeper should have a copy of this booklet, and study it thoroughly. Address all orders to the American Bee Journal, 117 North Jefferson St., Chicago, 111. Eggs and Honey are Great Twin Crops EVERY man ur woman who raises bees ought to raise c/iu-keiis The two industries ht/ong together. The spare i\m&from one fits nicely into the other. Whether or not you own an incubator — if you are thitiking seriously upon the poultry subject, please write today for Cyphers Company's Poultry Growers* Guide for 1912 This is the most complete^ interesting and helpful Year Book we ha\e e\er gotten out. 244 pages, 7/4x10 inches — profusely illustrated. And it's full to running over with sound, />^-flf//frt/iiif()rmation and suggestions. For example, it contains eight chapters of information never before pub- lished, of immense value. The chapters are: I — How to Get Twice as Many Eggs from the Same Number of Hens. II — The 200-egg Per Year Hen — How to Produce Her. Ill — Large Sized Eggs in Demand As Well As Lots of them. IV — Mating and Feeding of Fowls to Get Fertile Eggs. V- — Selection and Care of Eggs for Successful Hatching. VI — Proper Care of Fowls and Chicks With Least Amount of Work. VII — How to Brood Chicks Properly at the Lowest Cost. VIII — Premium-Price Table Poultry and How to Produce It. This big, free book fully illustrates and describes — CYPHERS Incubators and Brooders ( lives the convincing reusons why they arc the clioice of jnore fanciers of national reputation — more of the world's leading poultry plants, 7i!ore Govenimcnt Experiment Stations and 7nore State Agricultural Colleges than all other miihs comhineJ. It also tells x\vi fii I I facts about Cyphers Company's Service which places in the hands of our customers the h\:i\. poultry fuels and poultry aJiice we can possibly turn out in personal letters, in bulletins, booklets, etc. Working with the customer for his or her s\icccss lifter a machine has been bought has been a eanlinnl principle of (. yphers Company's Service. The new department is a further de- velopment along this line. Cyphers Incubator Company, Dept. 83. Home Office, Buffalo, N. Y, C>i»liers Compaiiy'sScrv'ice is lounded on tbc results of fifttrn years of harj work, tlott htufh and heavy cash investments — on the experience of tens of thousands of cuslDtncrs. on lOe daily knowledge we gain at the Cyphers Company's ?SO.000 E-~- 1912 contest is fulh dfurJhed in our bic free book. Be sure to write for the book now — iWiiv Vuu will iijid it intercsi- inc, helpful— A sure road to crcatcr poultry pr Address, GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 117 N. Jefferson St.. CHICAGO. ILL, Pl^ace mention Am. Be« Touni^ when writios. WANTED white HONEY Both COMB and KXTRACTKU Write us before dispos- ing of your Honey Crop. s Beeswax s ^ ^ — W.W'TED- HILDRETH & SEGELKEN, 265-267 Greenwich St., NEW YORK, N. Y. Plca»c mention Am. Bee Journal wbcn writing. American ^ae Journal LEWIS BEEWARE Shipped Promptly ARND HONEY & BEE-SUPPLY CO. Pifc^ (Successors to the York Honey & Bee-Supply Co. Send for Catalog. 148 West Superior St., CHICAGO, ILL. Enough said! H|**ase mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. THE SECRET OF Success in Bee- Keeping Is to Keep Your Colonies Strong ; to do This You Must Have GOOD LAYING QUEENS Wliich We Guarantee at the Following Prices ; Golden 3-Band Italian Carniolan Untested — I for $1.00; b for >^ lo; i: t<)r $0 do; 25 for $i7.Sij Tested — I for Si. so; '> for Srt.ao; 12 for Si5t>o; 25 for Sio.oo Nuclei with Untested Queen— i-frame. S2. so; six i-framc, S15.00 ** *' " *' —2 frame. 1^.50; six 2-frame, $20.40 " " Tested " — i frame. Si.oo; six i-frame. S17.40 ** " '* " — zframe. $4.00; six 2-frame. S25.40 The Drones used in our Apiary for Mating purpose are reared from the very best selected Queens, which is as necessary as the selecting of a good Oueen for (Juecn-RearinK'. Kor good Queens and quick service you can not do better than place your order with us. We guarantee safe arrival and satisfaction. Directions for building up weak Colonies will be mailed to you for 10 cents. The above Queens are all reared in Separate Yards. 2 Atf W. J. LITTLEFIELD, R. F. D. No. 3, LITTLE ROCK, ARK. Pkase mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. Famous Queens! From Imported Stock. The Best That Money Can Buy Not inclined to swarm, and as for Honey- Gatlierins; they have few eciuals Three -band. Golden, and Carniolans— ready March jotli. Untested. $r.oo; 6 for $5; 12 for $Q. Tested. Si. 5u; 0 for S3. 12 for $12.00. Breeders of either strain. Js- For Nuclei, write. Safe arrival and satTsfaction gurranteed. D. E. BROTHERS, ■JAiit Jacksonville, Ark. PoiiIfryAofi/.f^ J/ou/f/ecL ■^4 "CAPONS brini; llie largest profits — IwVa uiore thiin (itlieriioultry. Ca- ItonizinfCiHeasy and soon learned". Capons sell for 30c. a pound, while ordinary poul- try hrings only 15e. a pound. Progressive poultrjmen know these tilings and use PILLING \^r^^k Sent postpaid, $2.50 per set with " Easy-to-use " instructious. , We also make f'niUru Vnrker^l^c. llape iV6ri)t i:xtractor^'25c Trench KiUilty Knife, 500. Booklet. "Uiiide for Cponiiing," FREE. G. P. PILLING & SON CO.. 23d& ArcbSU., PiaadelpliU, Pa. FIGURE THIS OUT FOR YOURSELF if you buy Bee-Supplies NOW that you will need in April, you save money at the rate of 12 percent on the $. THREE PERCENT is the amount of our early order discount on cash purchases in January. January to .April is just three months — V of a year. Now 3 percent for 3 months is interest at the rate of iL' percent per year — so you see why we urge early orders accompanied by cash this month. ANOTHER reason is that we can serve you better now than three months hence. In a few weeks we will be putting up carload shipments for our dealers and distributing centers, and every efTort in our big plant the largest establishment in the world devoted to the manufacture of bee-supplies — will be directed to filling rush orders. You will be just as anxious for your goods as our other patrons, and will deserve and receive the same attention- -no matter what the amount of your order may be, but We can Serve you Better Now and we want to make it worth your while to place an early order. Try this on a part of your list anyway. Saving at the rate of VI percent per year ought to interest everybody. We Manufacture Everything in Bee-Supplies Get our 11)12 catalog which gives descriptions, illustrations and prices on everything from bee-hives to bee- books, from frames to comb foundation. Get this Catalog NOW. THE A. I 213 Institute Place, If. w. HOVDKX, :>i{n-. ROOT COMPANY, Chicago, Illinois (.leflVe.v IJiiililiiiff ) Tel. 14S+ North. February, 101-2. American l^ee Journal 61 )>=.^^^ I P-O-R-T-E-R SAVES Each, 15c. , TIME ' HONEY ' MONEY At All Dealers Dozen, $1.65, postpaid. If your Dealer does not keep tliem, order from Factory, with Complete In- structions. R. & E. C. Porter, Mfrs. Lewistown, III. Please mention Am- Bee Joum*l when wriHin Special Prices on Bee-Goods For 60 Days. Dovetailed Hives ijr-story. $i.;(5 each. Hoffman Frames. $2.25 per 100. Just make us a Bill of the Goods you might need for 1012. and we will quote Lowest Prices. We make all kinds of Bee Goods. FINE QUEENS at all times to be had. Untested. 73 cts.: Tested. $1.00. CHESTNUT HILL MFG. CO. 1 Att Biglerville, Pa. Bee-Supplies We are Western Agents for i.\tf « FALCONER" Write for Fall Discounts— we can save you money. C. C. demons Bee-Supply Co. 128 Grand Ave., Kansas City, Mo. We Make a Specialty of Manufacturing SECTIONS They are the Finest tn the Land None Better. Our Prices will make vo mail OUR BEKSUPPl.V CATALOG to every bee keeper in the land. It is FREIi. Ask for it. , ,, H. S. Duby. St. Anne, III., carries a full line of Our Goods, ond sells them at our regular catalog prices.; AUG. LOTZ & CO. Boyd, Wis. Celluloid Queen-Buttons Tlii'se are very pretty thintis for bee-keep- ers or honey-sellers to wear on their co^*'- lapels. They often serve to introduce the suliject of honey, which might frequently lead to a sale. NoTK. — One bee-keeper writes: "I have every reason to believe that it would be a very good idea for every bee- keeper to wear one [of these buttons], as it will cause peo- ple to ask questions about the busy bee. and many a conversation thus started wind up with the sale of more or less honey; at any rate it would give the bee- keeper a superior opportu- nity to enlighten many a person in regard to honey and bees." The picture shown above is a reproduc- tion of a motto queen-button that we offer to bee-keepers. It has a pin on the under- side to fasten it. Prices— by mail— I for 6 cts.; 2 for to cts.; or 1) for 2; cts. .A.ddress. GEORGE W. YORK & CO. • CHICAGO, ILL This fine goc Honey-Spoon and the Ameri- can Bee Journal for one year— both for only $1.73. Send all orders to to George W. York & Co., II- N. JeSferson St., Chicago, 111. o (D O n o Sk o 1 u - o * " s •< 1 § » n- : -■ B — 1 ^ re ■< 1. ^ 2. o — c v^ _ P n n §'0 re .-■ • 3 .^0 5; 8 a n re H- * S. p re* o n re o < s. B.Q. re re : » 4 ' o i.; o. a. '- C re i o r^' re •-» c o o ■< :0 §P 5o a" 2 o' p p ^ a. %^ §° P-re : Q. J7 D ui re re a D r^ 2.D §2. w O re re 1^ 5".o p ™ ffi *?> P3 -a o tJ o » S.3 re p; H o a n 3 o o ^ n o G0 O s P 00 o MAKE HENS LAY By feeding raw bone. ItiJ etrir-prodiiclnt: value Is four times that of prain. ll^:gs more ft-rlilf. chlcba more \lL'orons. broilers earlier, fowls heavitrr | jjrullts Itirger. MANN'S '■li'olll Bone Cutter Cuts all bone with adlierlnt? meat cind pristle. Never clops. 10 Days* Froo Trial. l^io money in advance. Send Today for Free Book. F- W. Mann Co.. Box 346. Mlllord, MaaaJ Ffease mention Aul Bee Journal when writing. Bingham Smokers BEE SMOKER Insist on Old Reliable Bingham bingham Bee-Smokers, for sale by all deal- clean ers in Bee-Keepers' Supplies. For over 3ti years the standard in all countries. The Smoker with a valve in the bellows, direct draft, bent cap, inverted bellows, and soot-burning device. Smoke Engine. 4 inch.. Doctor. i'A " .. each. ...$1.25: ... .85: mail. Si. 50 l.IO Conqueror. 3 Little Wonder. 2 " .. IIoney-Knife. ... .75; ... .50 ... .70 1. 00 .65 .80 Mannfat-tured Only By A. G. WOODMAN CO., GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. Protection Hives The best and lowest price Hive on the market. This Hive has Js material in the outer wall, and is not cheaply made of 's material like some other hives. Send for circular showing 12 large illustrations. It will pay to investigate. February, 191 American Hee Journal Results Count When you buv Comb Foundation vou look for RESULTS. The Oittmer Process Comb Foundation is the right SMELL, the right TASTE, and the right FIRMNESS to give Best Results. The Dittmer Process Comb Foundation is so like Beeswax the Honey-Bees would SHAPE and MOULD for themselves, it makes it very acceptable to them. This assures a Full Capacity Honey Crop, and remember, to you, Mr. Bee-Keeper, Honey is Money. j__ A Liberal Discount Offered on all Supplies. Write for Prices. Gus Dittmer Company, - Augusta, Wisconsin. " The Honey-3Ioney Stories " This is a (.U-page and cover booklet, 534 bj' Syi inches in size, and printed on enameled paper. It contains a va- riety of short, bright stories, mixed with facts and interesting items about honey and its use. It has 31 half- tone pictures, mostly of apiaries or apiarian scenes ; also i bee-songs, namely: "The Hum of the Bees in the Apple-Tree Bloom," and " Buck- wheat Cakes and Honey," and " The Bee-Keeper's Lullaby." It ought to be in the hands of every one not familiar with the food-value of honey. Its ob- ject is to create a larger demand for honey. It is sent postpaid for 2-5 cents, but we will mail a single copy as a sample for 1-3 cents, 5 copies for (it) cents, or 10 copies by express for $1.0*. A copy with the American Bee Journal one year— both for $1.10. Send all or ders to the American Bee Journal. "Griggs Saves You Freight" - TOLEDO - Is the point 10 get Goods Quick and at least cost. 6 Per Cent Discount This montli. Send list of Goods needed and let us figure with you. Can take Honey and Wax in exchange for Supplies. S. J. GRIGGS & CO., 24 N. Erie St.. TOLEDO, O. "Griggs The King-Bee." Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. Back Vols. American Bee Journal BackVolumesof Am. Bee Journal.— We have some on hand, and would be glad to correspond with any one who may desire to complete a full set. It may be we can help doit. Address. American Bee Journal. 117 N. Jefferson .St., Chicago. III. An Investment IN THE National Orcliards Company WILL BK SAFE and Highly Profitable. All necessary conditions fur successful Apple and Fruit industry exist at the Company's property. The Practical .Apple-Man will appreciate the fact that the property of this Company is located on the Columbia River, about 70 miles north of the famous Wenatchee Apple District in the State of Washington. The utmost investiga- tion is invited, l-'or particulars write— National Orchards Company, 117 North Jefferson St., CHICAGO, ILL. The Campbell System INSURES y.iur crop against DROUTH Our experience in IHIO and 1911 has proved that good crops can be grown with less than eighteen inches of rain- fall. Those who followed the Camp- bell System in I'.Mn had acrop in liUI. Don't Take Any Risks for 1912 Campbell's publications explain the system. Campbell's Sclentfic Farmer - S1.00 Campbell's Soil Culture Manual - S2.S0 Combination Price - - - S3.00 Atldress. Campbell's Soil Culture Co., Lincoln, Neb. When you write ask alxicit the Campbell Correspondence School. 8.-\tf TEXAS HEADQUARTERS Root's Supplies for liee-Keepers. Makers of Weed New Process Comb Foundation. Buy Honey and Beeswax. Catalogs Free. Toepperwein & Mayfield Co. Cor. Nolan & Cherry Sts., 4Atf San Antonio, Texas. Mexico as a Bee-Country B. A. Hadsell. one of the most experienced and largest beekeepers in the world— has made six trips to Mexico, investigating that place as a bee -country, and is so infat- uated with it that he is closing out his bees in Arizona. He has been to great expense' in getting up a finely illustrated 32-page book- let, describing the tropics of Mexico as a Bee-Man's Paradise, which is also superior as a farming, stock-raisingand fruit country. Where mercury ranges between 55 and «8 Frost and sun-stroke is unknown. Also a great health resort. He will mail this book Free by addressing. 7Ai2t B. A. Hadsell, Lititz, Pa. Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writinf. Early (FROFALCON) Queens "ITALIANS" February and March deliveries— for Untes- ted. Si. 50 each; April. Si. =5. Tested Queens. 50 cts. additional: Select Tested, $1.00 extra. Breeders, prices on application. JOHN C. FROHLICER, 257-1} Market .St.. San Francisco, Cal. Or Berkeley, Cat Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. COST SALE Of BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES for the next 4 months. Too big Stock to carry over. Write vour wants; 1 will make price to suit. Sept. 26, I9II. W.D. Soper, ]PJ^i\rl Jackson, Mich. Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writinc. SUPERIOR BEE-SUPPLIES Specially made for Western bee-keepers by G. B. Lewis Co. Sold by Colorado Honey-Producers' Association, Denver, Coeo. Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. For Sale-15 Eggs $1.00 Indian Ruihut I'ucks - White and Fawn. 2 1 J. F. Miehaal, Rt. 1, Winchester, Ind. Pkaae mention Am. Bee Journal when writllig. Fcliruarv. 1012. r "^^iag^ ^ American Hee Journal Chicago. Jan. 31.— Honey is not selling with the freedom we would like, still there is some eoing all the time, and stocks are workiriedown. We continue to get itS'iSc per pound for the fancy grades of white comb, with the undergrades selling at a dis- count i^f i("*5c per pound from the above prices. ICxtracted is quite plentiful with an easy market, prices ranging on white from 3goc per pound, amber tC^Sc per pound. Beeswa.\ 3o@i32c. R. A. Burnett 6c Co. Cincinnati. I'eb. i.— The market on comb honey has fallen off somewhat, only demand for fancy white selling in retail way at $4-oo per case; and jobbers at Sji'0<^'Si. 7?. accord- ing to quantity. Extra white extracted in 60-lb. cans at loc; light amber in bo-lb. cans at 8';c: amber in barrels. 7@7!=c. Beeswax in fair demand at $J3 per hundred. The above are our selling prices, not what we are paying. C. H. W. Weber & Co. Indianapolis. Feb. 2.— Demand is good for best grades of honey. White comb sells for 18c in lo-case lots, linding prompt and ready sales. Amber grades in slow demand with lower prices. Extracted seems to be plentiful, and is selling at 11(5 i2c in s-gallon cans. Beeswax is in good demand, and pro- ducers are being paid uc. Walter S. Pouder. Denver. Feb. 2.— Supply of strictly white comb honey is about exhausted, and prices as a consequence are higher than they otherwise would be. as the demand is light. We quote No. i white comb honey, per case of 24 sections. $3.6o; No. i light amber. $3.15; No. 2. $3.1,;. White extracted, per pound, qc; light amber. 8c; strained, 6^iCX¥yyy¥yyyyyyyy¥wy¥yYy^^xyyyw¥¥¥¥¥wwx¥y¥i u falcon" FOUNDATION PROCESS OF MANUFACTURE. -The very best grades of beeswax, clarified without that acid taste or odor which is so obectionable in some makes, sheeted by our heavy pressure process, reduced and polished bv smoothroUs, allowed ample time to cure, is finally passed through embossed power mills, resulting in that cear, absolutely pure product, FAjVIOUS THE WORLD OVER, " FALCON " FOUNDATION. No detail, from the buying of the beeswax to the packing of the product, is slighted. The care and skill n cleansing, the absolute purity from all foreign matter, the enormous pressure in sheeting into continuous belt-like sheets, the transparency and perfectness of the finished product, with the appearance and smell of the hive itself (for it is indeed the product of the bees, purified, embossed and returned for their use), has made a product, " FALCON " FOUNDATION, which has been chosen by the bees themselves as the acme of foundations. The "FALCON" WAY is OUR WAY developed in thirty years of foundation manufacture. QUALITY ' FALCON " FOUNDATION made by our sepecial methods has won a reputation on account of its perfect cell formation, non-stretching qualities, and the readiness with which bees begin work upon it. Our section foundation is perfectly clear, and with it is produced those pearly white sections of honey so much admired. Our brood foundation is particularly adapted for full sheets in brood or extracting frames. Its strength eliminates all stretched cells in which drone-brood is reared or elongated cells in which no eggs at all are laid. Use " FALCON " FOUNDATION and satisfy your bees. SAMPLES Drop us a card for samples and they WE GUARANTEE every sheet equal to samples in every particular, will be sent postpaid. Get "FALCON " FOUNDATION of our nearest dealers. If you don't know the names drop us a postal, W. T. Falconer Mfg. Company Where the ^ifood bee-hh'es come from C. C. demons Bee-Supply Co. 130 Grand Ave., Kansas City, Mo. W. T. Falconer Mfg. Co. 117 North Jefferson Street, Chicago, Illinois. N N H N H M N M N N N « N H N N M N N N N N N N N N lYou Want a Homei WHERE pure water is plentiful, comes when you wish, and stays when you will; WHERE cyclones are unknown, and blizzards impossible ; WHERE crops never fail from drouth, and the unhoused harvest is never damaged by storms: WHERE your stock can feed and fatten on pas- tures that are always green ; and you can work in your fields with profit and pleasure every day in the year — except Sunday ; WHERE you can grow to perfection all the pleas- ant fruits, and all else that can contribute to make your home a paradise ; WHERE you can raise two crops of some things (on the same ground the same season), and continu- ous crops of other things, giving you " a money har- vest " to sell every week in the year ; WHERE "sunny days" cover two-thirds the time, and yet sunstroke or "death or damage from heat" are unknown ; WHERE bees banquet in fields of never-fading flowers, securing rich stores of honey — which they do not consume "in wintry hours;" WHERE you can grow practically all the nuts and fruits of commerce to perfection and in enormous quantities. Remember that Apricots, Almonds. Rai- sins, Figs. Olives and Washington Navel Oranges can not be grown in commercial quantities anywhere in the United States outside of Californi.i. Hence, a good price is assured, and over-production impossible. ^ K YOU WANT A FAIRY FARM @ @ S ^ WHERE you can (with the help of your boys) take the best care of it — thus forever ending the tor- turing ghost of "hired lielp;" WHERE "your boys" will get rich on berry- patches, and "the women-folks " with poultry — as a by-product ; WHERIC you can get more net cash every year from ten acres than can be wrested from a quarter section of the best farm land in the Mississippi Valley, and all this while escaping the lonesome isolation and dreary drudgery inseparable from the larger farming. You want to know all about this wonderful land. You can secure full and accurate information by writ- ing to E3 Col. E. S. WEEDEN, OROVILLE, CALIF. Stating you saw this advertisement in the American Bee Journal. Reference — Editor American' Bee Journal. a^^^E^^^^^^^E3^^^^^^^^s^^^^^^^^ca!a^^^^E^^E:^s March, 1912 Volume Lll. No. 3 #ESe/i/v !ii;^»tt MAR] 61912 DEE Journal The Oldest Bee-Paper in America # / .Y •. ..^-^ ^ Of HOSE> .■'-■"-* "" »'" miiiiiiii,,,, rMBWiiElkl l!imMMt^bMi*i»*.. . » , >=* Bee and Honey Display of The Golden Apiary, of Kansas, Nr. J. C. Frank, Manager. ^ March, 1912. American Hee Journal PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY GEORGE W. YORK & COMPANY 1 1 7 N. Jefferson Street, Chicago, 111. IMPORTANT NOTICE THE SDBSCRIPTION PRICE of thla Journal Is Jl.OO a year. In the United States of America (except in Chicago, where It Is $1.25), and Mexico; In Canada. Jl.lO; and In all other countries in the Postal Union, 25 cents a year extra for postage. Sample copy free. THE WRAPPER-LABEL DATE Indicates the end of the month to which your subscription is paid. For instance, " decll " on your label shows that it Is paid to the end of December. WU. SUBSCRIPTION RECEIPTS.-We do not send a receipt for money sent ua to pay subscription, but change the date on your address-label, which shows that the money has been received and credited. Advertising Rate, Per Agate Line, 15c. 14 lines make one inch. NothinB less than 4 lines accepted. DISCOUNTS: > times I4C a line q times iic a line 0 " I2c " 12 " (i yr.) IOC a line Readine Notices. 25 cents, count line. Goes to press the 6th of each month. (Organised 1870.) National Bee - Keepers' Association OliJECTS The objects of this Association shall be to aid its members in the business of bee-keep- ing; to help in the sale of their honey and beeswat; and to pramote the interests of beekeepers in any other direction decided upon by the Board of Directors. Officer.s President— George W. York. Chicago. III. Vice-Pres. — Morley Pettit. Guelph. Ont. Can. Secretary— E. B. Tyrrell. Detroit. Mich. Treasurer— N. E. France. Platteville. Wis. Directors E. D. Townsend. Chm.. Kemus. Mich. Wesley C. Foster, Boulder, Colo. Franklin Wilcox. Mansion. Wis. J. E. Crane. Middlebury, Vermont. J. M. Buchanan, Franklin. Tenn. Annual Membership Dues $1.50, one- third 150 cents) of which goes to the local branch where such branch is organized. Send Dues to the Secretary. K. H. Tyrrell. Can't Do Without the Bee Journal. Messrs. George W. York & Co. Gentlemen: — Enclosed you will find my re- newal for another year to the "Old Reliable." I simply c.innot do without ynur paper, and 1 believe if I could not get it I would certainly have to give up keeping bees, so closely is it linked with my bce-kceping life. You can certainly count on me for life, as I get more pleasure and profit out of a single number of your paper than a whole year costs. Walter E. Atkinson. Baltimore Co., Md., Sept. 14, 1910. Queens That "Are Better'-itaiians & Banat Untested Queens. 75c each; 53. 00 per doz. ; two or more doz. in one order. J7.50 per doz. Breeder Queens, 53. 00 each. Foreign trade add 5c each extra. 54-lb. Packages of Bees after May ist, $2.00. Select queen wanted and add to this. The ex- press charges on these will be very small in comparison with charges on frame nuclei. One-F'rame Nuclei, with Untested Qjeen, 52.00 each; 2-fr.. $?.oo; 3-fr., 540o. Full Colony of Bees in lo-fr. hive. 57.00, Add 5o<: if Tested Queen is wanted; S2.00 if Breeder Queen is wanted. For 10 or more Colonies or Nuclei, deduct 25c each. f have successfully shipped Bees and Queens from this place every month of the year. I started two colonies Jan. 25th on their voyage to Nutsusarida, Kobe, Japan. Each con- tained a Breeder Italian Queen. My Bee and Queen Exhibits at the State Fair of Texas were awarded six premiums in iqii. Italians also were awarded First Prize at The Cotton Palace, in Waco, Tex. ' Your Money's Worth " is my motto. Terms are Cash with order. I refer you to Sabinal National Bank or any businee firm in Sabinal. I have seven yards, and with several hundred nuclei 1 can serve many customers. I solicit your trade. J. A. Simmons, Uvalde Co. Apiaries, Uvalde, Texas. Pl«pase mention Am. Bee Journal when writinff. Southern Bee-Keepers! I have a Lartre and Complete Stock of BEE- bUFPLIES at CordeU, Ca., and have erec- ted a larye Warehouse and hlled it with New Bee -Supplies at O'Brien, Fla., near Live Oak, the best shippintipoint for all sections of Florida. Southeast Georgia and Southern Alabama. Send all orders to CORDELE, CA., and state from which point you wish your Sup- plies shipped. J. .1. WILDER. OUR FREE CATALOG Will tell you all about our Best Bee-Keepers' & Poultry Supplies Sold at lowest livint,' prices. We handle the Best Sections in the World— the August Lotz Sections at Lotz prices. Three Carloads of Goods on hand with 2 more coming. Drop us a card and we can please you. Catalog Free. H. S. Duby, St. Anne, III. Pfcaae mention Am. Bee Journal when writing An Investment IN THE National Orchards Company WILL BE SAFE and Highly Profitable. All necessary conditions for successful Apple and Fruit industry exist at the Company's property. The Practical Apple-Man will appreciate the fact that the property of this Company is located on the Columbia River, about 70 miles north of the famous Wenatchee Apple District in the State of Washington. The utmost investiga- tion is invited. For particulars write — National Orchards Company, 117 North Jefferson St., CHICAGO, ILL. Mr. New Beeman : " Well, well, nailing up your bee-hives al- ready ? Aren't you rather early ? " Mr. Successful Beeman : "Now, then, that is where so many make their mistake — they wait until the last moment and then rush and buy anything they can get. You have often asked me the secret of my successful bee- keeping. Well, listen ! I order early, buy the best bee hives and supplies on the market, nail them up, and then I am ready for the bees. All my Supplies come from THE FRED W. MUTH CO. "The Busy Bee Men" r>l Walnut Street, CINCINNATI, OHIO SEND FOR CATALOG March, 1912. %potqtoe |Uf " Salzcr'B Potittoc-s are known the^ world oTcr for extreme varliueBs. The editor of the Rurul New Torker \ glv.e to Sailer's Eurlkst PoUito the as F tKulshiug yield of 464 busbeld per acrel KPfk^-^ r Salzer's Earliest Potato Collection, j^^j^ (.'ninposed of f.iur rare earliisl ami ooeVi ler sort, scparalily packed, full weight, r t.bl. only {4,00. CutAlog tellsl For 16 Cents. I 10,000 kernrlsi.fsiplendidl.etttJCe. Rndis " iiio, Ciibbag.', Turiili*. Oiiloa, Cfkr ky, Carrol. Melon and Flower S«;eds' 'I producing bu&hcia of vegetables and . tra for iCc posf;)airf, I Hie vicctabli- and farm eeedcatfl' L.- free for the asking. k John A. Sailer Seed Co. , ^^^Bh'i'''* '^ 210 So. 8th St., LaCroflBe. Wis.MljJlWl*^ mention Am. B«« joumAJ when wnung Raise Bees and Chickens I Our 244-pas;e Illustrated "Poultry Growers' Guide f*^m.£Hs "tiwoaroii l for 1912" now ready! Tells »«r««n-»ui.i you Bee Raisers how easily you can add poultry to your line and make big frofils^ It's all in starlitie- right with the right loots - following: ri^ht advice. Learn all about CYPHERS "aTd^bI^Jd^S! Send tor ymr free copy of tills greatest of free Poultry Books and learn about tbe latest ts'iccessfvl methods, facts, figures. dIaBraras. etc. -Cyphers Com- lurnv'sbervlce" Is free to every Cyphers Company Customer. Write tor thls2»4-pageGuldenow— todayl Cyphers Incubator Co..^Dept£.Buff»lo^^^^^ American ^c JonrnaJj Untested Italian Queen-Bees Our Standard-Bred 6 Queens for $4.50 ; 3 for $2.50 ; 1 for 90 cents. For a number of years we have been sending out to bee-keepers exceptionally fine Untested Italian Queens, purely mated, and all right in every respect. Here is- what a few of those who received our Queens have to say about them : George W. York & Co. :— The two queens received of you some time agro are fine They are grood breeders, and the workers are showing- up fine I Introduced them among- black bees, and the beea are nearly yellow now, and are doing- good work. Nemaha Co , Kan , July 15. A. W. S-\vAX. George W. York & Co :— After Importing- queens for 15 years you have sent me the best She keeps 9 1-2 Langstroth frames fully oc- cupied to date. and. although I kept the hive well contracted, to force them to swarm, they have never built a queen-cell, and will put up 100 pounds of honey If the flow lasts this week. Ontario, Canada July 22 Chas. Mitchell PlraK aKHOuo Am. Be« Joamal when viitliig. Langstroth on the Honey-Bee Revised by Dadant. Latest Edition. This is one of the standard books on bee-culture, and ought to be in the library of every bee-keeper. Bound in substantial cloth, and has nearly 60(1 pages. Revised by that large, practical bee-keeper, so well known to all bee- dom — Mr. C. P. Dadant. Each topic is clearly and thoroughly explained, so that by following the instructions of this book one can not fail to be won- derfully helped on the way to success with bees. We mail the book for $1.20, or club it with the .American Bee Journal for one year — both for $2.00. This is in- deed a splendid chance to get a grand bee-book for a very little money. GEORGE W. YORK & CO. CHICAGO, ILL. Pleaie mention Am. Bee Jonmal when writing. FOR SALE Alsike Clover Seed. Small Red. .Mammoth. Alfalfa, Blue Grass. Sweet Clover. Red Top. Rape. Timothy. Millet, etc. Also, highbred Seed Corn. 2.\A APIARIAN SUPPLIES. Catalog Free. F.A.Snell, Milledgeville, Carroll Co., III. Fkase mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. George W. York & Co.:— The queen I bought of you has proven a gfood one, and has given me some of the best colonies. Washing-ton Co., Va., July 22. N. P. Oglesbt. George W York & Co.:— The queen I received of you a few days ago came through O. K . and I want to say that she Is a beauty. 1 im- mediately mtroduced her into a colony which had been Queenless for 20 days. She was accepted by them, and has gone to work nicely. 1 am highly pleased with her and your promptness in filling my order. My father, who is an old bee keeper, pronounced her very fine. You will hear from me again when I am In need of something In the bee line. E. E. McColm. Marlon Co., 111.. July 13. We usually begin mailing Queens in May, and con- tinue thereafter on the plan of " first come first served." The price of one of our Untested Queens alone is 90 cents, or with the old American Bee Journal for one year — both for $1.60. Three Queens (without Journal) would be $2..50. or 6 for $4,50. Full instructions for in- troducing are sent with each Queen, being printed on the underside of the address-card on the mailing-cage. You cannot do better than to get one or more of our fine Standard-Bred Queens. George W. York & Co., Chicago, III. OOGCOOSOOOOOSOSOOOOSOSOOOOSCCOOSCOCCOOQCCCCOOCOCeO NARSHFIELD GOODS BEEKEEPERS:— We manufacture Millions of Sections every year that are as good as the best. The CHEAPEST for the Quality ; BEST for the Price. If you buy them once, you will buy again. 1 We also manufacture Hives, Brood- Frames, Section-Holders and Ship- ping-Cases. Our Catalog is free for the asking. Marshfield Mfg. Co., Marshfield, Wis. | >OOSOCOOOSOOOQCOSOOOOOOOOeOOOOCCOOOSOGOC<>QC Tennessee... .34.36 20. Kansas . 8.08 S. New York .31.80 30. Mass 8.07 6 Delaware .31.27 31 Colorado 6.87 7. Missouri .20.28 32. Minnesota 6.70 8. Iowa .28.56 33. Florida . 6.63 »j. Pennsylvania.27.61 34. Louisiana 6.07 10. Illinois ..27.51 35. Nebraska , 5.80 II. Georgia .26.30 36. N. Hampshire 4.00 12. Alabama .25 68 .17. Oklahoma .... , 4.07 11. S. Carolina... .24.67 38. Oregon , 4.02 IS. Ohio .23.03 ,10, Utah , 3.08 16 17. Dist. Col .21.57 42. Maine . 2.30 18. Michigan .10-57 43. .'Vrizona . 2.10 19. Maryland .18.07 44. S. Dakota . .84 2v). Connecticut. .18.03 .15. New Mexico. . .82 21. Arkansas .17.22 46. Nevada . .76 22. Wisconsin .. . . 17.07 47. Wyoming . .47 21. Mississippi .. ..15.88 4«. Montana . .43 24. Texas .14.77 40. N. Dakota.... .07 25. New Jersey.. .13.42 United States .11.44 Sealed Cover.s in Cellar in Winter Editor Reidenbach, of Pfaelzer Bztg., is quoted in Maerkische Bztg. as say- ing concerning cellaring bees in Amer- ica : "The covers are left glued, just as they were, so that the hive is tightly closed on top. That is just the greatest mistake. The cover must be pervious, so that the vitiated air may escape upward." One wonders whether Editor Reiden- bach can be familiar with wintering bees in cellar. As wintered outdoors in Germany, with a very small entrance, there might be trouble with sealed cov- ers. But with the very large opportu- nity for the entrance and e.xit of air at the bottom of the hive, as generally allowed in cellars in this country, there is no trouble whateverabout the escape of vitiated air at the bottom. At any rate, the very great success obtained in cellars with sealed covers, when all other conditions are favorable, out- weighs all the theories that may be ad- vanced against it. Winter Stores of Bee.s If I have to feed, and have only a limited number of colonies to prepare. I would not feed until close to the time when we w<7i' have permanent cold weather. I would give a syrup made of 2',i pounds of granulated sugar to one pound of water brought to a boil: and if I wanted to do what I felt sure would be the best, I would add a teaspoon- ful of tartaric acid to each gallon of syrup. There is then little need of evaporation by the bees, and they would store the syrup in the midst of the cluster No better stores can be provided for bees during winter con- finement. In my estimation, if a bee. keeper has only an early surplus-honey flow, such as clover, his bees are really never in proper condition for best wintering without feed- ing; because if they have enough stores in the hive {which, as a rule, is not the casei, it is not in the place where the bees can keep it in the best condition.— R. F. Hui.rKKMANN, in Gleanings in Bee Culture. Will this belief and practise of Mr. Holtermann bear scrutiny? As a rule, he says there is not enough honey in the hive for winter stores where the bees get nothing later than clover. If there is enough gathered from clover to yield a surplus, why should not the bees store enough of it for winter ? Do they not always look out for their own needs, carrying the honey into the supers only when there is no more room in the brood-chamber ? Cer- tainly; but how much room is therefor winter stores in the brood-chamber while the clover flow is on ? During that flow the queen is laying heavily, in many cases keeping the equivalent of 6 frames entirely filled with brood. Pol- len enough to fill one frame is also present. In a lO-frame hive that leaves only 3 frames for honey, and in an 8- frame hive only a single frame. Honey enough may have been gathered, but it is in the surplus apartment. The in- stinct of the bee is not at fault; it has laid up enough for winter, but man has interfered and taken away as surplus the honey stored above, and now man must make up for that interference by feeding. In case there should be enough clover honey in the brood-chamber for winter, it will be in the outside frames and at the upper part of the others. After the close of the harvest the bees have plenty of time to empty the honey from the outer frames and store it cen- trally. Evidently Mr. Holtermann does not feel he can trust them to do that, and possibly he is right, for the bees are slow to unseal honey and move it to a different place, except in sufficient quantity to supply their needs for a short time ahead. Where there is a later flow the case is quite different. Gradually the brood- rearing diminishes, and the honey is stored more and more centrally, right where it is best to have it. Uncapping- Combs for Extracting The Australasian Bee-Keeper has a symposium upon this subect. There is a general agreement in emphasizing the importance of having the uncap- ping-knife sharp. There is difference of opinion as to having the knife hot or cold, with a preponderance of opin- ion in favor of the hot knife. A. P. Young takes this philosophical view: For the beginner, a hot knife is undoubt- edly the best, as it facilitates considerably the process of uncapping, as any one who has tried both ways can testify. But for the expert the questior arises: Is it worth the trouble ? If all the appliances available for heatingoftheknivesareastoveanda vessel of hot water, then I should say use a cold knife and maintain a keen edge. On the other hand, however, if one has means for heating knives with a modicum of trouble and expense, under these circumstances it would pay to heat the knife. A bee-keeper then must judge by his own circumstances which is the best plan, and allow others the same privilege. One writer says: "I notice in the American bee-papers that the knife which is heated by steam is discarded." Is it? For shallow combs J. F. Munday uses a straight butcher-knife, and a down stroke. Otherwise a curved knife with an up stroke. He very strongly favors a thick handle and a narrow blade, as a thin handle or a wide blade requires much more strength. Among the others there is a difference of practise as to using the down or the up stroke. Swarming Problem Among Bees There seems to be a strong feeling in the minds of many that it is idle to try to breed toward a strain of bees with a diminished tendency toward swarm- ing. Indeed, it may not be too strong an expression to say that some are bit- terly opposed to having anything said that favors the attempt to work toward a non-swarming strain. Now is there anything really wicked in trying to produce non-swarmers ? Even if such a thing be never attained, where is the great harm in trying for it .'' Why is it so much worse to advocate non- swarming bees than to advocate non- sitting hens ? Once there were no non- sitters, but careful breeding brought them ? Why not make the same at- tempt for non-swarmers ? It is not fair to insist that non-swarm- ing bees must be those that never swarm under any circumstances. Non- sitting hens sit — sometimes. If we can breed out the swarming habit as nearly as the sitting habit has been bred out, will it not be worth while ? In view of the general tendency to decry any advocacy of non-swarming bees, it is refreshing to find in the Irish Bee Journal an article by G. W. Bulla- more, in which he closes by saying: But I can see that some strains of bees are less sensitive to the conditions which pro- duce the desire to swarm, and also that, in matters of heredity, bees are no exception to the rest of creation. And that is why I think that careful breed- ing is the only true method of dealing with the problem of excessive swarming. In the course of his article Mr. Bullamore says : Another statement is that a swarm will not issue if the colony is headed by a queen of the current year. Dr. Miller says that he tried this, and that it did not answer. He thinks, however, that the rule given by Gravenhorst may be correct. According to Gravenhorst. a colony will not swarm with a queen of the current year if it is a queen of their own rearing. But, unfortunately for this rule. Dr. Dzier- zon tells us that the strain of bees in the heath districts of Germany invariably rear drones from a queen of the current year, and not infrequently sends out a swarm led by such a queen. The method of manage- ment has exterminated the non-swarming bees, and has favored excessive swarmers. It seems that I did not make myself entirely understood. Let me go some- what into particulars. It is probably generally agreed that the age of the queen is quite an impor- tant factor in the swarming problem. Under certain conditions a 3-year-old queen will swarm when under precisely the same conditions a '.i-year-old queen will not swarm. It is also known that some races of bees are more given to swarming than others. This being the case, it is not hard to believe that Grav- enhorst may have had bees so little in- clined to swarm that no swarms would issue with a queen until she had win- tered over one winter, while Dzierzon would find it different with heath-bees, which are great swarmers. But another very important factor appears in the case, and that is the con- dition of the colony into which the young queen is introduced. It had been that it was the rule that a queen would not swarm during the same season in which she was born. There were those, I think, who had found no exception to that rule. Taking the rule as one that admitted no exceptions, I said to myself, "Now all I have to do is to in- troduce into each colony a queen only a few days old, and then good-by to the swarming trouble." So about the time colonies were thinking of swarm- ing I introduced a number of young queens, and then it was that I found "it did not answer," for there was swarm- March, 1912, 71 American Hee Joarnal )^=.^^b^ I ing galore. One special case may be mentioned. I am not sure now whether the colony was just on the point of swarming or had swarmed and re- turned. At any rate I said, " I'll fix you. I'll give you a queen that has just begun laying, and then you can't swarm." I gave the young queen, and the colony was all right for, I think, 2 days. Then it swarmed, and the queen hadn't been yet laying a week! So you see the rule doesn't work /'/" l/ie colony izlrcady has tht' aiLarmiuff fei't'r. But the rule is — and I value the rule greatly — that if a young queen be given to a colony which has not the swarm- ing fever, that colony will not swarm that same season. With a strain of bees greatly given to swarming, there might be so many e.xceptions as to make the rule worthless. I can im- agine a strain of bees so little given to swarming that there would be no ex- ceptions. I think there were never any e.xceptions with me except one year, and then there were 2 or 3 exceptions But how may we know in any case that no swarming fever is present ? I ■don't know that I can answer that, but I think that it is pretty safe to say that when a colony has been queenless a week or 10 days, with all queen-cells destroyed, there will be no immediate danger of swarming if a laying queen be introduced. After a month or so there may or may not be swarming if the queen be more than a year old. Just how far it will answer may be understood if I tell what is the practise here. Queens being clipped, it is not hard to tell whether there has been a change of queens. Each colony is ex- amined before there is any danger of swarming, all queens with whole wings are clipped, and if at any future exami- nation a laying queen is found with whole wings, she is clipped, and in the record-book on the page for that col- ony is written the word " PASS," and no more attention is paid to that col- ony that season so far as swarming is concerned. That same word " PASS " is also written if we have given a young queen to a colony after it has been queenless a week or 10 days. To be sure, there is a bare possibility that a fasser may swarm, but the occasion is so rare that it is not worth while to take it into account. C. C. M. Help Get a U. S. Parcel Post Practically every nation has a Parcel Post System. Exhaustive reports on Parcel Post Systems of all nations have been prepared under the direction of Jonathan Bourne, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Post-Offices and Post Roads, 1911, showing that our country is away behind in this matter. From the data we learn that the United States has the lowest weight-limit fpr parcels carried by mail, and the highest charge per pound of any country in the list. Our Goverment makes a flat charge of 16 cents per pound for any- thing carried by Parcel Post, and limits the package to 4 pounds in weight. Russia will carry packages up to 120 pounds, charging 13 cents for 2 pounds and 213 cents for 7 pounds. China, with a territory nearly one-half larger than ours, carries 4 pounds for 30 cents, and 22 pounds in one package for a dollar. To mail 22 pounds in our country we would have to put the material in six packages and pay $3..52 postage. Germany has the zone system, by which charges vary according to dis- tance and weight. That country will carry an 11-pound parcel 10 miles for (i cents, and to any post-office in the em- pire for 12 cents. More than a score of other nations could be added, but enough has been given to show how antiquated our pos- tal system is in the matter of transport- ing parcels for the people. Recently, VV. A. Henry, Emeritus Pro- fessor of Agriculture, in the University of Wisconsin, Madison, spent some time in Washington attending hearings on Parcel Post held by the Senate Committee referred to above. He soon found that powerful interests, well or- ganized, were opposing a General Par- cel Post System by every possible means, especially by flooding Congress with petitions in opposition and by urging one-cent letter postage. Do you want from the present Congress a Gen- eral Parcel Post System such as all other civilized people enjoy ? Then spend 6 cents in saying so by letters to your two senators and your represen- tative. March 18, 1912, has been set apart as Farmers' Parcel Post Letter Day — -a day on which farmers all over our land are to write letters to their congres- sional representatives in Washington, asking for an up-to-date General Parcel Post such as all other civilized coun- tries enjoy — one not limited to rural routes alone. Gradually the American farmers are learning the value of co- operating and working together in a common cause. Here is a chance for the first nation-wide lesson in team- work by farmers, all acting together as one man for the common good. Do not expect your congressmen to vote for a Parcel Post when they are all the time hearing from the opposi- tion and not a word from you. Peti- tions are the lazy man's way of dis- charging the duties of citizenship. Write three letters and get your neigh- bors to write, and be sure to oppose one-cent letter postage until we have a General Parcel Post. Join with the other farmers all over the land in again writing letters to your congressmen. Ask for a General Parcel Post, and not one limited to rural routes. Only by co-operation and timely effort can the friends of Parcel Post win their cause. Take down your calendar, Mr. Bee- Keeper, and draw a circle around March 18, 1912— the farmers' Parcel Post Letter Day. Get your neighbors to join in the movement, so that on March 18, 1912, from 4,000,000 rural mail-boxes there will be gathered let- ters and postal cards which, pouring into Washington in a great flood, shall convince the members of Congress that at least the American farmers and others are alive, and in dead earnest in their call for an up-to-date General Parcel Post. We believe that the right kind of a Parcel Post in the United States would be a grand thing for the rural produc- ing class. Yes, it would be a great benefit for all classes — both consumers and producers. Let us all unite, March 18th, and "go after" Parcel Post by simply overwhelming the members of Congress with urgent letters as sug- gested. Miscellaneous ^ News Items The Wisconsin Convention The an- nual meeting of the Wisconsin State Bee-Keepers' Association was held at Madison, Feb. 20 and 21, 1912. It was our pleasure to be present. Mr. C. P. Dadant came to Chicago and went with us. We had a delightful round-trip together. There were about 30 bee- keepers present, a number of them be- ing the best convention men in the ranks, such as Messrs. France, Wilcox, Huffman, Dittmer, Ochsner, Allen, Lathrop, and others. Lloyd France, a son of N. E. France, who is attending the Wisconsin Col- lege of Agriculture at Madison, was also present, and gave an interesting address on what the various agricul- tural colleges of America are doing (and not doing) for bee-keeping. He also said that he thought the time was ripe for the installation of an experi- ment apiary at the college where he is studying. Prof. Sanders, the State En- tomologist, is deeply interested in the subject, and is giving every encourage- ment to the plan, which we have no doubt will be put into effect the com- ing spring. '■ Lloyd " is a reritable " chip of the old block," and gives promise of doing most excellent work for the advance- ment of bee-culture. Having the ad- vantage of not only his own bee-ex- perience, but also that of his father's, gives him a splendid beginning, which, if followed up with his characteristic thoroughness and efficiency, will make him one of the leaders of apiculture in a very few years. The Wisconsin Bee-Keepers' Asso- ciation voted to continue its affiliation with the National Association, which now makes it one of the branches as provided by the new National Consti- tution. We were glad to see this ac- tion passed with such evident unani- mity. We believe that the Wisconsin Association was the first to join the National as a body, many years ago, and has always continued its close re- lationship. Mr. N. E. France, treasurer of the National Association, who has done so much for the bee-keepersand bee-keep- ing of the United States, being relieved of much of the burdensome work he has carried so many years for the Na- tional, is planning to devote himself more extensively than ever to his be- March, 1912. American Vee Joarnal keeping business. If a large section of country is not sweetened with his honey during the coming season, and those that are to follow, it will not be his fault. He is still the inspector of apiaries for Wisconsin, and doubtless is the best informed bee-keeper in this country on bee-diseases. Mr. France has earned a place in American bee- keeping that will always command the highest respect and honor of all bee- keepers everywhere. The officers elected for the ensuing year are as follows: President, Jacob Huffman; Vice-President, F. Wilco.x ; Secretary, Gus Dittmer, of Augusta; and Treasurer, A. C. Allen. Delegate to the National convention, A. C. Allen ; alternate, Harry Lathrop. We expect to publish a brief report of the Wisconsin convention in the near future. There were some most excellent papers read, and the secre- tary, Mr. Gus Dittmer, knows how to boil down the discussions and give the real cream. European Foul Brood in Honey. — This question was asked in Gleanings in Bee Culture and referred to Dr. E. F. Phillips for answer. He replies : The question raised is. of course, impor- tant; but I know of no way to answer it deli- nitely. The cause of European foul brood is not Itnown. and therefore we would not know what to look for in the honey. Fur- thermore, even for American foul brood (which we know is carried in honey) it is dif- ficult to find the organisms. Some practical experiences would certainly indicate that European foul brood is carried in honey; but. on the other hand, the success which is sometimes experienced with the dequeen- ing method of treatment makes this some- what Questionable. Every phaseof this dis- ease is a puzzle, and one who can speak definitely of it usually does not know. No More Bees In Imperial The Im- perial county board of supervisors, at its last meeting passed an ordinance for the protection of the bee-industry of that county. During the winter over 1300 colonies were shipped in, making a total of nearly 11,800 in the county, an increase of 5000 over last year. Basing the estimate on last year's losses, this spring should find 10,000 there. Owing to the Government re- port of the presence of American and European foul brood in other counties, no more bees will be permitted to be brought into that coimty. So says A. F. Wagner, Inspector of Apiaries of Imperial County, California. The G. B. Lewis Co., of Watertown, Wis., are pushing things along in the bee-supply manufacturing line as ardu- ously as ever, if not more so. On the return trip from attending the Wiscon- sin convention Feb. 21st, Mr. C. P. Dadant and the writer stopped off at Watertown between two trains in or- der to call on the Lewis Company. Mr. Geo. C. Lewis, the president and treasurer, was in his office, also Mr. L. W. Parks, the affable and thorough- going superintendent of the factory, and Mr. G. E. Bacon, the sales manager, were "on their jobs." The Lewis Company have certainly done wonders in rebuilding their fac- tory since the fire which destroyed it a few years ago. They purchased a 5- acre tract along the railroad line, and have almost covered the whole of it with buildings, lumber yards, etc. They have about a half-mile of railroad track of their own. They are in a position to turn out their famous " Beeware " for the whole world of bee-keepers, or as many of them as want to use it. The G. B. Lewis Company are now in their 38th year of successful manufacture of bee-keepers' supplies, and merit their large success. " Forty Inches and a Bee." — Hon. Eugene Secor, of Forest City, Iowa, found the following couplets in the Live Stock World, of Chicago, and sent them in, saying, " 'Tis inloish'e farmiyig in- tensified :" "They used to have a farmiuBrule Of forty acres and a mule. " Results were won by later men With forty square feet and a hen. " And nowadays success we see With forty inches and a bee." " Goddess of Plenty " in Honey At the Panama-Pacific International Ex- position of 1915, at San Francisco, Calif., will undoubtedly be many novel and unique exhibits. One of the latest ideas comes from San Mateo Co., Calif. Christian Stader proposes to erect a statue of the " Goddess of Plenty " made of honey. Mr. Stader is a bee- keeper, and expects to have the bees build the statue, and offers to stand it up in space allotted to Santa Clara county for its exhibit. This would be an unusual exhibit and attract consid- erable attention, especially on the part of bee-keepers. " Carbonal " for Robber - Bees We have received the following from Mas- sachusetts, referring to the stopping of robbing among bees with carbolic acid : I noticed in the January American Bee Journal, an article on page 6. headed. "Car- bolic Acid in the Apiary." For the benefit of my fellow bee-ketpers, I would like to give the following; One day last summer, Mr. O. F. Fuller no- ticed some bees robbing. He at once com- menced looking for something to prevent or stop them, and noticing on a table in his house a sample bottle of " Carbonal " — a dis- infectant—he put some in water and sprayed the front of the hives, where the bees were robbing. The trouble was soon over, and everything quiet within a very few minutes. Since Mr. P'uller told ine of his experi- ence I have tried it. and have always had most gratifying results, and would not be without it. Frank M. Keith. We suppose " carbonal " can be se- cured at any drug-store. We hope others will try it the coming season and send in reports for publication. The National and California. — We have received the following letter from Mr. Sebastian Iselin, of California, re- ferring to the action of the California State Bee-Keepers' Association: EmroR Amkrican Ree Journai,:— I am enclosing a clipping from a local newspaper's editorial on the withdrawal of the California Bee-Keepers' Association from the National Bee-Keepers' Associa- tion. Personally, I regret this action very much, because it seems to me. if at all. it ought to have been taken bclort- the new Con- stitution was adopted by the National, and not just now. at the time when a new order of tilings is about to take place; and the officers ought to beencouraged in every pos- sible way. Let us hope that the National will soon prove that the change voted upon last fall was of such importance that the California Association may see its mistake, ar^d return into the ranks of the National Association. Sebastian Iselin. Stockton. Calif., Feb 12. The clipping referred to by Mr. Ise- lin reads as follows : Bee-Keepers Set an Example. The withdrawal of the bee-keepers of California from the National Association on the ground that they received absolutely no benefits, and. on the other hand, found it a source of expense, taking funds which otherwise could be very profitably used in their local affairs, ought to serve as an eye- opener to many other organizations in the State affiliated with National bodies. There are hundreds of National bodies having no more excuse for their existence than the fact that there is just so much loose coin in the country, and that they might as well have a share of it for their own ends. It would be well to ponder long over affiliating with National bodies. Ordinarily State or- ganizations can accomplish asniuch as more pretentious ones, by reason of the fact that they can concentrate their whole force on their own immediate territorial needs, and avoid the handicap which too often goes- with the efforts of vast bodies with varying ends to serve. We are quite surprised at the action of the California State Bee-Keepers' Association. We believe at one time there were more members of the Na- tional Association in California than in any other State. If all the State Associations were to imitate Califor- nia in its recent move, there would soon be no National organization at all. We have been led to think that California was really the center of the co-operative organizations, and now for the California State Bee-Keepers' Association to withdraw from the Na- tional seems to be contrary to what we might reasonably expect from the the bee-keepers of that State. It seems to us that they should stand loyally by the National Association, as should every other local organization of bee- keepers, in order to make the National of larger benefit to bee-keepers every- where under its new Constitution than it has ever been before, although it has done some most excellent work in the over 40 years of its existence. Of course, the National Association will go right on and do its best to merit the co-operation of bee-keepers everywhere. We join in the hope ex- pressed by Mr. Iselin, that the '| Cali- fornia Association will see its mistake and return into the ranks of the Na- tional." ^ Bee-Disease in South Africa. — The " Isle of Wight " disease seems to baffle investigation, although it keeps on its deadly conrse. Now a new trouble seems to have broken out in South Africa, as reported in the South Afri- can Bee-Keepers' Journal. Combs con- tain thousands of dead larva', but care- ful analysis fails to show the presence of the usual culprits in infectious dis- eases. A sample of the defective brood was sent to our Dr. Phillips, who re- ports: " The sampleof brood arrived in excellent condition, and in view of the importance to- the bee-keepers of your country has been subjected to an examination much more careful than is usual for routine samples. 'rhe irregular appearance of the brood would indicate an abnormal condition, but the gross appearance and microscopic and bacteriological examinationsall fail to show any evidence of either of the infectious dis- March, 1912. American l^ee Journal California Convention. — The Los An- geles Express, an evening newspaper published at Los Angeles, Calif., con- tained considerable reference to the meeting of the California State Bee- Keepers' Association in that city, Feb. 6th. It also had a large picture show- ing 8 of the members, including B. G. Burdick, the president of the Associa- tion, and also Delos Wood, one of the oldest bee-keepers in that State. California bee-keepers are waking up on the organization question. They have some plans for the future, which we trust they will be able to carry out. That State is one of the best organized among its fruit-growers of any in the Union. If the bee-keepers are to make the largest success they must also organize. We hope, however, that all of the local organizations throughout that State will also become branches of the National Association, the new Constitution of the National now mak- ing provision for such procedure. Bee-keepers throughout the country will doubtless watch with interest the progress made along organization lines among their brethren in California. We hope that the American Bee Jour- nal will be kept informed concerning everything connected with the great things California bee-keepers are ex- pecting to do. ^ Cement-Coated Nails in Honey-Case Tops The C. C. demons Bee-Supply Co., who are also large dealers in honey, send us the following on the use of cement-coated nails to fasten the tops of honey shipping-cases: Editor American Bee Journal: — We want to call your attention to one thine which we think would be a good thing to ad- vocate, and that is for honey-producers to stop using cement-coated nails in putting the fo/'s on their honey-cases. These tops have to be removed in showing the honey, and where cement-coated nails are used, it splits them all to pieces, and when put back it makes a bad looking case, and sometimes a customer thinksthiscase has been refused because the top is broken. We notice that this is not the rule with all shippers, but about 8s percent of what honey we have re- ceived this year has been put up this way. C. C. Clemons Bee-Svpplv Co. This is indeed an important matter — one of the little things that means very much. We had noticed the same trou- ble. It is practically impossible to re- move the top of a shipping-case with- out splitting it, when cement-coated nails have been used. It is all right to use such nails on all the rest of the case, but not when nailing on the top or cover after it is filled with honey. The same thing might also apply to boxes for -"i-gallon cans. We trust that all readers of the American Bee Journal who ship comb honey will remember this, and here- after use plain nails instead of the cement-coated kind when nailing on the tops or covers of shipping-cases. L.\TER. — Since putting the foregoing in type, we learn that the G. B. Lewis Co. put in a few plain wire nails for nailing on the covers. But it would be a good thing to have a printed slip ac- companying the nails calling attention to it. _ The Northern Nichigan Bee-Keepers' Association will hold its next annual meeting at Traverse City, Mich., March rs and 14, l;)12. Whiting Hotel will be the headquarters. Special rates have been arranged for, and also the Hotel's parlor on the second floor has been offered to us for the meetings. A good program will be provided, and we would like to see many new faces. If you are so you can come, better do so. We are sure you will have a pleasant time. Ira D. Bartlett, .SVc. East Jordan, Mich. of Blackstone, Mass., who can furnish a copy of the program, and any other information desired in connection with the meetings of the organization. The Worcester County (Mass.) Bee- Keepers' Association is perhaps the only organization of bee-keepers in America that meets monthly. They gather in Horticultural Hall, at Wor- cester, Mass., at 2 p.m. the second Sat- urday of each month except July and August. The secreary is O. F. Fuller, The Northern Texas Bee-Keepers' As- sociation will hold its next convention at Greenville, Te.x., Wednesday and Thursday, April 3 and -1, 1012. AH bee- keepers are cordially invited to attend. We e.xpect a great meeting. W. H. White, Sec. Greenville, Tex. The South Dakota Bee-Keepers' Con- vention will be held in the Court House in Sioux Falls, S. Dakota, March 20 and 21,1912. All bee-keepers are urged to be present. Bee-Keeping ^ For Women Conducted bv Miss Emma M. Wilson, Marengo, III. Mrs. Margaret Wilson— An Aged Honey- Consuming Queen Feb. 15, 1912, my mother — Mrs. Mar- garet Wilson — celebrated the 9.3d an- niversary of her birth. And a lovely birthday she had. Such a shower of congratulations in the shape of cards, letters, and presents. It is not given to many to be able to look back over 93 birthdays with a mind as clear, and a body as perfect as she possesses. She is very hard of Mrs. Margaret Wjl.son. hearing, and within a year her eye- sight has failed so that she has not been able to read as formerly. She has always been a great reader, and since giving up active life she has spent many happy hours with her books, often reading a favorite over many times. It must be a trial not to be able to pick them up and read when she wants to ; but never a murmur. Of course, we read them to her, but that is not the same as being able to read one- self. She is rarely idle, spending her time knitting, as that is all she can do now. She is not old in spirit, and takes the keenest interest in everything around her, and she is a great favorite and chum with her grand-children. Her children — well, it would be difficult to find words to tell how much they love her. With such a mother as an example, one feels there is much to live up to. Strangers find it difficult to believe she is so old, always remarking on the freshness of her complexion, and the lack of wrinkles. One lady while visit- ing us sat looking at her for a while, and then said, " Why, if I could grow old as gracefully as that, I would never fear growing old." She is the honey-eater of the family. Never gets tired of it. Just how much of her wonderful vitality is due to honey it is hard to tell, but I am sure it is good for her. This has been a very hard, cold winter, but she has never had even a cold. Emma M. Wilson. [" Mother " Wilson is also the friend of " ye editor." We have known her for over 20 years, and have often met her in Dr. Miller's delightful home, where she is one of the trio of" queens " that live so happily together there. We are glad to be able to present to our readers her picture, and also the ac- companying sketch by Miss Wilson. The picture was taken only a few months ago, but is just as Mother Wil- son looks today. May she live to be a hundred — "and then some." — G. W. Y.] Carbolic Acid to Clear a Super of Bees Fashions prevail in the management of bees as well as in other things. In England it is the fashion to use cloths March. 1912. American HQe Journal wet with a solution of carbolic acid for the purpose of driving bees down out of supers. In this country it is sel- dom mentioned. It is therefore a mat- ter of no small surprise to learn that in this country there is a bee-keeper thor- oughly familiar with the use of carbolic acid as a super-clearer, and who used it some time even before the bee-es- cape now in common use was known. That bee-keeper is a sister, and that sister none other than that experienced and practical bee-keeper, Miss Ma- thilde Candler. She writes: I have just read the editorial regarding; the using of carbolic acid in the apiary, and as I used it when removing comb-honey supers from the hive, regularly and for a good many years before the advent of the Porter bee- escape. I may be able to give some testi- mony that might be of interest. I used it only in harvesting the honey. 1 poured a small quantity of acid— about a spoonful or so-into enough water to wrmg out 4 or 5 cloths probably about a gallon ot waten. If too much acid is used it burns the hands; if too little, its effect is not last- ing and bees will quickly return to the su- pers unless they can be pried loose and re- moved rapidly enough. After being wrung out. each cloth was spread out over a super under the coyer. By the time the last cloth was on. the hrst super was cleared of bees, if the solution was strong enough, and could be removed. It works much more rapidly and sure than the escape; in fact.it is done in a minute, and there is no failure through stoppage of the escape-hole, as is sometimes the case with bee-escapes. But it has one defect, which caused me to abandon it. though I havesometimes thought of practicing that method again. A large amount of unsealed brood was lost by it. When I opened the hive I found the larva; on the sides of the cell, at the edge, or even on the tioor of the hive. Only an agony su- preme could have induced that young brood, naturally inactive, to move about in this way. Possibly if I had used fewer cloths at a time, it would have worked better, as they would not have remained on so long. Cassville. Wis. Mathilde Candler. An objection to the use of carbolic acid in this way— perhaps urged only by those who have not tried it— is the danger of having the flavor or odor of honey affected thereby. As Miss Cand- ler makes no mention of this, likely she had no trouble on that score. Strangely enough, the objection she does make has never been mentioned in the books and periodicals of England, if memory serves. Can it be possible that no British brother or sister has ever used a solution strong enough to kill the brood? Or, are they less careful ob- servers across the water than our American sister? We are much indebted to Miss Cand- ler for her interesting and valuable com- munication, and it is just possible, con- sidering how quickly and thoroughly the acid works, that we may learn just Iiow strong to make the solution, and how long a time to allow the cloth to remain, so that it shall do its work effectivelyand yet not injure the brood. In that case it may yet become the vogue on this side the water. Wintering Caucasian Bees Arthur C Miller says in Gleanings in Bee 'Culture, that the temperature outside the cluster inside the hive is the same ni winter as that outside the hive. I thought of it when 1 went out to break the snow-crust in front of my hives, and found, as we always do. a large space or chamber in front of the t-ntrances, where the warmth of the cluster in the hive had melted the snow outside. I think a raging blizzard would not attect those bees in the least. But our hives are not always covered out of sight with snow. especially in the spring when they are till- ing with brood and most need protection. It seems to me that Mr. Holtermann has given us something on wintering that is fuMy as valuable as Mr. Doolittle on ciueen-rear- iug. or Mr. Ale.\ander on swarming and in- crease. Anyway. I have not been successful in cellar-wintering, and I know that many others have not, and his ideas appeal to me. There are one or two drawbacks, however, to Mr. Holtermann s plans. In the spring you will have to stand in the tliglit of the bees, either the swarm you are working with or its next neighbor. No doubt this is better than drifting. Then I see no way lo carry on stimulative feeding when one de- sires, but perhaps with the extra warm bed- room and plenty o( stores, it would not be so much needed. We hear so little about the Caucasians that it seems those who have tried them must have been disappointed and given them up. This was my experience. My chief trouble was. they would not enter the comb-houey super, and seemed bent on swarming, but they lived overwinter and built up in the spring under conditions that no other bees would survive. The queen was received too late in the fall to build up a strong colony for winter, and they went into the cold weather with insufficient stores; also, the hive was not well protected. Along in March, perhaps two weeks be- fore they had a flight. I opened the hive and poured a few tablespoonsful of warm sugar syrup right on the cluster. They were ex- cited, ves! but it did not seem to hurt them, and they commenced to build up. I con- tinued to feed them irregularly, and they soon went away ahead of any of my Italians. Later I reared a number of young queens, but afterwards requeened them all with Italians, because they would not store comb honey. Now I am going to try them again. We want early brood and young bees, but are always cautioned not to wear out the bees and run the risk of losing brood in a sudden cold snap by too early stimulating the bees to rear brood. Why could not an Italian and Caucasian queen be kept side by side in a Holtermann wintering-case on a Hand bottom-board, thus supplying early Cau- casian bees to the Italian queen ? No great harm done then if some of the old Italians did die with more than enough young bees to take their place. There is no denying that early brood and bees mean honey and money, even if stores are used. We know that the Italians are no good to rear brood in March or April, but it doesn't seem to injure the constitution or disposition of the Caucasians to get up early on a winter morning, light the fires a^d go to work. They will rear brood on short allowance if they must, but will make a good return for a full table. It costs no more stores to rear bees when you want them in early spring than when you don't want them after the honey-flow is over. As in a Holtermann wintering-case, j'ou can not use the back entrance, a Porter bee-escape would have to be arranged at the front entrance of the Caucasian hive to shift the bees when they were wanted in the Italian hive. This could not be done except on some day when the bees were flying, but there are always such days in the last of March and in April. Brood-rearing in the Caucasian hive might be checked for a time, but there would be vouug bees to care for the brood, the hive being protected with the wintering case: and the Italians would certainly be the gainers. D. E. Light. Is it not just possible that conclu- sions may be drawn without sufficient data on which to base them ? You say your chief trouble with Caucasians was that they would not enter the comb-honey super. If others have found the same objection it has es- caped attention. It is just possible that there was something exceptional in your case, and that upon fuller trial you would find that Caucasians would take to supers as kindly as other bees. It would be of interest to know what inducements you ofTered in the way of baits to coax the bees into the supers. There is probably no race of bees that will be satisfactorily prompt at enter- ing a section-super which has in it nothing beyond foundation. That is, for the first super. At least one bait- section should be in the first super; that is, a section that has been partly or wholly filled the previous season, and then the honey emptied out by the bees in the fall. If you gave such bait to your Caucasians, and they then re- fused to enter the super when other bees were doing work at surplus-stor- ing, it remains to be learned whether Caucasians in general act in that way_ Again, you say Italians are no good to rear brood in March or April. That raises the question whether there may not have been something exceptional in your experience, for that objection to Italians has not been at all general. Certainly in this locality they build up early enough to do good work as sur- plus-gatherers. We will all be interested to hear how you come out in your further experi- ence. Conducted by .T. L. BvER. Mt. Joy. Ontario. The Blending of Honeys As to the blending of honeys men- tioned on page 48 by Mr. A. C. Miller, without taking the trouble to look up the matter, I can not recall the man spoken of who was doing such a rush- ing business in the Toronto markets. Without ([uestioning the statement in the least, I would remind Mr. Miller that "one swallow does not make a summer," and even if one man does blend his honey, that is not proving it to be a good practise. As a luatter of fact, the term " blend- ing "is almost a misnomer so far as Ontario honey is concerned, for, gen- erally speaking, about all our white honey is from clover and basswood. while our dark honey is from buck- wheat. Some years even our clover is a little o{f' in color, and at such times we find we are "up against it " when it comes to selling it in a market where whiter honey is being offered. By this I mean that some localities will give whiter clover honey than others in some seasons. Generally speaking, the whiter the honey the better article it is, other things, such as body, etc., being equal in all samples. The public have learned tliis, and I do not blame them for wanting a white honey — indeed, I would prefer that grade myself if want- ing any. If I remember correctly, Mr. Miller said that the honey in his State varied very much in color, flavor, etc., and I Marc-li. 11)1- [American lee Journal suspect tliey get very \itt\e rf a //y g-ood honey. That being the case, tliey im- port some good stuff from other locali- ties to mix up with theirs to make it salable — probably they might get some from Canada if it were not for the duty. That being the case, Mr. Miller, we can overlook your ideas on " blend- ing," and we will give you full license to go ahead and do all the "mixing" vou care to. Most Severe Winter on Record In speaking of the weather (page 48), I am made to say that on Dec. 17th it looked like a change to warmer weather. Of course, it should have been./««. 17th, as the copy for Febru- ary was sent on that date. Sorry to say that my prophecy as to warmer weather proved to be otherwise, and since that date we have had the most severe winter on record — oflicially, the Toronto observatory says the coldest January in over 50 years, and February up to date (Feb. 13th) looks as if it was going to break another record. Sat- urday last was the coldest day in 17 years, according to the Toronto official figures — I'.t degrees below zero. But that is letting us down easy, for all ■" unofficial " thermometers registered from 22 to 34 degrees below. As to how this will affect outdoor bees remains to be seen, but judging by external conditions in my own api- aries so far, I do not anticipate trouble unless this awfully cold weather con- tinues too long. I have 20 colonies at the home yard in hives made with dout le boarding, with heavy paper be- tween, and with them it will be a pretty hard test. One trouble has been to keep the entrances free from ice, as the moisture condensing on the sides and ends of the hives would run to the front and cause trouble. The less the protection the hives have the larger the ■entrance has to be. and this is (to me) a pretty good argument in favor of well-protected hives in our climate. By the way, this will be a good sea- son to test out the paper-covered hive. and if any are wintering their bees in that style a report will be appreciated. As to the winter weather spoken of, I have an idea that there have been seasons with more stormy weather, and more really disagreeable days. But the cold since Jan. -5 has been con/iima/, which accounts for the very low monthly average temperature. Short Course in Bee-Keeping On page 48 I mentiorked the Short Course in Bee-Keeping as being in progress at Guelph College at the time I was writing. Needless to say the in- terest in the different sessions con- tinued right through the whole two weeks, and no doubt much practical information was received by the large number of students in attendance. While I was attending another course, yet it was an impossibility to stay away from the bee-keepers all the time, and I generally managed to get around to them at least once a day. In common with all the Short Courses in connection w-ith the college, the bee- keeping course was intensely practical, and experience has shown me that the "show me" attitude is by far the best method of imparting knowledge to be- ginners in any line of work. And just here I may say, that with the men like Clark, of Borodino, telling how to rear queens, there was a chance for others besides "beginners" to learn some- thing. The same thing might be said in connection with the practical talks and demonstrations given by Mr. Sib- bald on the general management of apiaries, and of course the different lectures of Mr. Pettit, the Provincial Apiarist, were highly appreciated by all privileged to listen to him. Aside from these strictly bee-keeping topics, etc., the students were treated to lectures from different members of the college staff, who took up various phases ol work indirectly connected with the bee-keeping industry. Alto- gether it was no doubt a very success- ful Short Course viewed from every standpoint, as I found all the students enthusiastic, the Provincial Apiarist likewise, and President Creelman made no secret of the fact that he was pleased with the large attendance. These vari- ous factors augur well for the future status of bee-keeping at the college, and any unselfish person can not but be pleased with the progress being made in our industrv. improving tlie Honey-Bee As to the improving of the honey- bee, written about so entertainingly on page 50, by Mr. A. C. Miller, I must confess that my short visit of 4 weeks at the Guelph College this winter has made me quite skeptical as to the chances of making any very rapid, ferynatienl changes in the character- istics of the bees. It is said that a "little knowledge is a dangerous thing," and while I didn't get even enough for that, yet I confess that the brief glimpses into Mendelism and other laws of breeding have served to make me believe that the breeder of bees has a tremendous task when he sets out to make any decided changes in his stock in the course of a very few short years. It may be argued that breeders of live stock, such as cattle, horses, sheep, poultry, etc., have made great strides, Init please remember that they do not have to reckon with parthenogenesis, and the impossibility of controlling the male side of the breeding stock. Even without these difficulties, it is surprising to learn how often breeders meet with disappointment; and while in their case a mutant or sport is com- paratively easy to keep true to type, with bees we can not claim that advan- tage, owing to the difficulty of control- ling the drone problem. Just at present I am strictly in the " don't know class," in the matter of claims made by different men, and while in that condition I trust I may be excused for being so skeptical — anyway, honest doubt is better than be- ing too sure, and then find out after all that we have been mistaken. Just a parting word on this question : The very little I have been able to glean on the subject under discussion, con- vinces me that the claims made as to taking bees and in a few years produc- ing offspring from them with longer tongues than the average, is a "joke." At the same time let us welcome the honest investigator, and if any one can succeed in changing any of the char- acteristics of the honey-bee to the bet- terment of the race, all honor to him even if such changes are made along lines directly antagonistic to Mendel or any other so-called authority. B^ Western <^ Bee-H^eping Conducted by Wesley Foster. Boulder. Colo. Delta County (Colo.) Bee-Keeping Delta county is a typical county of the Western Slope in Colorado — desert of a most pronounced type — sage-brush, shad scale and chico growing on the yellow, almost-bare clay-soil. Scarcely any grass grows except what is irri- gated, and the prairies and mesas are green only in the spring. But such soil! — just irrigate, and the way things do grow — the roadsides where irrigat- ing water can get at the roots of the plants will shoot up weeds to a pro- digious height, and the weeds do grow so high that teams on the roads are hidden by them. To the north, rising from bare yellow mesas towards Grand Mesa, mountain high and covered with timber with beautiful lakes, I am told, on its flat summit. From the summit of this mesa the city of Delta gets its water-supply, which is better than the water of many Western Slope towns. It is piped something like 20 miles. Grand Mesa is the largest and highest in Colorado, and rises to about 10,000 feet elevation, or about a mile above the little city of Delta. To the southeast rise the steep-sided mesas, yellow and bare as the mesas that hover under the shelter of the Grand Mesa. These mesas to the southeast rise quite high, and as you go farther back become real mountains, and through them is channeled the wonderful Black Canyon of the Gun- nison, the sides of which rise several thousand feet, and so narrow that the chasm is impassable for a good part of its length. From this canyon the Gun- nison tunnel cuts through under these mountains and mesas for 6 miles, and spills the waters of Colorado's largest stream into the Uncompahgre Valley, several miles above Montrose, and about 30 miles above and south of Delta. When the waters of the Gunnison are fully conserved they will irrigate March, 191-. American Hee Journal hundreds of thousands of acres of new land. So far, the curse of tlie Western Slope has been too much water, thou- sands of acres have gone to seep, caused quite probably by the use of too much water. The sides of some of these mesas are rocky cliffs, and wonderful stories are told of the tons of wild honey to be secured by the use of ropes and tackle, and several sticks of dynamite! I be- lieve it was a dreamy old bee-keeper told me a story of an old trapper who caught a grizzly bear sniffing around the edge of one of these clifTs. The trapper came over the next day with ropes and pails to get the honey he thought was near by. Leaning over the cliff and looking down he saw, about 50 feet from the top, and perhaps 1.50 from the bottom, thousands (.^ of bees flying in and out of the rocky side of the cliff. Tying the rope securely around his body under his arms, he passed the rope around a smooth-surfaced cedar- tree so that the rope would slip easily. He began letting himself down over the edge. The rope was smooth, and so was the cedar, and his arms were strong. He could raise himself by giving the rope in his hands a strong pull. He soon had let himself down to where the bees were going in and out. and tying the rope in his hands, through the one around his waist was securely suspended close to the bees' entrance. The rock was shale, and by kicking with his feet and pulling rocks out with his hands, he soon had uncovered the bees' store-house and cave. He had his pipe as his only smoker, and his jack-knife for a tool. But he soon had his pail full. He would pull himself up — empty his pail and come back for more honey. Fastening the pail through his belt he gave several strong pulls on the rope. He did not rise so easily as before — his bucket was full of honey! He, however, raised himself about half way when the rope slipped off the root it had been rubbing over at the crest of the cliff, and came right across the edge of a sharp protruding rock. He was swinging back and forth in mid-air — afraid to pull longer for fear he would cut the rope. At the first swing he heard a sharp cutting sound, at the second, upon looking up he saw strand one severed ; swing three, and the next one gave away; swing four, and our hunter's vision be- came dimmed, and that's the last our friend remembered that day. Tlie side of this hill sloped away from perpendicular toward the bottom, and from the marks visible the next day, it appears the first impression made on the clay was some 25 feet be- low the bees' cave. Jimme Goodrow was up at his headgate the next morn- ing, and hearing a busy hum among the chico, found our hunter badly bat- tered up and vainly trying to keep the bees away from his honey-bedaubed anatomy. " Been huntin' bees again, eh!" growled Jimme. Jimme looked up at the cliff and remarked, "Well, if it hadn't been for tlie seep-water soft- enin' the clay on that 'er hillside you'd 'a been in kingdom come. Any bones broken ? Well, you jest stay here and be as comfortable as you can until I get the wheelbarrow ; I never could get a wagon through this chico-brush." What do you think of tliat for a Delta bee-man to tell a tenderfoot ? Wild bees are plentiful in the cedars and in the rocks, and that is one reason that foul brood is so hard to combat in Delta county. Mr. Ensley, at Read, took quite a lew colonies out of the trees and rocks when he was first get- ting a start in bees. During August, the first time I was there for any time, the sun beat down with a blistering glare, and off to the south the peaks of the Uncompahgre Mountains rise into the blue with an Alpine sheer rugged- ness that suggests coolness, but brings none to the body. Following around the base of the mesa we wind back and forth until we come out on top, and here are fruit-farms of from 10 to 100 acres, with much general farming also being done. Onions, potatoes, alfalfa and grain are e.xtensively grown. The second growth of alfalfa was yielding some honey, but the turnips were cutting down the yield a great deal, for I found hundreds of them in nearly every bloom that I examined. Delta county has several hundred bee-keepers, and most of them own land and are prosperous. Some are homesteading and making a living from bees while doing it. There are probably 15,000 colonies of bees in the county, and if foul brood were better under control the county would doubt- less support twice as many. I was told that 12 cars of honey were shipped in 1910, but that not more than half as much would be shipped in 1911. I think both of these estimates rather large for full carload shipments. The honey produced is about half and half comb and e.xtracted. The bee- men get from (i to 7 cents a pound for extracted, and 10 to 11 for comb honey. The bee-keepers here sell early, and I believe were sold out the past season before almost any otiier section of Col- orado. Alfalfa yields honey from all tliree growths, and if the weather re- mains warm the bees will store honey until the last of September. The whit- est honey is gathered in June and July, but last season tlie best honey was light amber. Sweet clover grows every- where, and cleome is abundant, but I am told that cleome does not yield any honey to speak of. I5ee-keeping methods, as a whole, are behind those in northern Colorado, but there are several progressive bee- men in the county, and things are im- proving. Box-hives still abound, and many make no pretentions to opening their colonies from one year to the next. These bee-keepers are fast be- ing wiped out by foul brood. One of the greatest troubles in mark- eting honey in Delta county is the lack of uniformity in grading and packing comb honey. The bee-keepers are get- ting together, and this year will see quite a number of comb-honey pro- ducers using uniform shipping-cases, and grading according to the Colorado Association rules. Bee-Keeping In Dixie^ Conducted by J. J. Wilder. Cordele. Ga. Getting Started With Bees Mr. Wilder:— Our family are all very fond of honey, and as we have a suitable place for bees. I would like to start with one colony, and as I learn their culture I would like to increase until I have enough bees to produce honey for home use. I do not know a thing about bees. What would you advise for a starter ? Charleston. S. C. Wm. H. Burch. I would advise you to read as much literature on bee-culture as possible. By way of an outfit get a bee-smoker, a pair of gloves made to handle bees with, a bee-veil, and a colony of Italian or Caucasian bees in an 8-frame obser- vation hive, 1^ -story. Tliis is the surest outfit to get begin- ners deeply interested in bee-culture, for the bees can be seen inside the glass hive at work, which will arouse great interest and study, and cause great inspiration ; and at the same time the frames containing the comb can be lifted out and the bees in this way in- vestigated. Honey Prospects for 1912 So far prospects perhaps were never so bright for a good yield of nectar throughout Dixie. The abundance of rain will cause the honey-plants to bloom well and normal, which has been the case for the last two seasons, and which partly accounts for the short honey crops, especially along the coast where the main honey-plants are small shrubs, bushes, weeds, or vines ; which is also the case out in the interior of the country in many locations. These small plants can not withstand the drouth and forest fires which follow as the larger honey-plants can, and this greatly cuts off the flow of nectar. Owing to the extremely dry summer and fall there are many bees in poor condition, because the supply of nectar and pollen was greatly cut off, and the bees could not build up and go into winter in good condition. Owing to the very bright prospects that are before us for the approaching season, bee-keepers should put forth great efforts to get their bees in the best possibe shape for the honey crop. Becoming an Extensive Bee-Keeper Mk. WiM>EK:-I want to be an extensive bee-keeper. I ha\'e some knowledge of the business, but not enouL'h to go into it exten- sively. How long should I work with some progressive beekeeper before I could obtain the necessary instructions ? Lawenceville. Ga. J. Ali.em Smitu. This is a rather hard question to an- swer, for two reasons : First, so much depends upon your ability to learn bee- keeping in all its branches, and prop- March, 1912. American 15Qe erly apply the knowledge obtained with the necessary energy. Second, much depends upon how you expect to go into the business. If you e.Npect to start with a small busi- ness and build it up to a large one, per- haps one season's work with a good bee-keeper would be sufficient. But if you e.xpect to buy out an already es- tablished extensive bee-business, you would better work at least two seasons, and more would be better, for it re- quires a lot more practical knowledge to take hold of and carry on an exten- sive business than a small one. I don't think it would be advisable to use the combs of honey as you suggest, unless the swarms were very small, or you could use them in this w'ay for your last swarms at the close of the honey-tiow, for such swarms would most likely need them. But large, early swarms would not need them for best results. At the beginning of the honey-flow, and during the greater part of its dura- tion, all frames of honey mostly sealed should be kept extracted, and the empty combs inserted in the middle of the brood-nest. This would mean wholesale bee-production at the proper time, and a great honey harvest. feasted on during our stay here, and under the cool shade of which we have sat so many times and enjoyed the steady, balmy sovith breeze, and planned out the most of the work of our busy season which is fast approaching. Since we have been bee-keeping we have made a number of investments in real estate with the net returns of our blessed little bees, but none do we ap- preciate like this one; and it will be a source of great inspiration to me dur- ing the busy hours of the coming sea- son. Oh! what a joy it will be to me to wind up the season's work and re- Back to " Dear Old Georgia " I stated in the "Dixie " department in the December issue that wife and I left Georgia on Nov. 1.5 for Florida, W'here we expected to winter, or give the bulk of the cold weather the dodge, which we have done, and now (Feb. 15) we are getting ready to return to Georgia to begin our busy season, and indeed we feel greatly benelited by the trip in every respect. It has been the pleasantest winter of our lives — no frost, ice or cold, chilly wind to cause our frail bodies to shake and quiver, for most of the time it has been pleas- ant and balmy. I feel greatly recuper- ated after last season's hard toil, and I can enter the approaching toilsome season with greater vim and inspira- tion than I ever have before, and I hope and expect to press harder for the goal than ever. But, aside from this, what did we accomplish by the trip ? Well, I had my cottage ready built in my mind be- fore I arrived, and a bill of material ready made out for it, and by the time I got it on the ground, "Jack" — the foreman of our bee-business in this State (Florida) was here ready to help. He had never done any carpenter work, and it had been some years since I had done much at the trade, but soon the old "tricks of the trade "came afresh in my mind, and it seemed that my talent for the trade was greater than ever before; and, my! how we made the saws and hammers ring, and in 32 days from the time we started we were finishing up the 6room cottage, which has a hall through it, and the rooms are not small, either. It is well finished lip, too, and it is no bull of a house or a shack. The cut shows the front and rear views of the cottage which appear so beautiful, sitting out on a ridge, nestled among the orange, tangerine, and grape-fruit trees, the delicious fruit of which we have so sumptuously we will give you a good time in the pleasant, sunny " Land of Flowers." The Wilder Winter Home in Florida. turn to this beautiful country where the climate is so pleasant, and we are • so well fixed to live and enjoy our- selves. We have not been here alone, either, for quite a number of bee-keepers from the Northern States are here " winter- ing," and the little bee has been the subject of many long and interesting conversations, a summary of which I will give at another time, for some very important points were brought out relative to our industry. Fellow bee-keepers, make your ar- rangements to meet us here late next fall and spend the winter months, and Wintering and Other Qualities of Cau- casian Bees Mr. Wilder:-! am writiiiir you at this time for I read your articles in the Ameri- can Bee lournal, and I saw that you had never had a report as to tlie winterine quali- ties of the Caucasian bee here in the North. I have had the Caucasians for a number of years. and am well pleased with them, even if there are still some fault to find with them. But when 1 sum up their bad qualities, and then try to balance them with the good ones. I tind them away ahead of the other races, and I have tried about all there are to try. even paying D. A. Jones Si5. away back in the early '8u's. for a pure Holy Land queen, and had to kill her the second year in order to save myself and family from death by stint'- ing ?'. for they were not to be quelled ex- cept \vith chloroform. As to wintering of the Caucasians. I will say they are the most hardy bee in exist- ance today. They will stand almost any kind of usage, and I can winter in my cellar almost a mere handful, when the other races will worry and desert their hives. Herein the North there are some who winter bees out-doors, but I at times think it is almost an impossibility to do it. I honestly think I can get a third more honey in my location with the Cancasians than I can with the Italian. I have both, and run about even as to number of colonies. I breed my Caucasian queens at the main yard, and fertilize them in an isolated place. I have only the gray variety; I have had the yellow, but I think them inferior to the gray. I import all mv breeders from the Caucasus district, and I have had some from a\yay down east, bordering on the Caspian .Sea. but they were all mixed up. both yellow and As you say. they are good proplizers. but if the entrance is made dark, and not too large, that will lessen their propensity for daubing up things with their dark-brown glue, which resembles them in color. Ingham Co.. Mich. A. D. D. Wood. Glad to hear from you, Mr. Wood, relative to the qualities of the Cau- casian bees in the North. So far noth- ing but good reports have come in of the past season, from either North or the South, as to the qualities of this variety of bees. They have proven to be at least one-third better than any other bees I have been able to obtain. Convention (#) Proceedings Eastern New York Convention The Eastern New York Bee-Keepers' Association held its 4th annual con- vention Dec. 2\. 1911, at .Albany, N. Y. Owing to unfavorable circumstances only a short notice could be given, and consequently there were only about 30 bee-keepers present. The proceedings consisted mostly of routine business, and the consideration of technical questions pertaining to bee-keeping. The members reported the past sea- son as the poorest in many years. The production of honey was less than half of an average crop; but with the opti- mism characteristic of bee-keepers, they all hold bright hopes for the future. The Secretary's report showed a list of 103 members since the organization of the Association, 4 years ago. The Treasurer's report presented a healthy condition of the treasury with a neat balance on hand. Pres. Wright, in his address, reviewed the condition of the industry, referring to the very unfavorable season and the shortage of the honey crop, and noting that a material advance in prices had resulted, which it was hoped might be maintained in the future. He called attention to the action of the National Bee-Keepers' Association in reorganizing that body and adopt- ing a new constitution for the working of the Association on a new and en- tirely diflferent plan. Much considera- tion was given to the subject, and many expressions of disapproval were offered. U was decided unanimously 78 1 -0>^^^^ American ^oe March, m to take a vote by mail of all the mem- bers, on the question, " Shall we renew our membership in the National Asso- ciation under the provisions of the new constitution ?" The annual election resulted in the re-election of the entire board of officers, as follows : President, W. D. Wright, of Altamont; 1st Vice-Presi- dent, A. Johnson, of Schoharie; '2d Vice-President, C. W. Hays, of Brook- view ; Secretary, S. Davenport, of In- dian Fields ; and Treasurer, M. A. Kingman, of East Greenbush. This makes the fifth term Mr. Wright is en- tering upon as president, he having served in that office since the organi- zation of the Association. A communication from the Hon. R. A. Pearson, State Commissioner of Agriculture, was read, requesting the appointment of a delegate to represent the Association at the annual meeting of the New York State Agricultural Society. S. Davenport was elected as such delegate. A communication to the State Col- lege of Agriculture had been directed to be made, requesting that experiments be conducted along the line of reducing the length of the corolla of the red clover blossom, so as to enable the honey-bee to obtain its nectar. C. B. Loomis presented a communication on the subject from Prof. H. W. Webber, of the State Agricultural College. C. B. Loomis also presented for ex- amination and consideration a sample copy of a writing pad for the use of school children, having appropriate illustrations of the honey-bee, queen and drone, and a descriptive article on the honey-bee and the desirability of honey as a food. This pad is issued by the New York State Association of Bee-Keepers' Societies, with the object of advertising honey and increasing its sale. A proposition to establish a honey exchange at Albany for the purpose of disposing of the honey crop of mem- bers of the Association was largely discussed. A committee of six — Pres. W. D. Wright (ex-officio), C. B. Loomis, L V. Lobdell, D. L. Woodward, F. R. Stevens, and Alden Hilton, were ap- pointed to investigate and consider the matter, and report at the semi-annual convention. The question-box was opened, and eight questions were considered and answered. This gathering of bee-keepers proved to be one of the most interesting, en- thusiastic and satisfactory ever held by the Association. S. Davenport, .SVc. The Oklahoma Convention There were present the smallest num- ber of bee-keepers that have ever at- tended a meeting of the Oklahoma Bee- Keepers' Association, held at Still- water, Okla., Jan. 18, I!)I2. Nearly every number of the program was filled, either by the party present or sending in his paper. F. W. Van DeMark was constantly in attendance with a large fund of in- formation gained by years of e.xperi- ence in Oklahoma, and extended many courtesies to the visiting bee-men. Prof. Sanborn was able to attend more of the sessions than usual, and manifested a lively interest, and freely offered his opinion on many points of interest, but unfortunately for those in attendance, was shoved off the general program by the necessity of its re-ar- rangement to accommodate out-of- town speakers on other subjects who had to be given the time that best suited their convenience. It was voted not to become a branch of the National Bee-Keepers' Associa- tion at present, and the membership fee was reduced to 50 cents. The following resolutions were adopted : Be it resolved, by the Oklahoma Bee-Keep- ers' Association, that the A. & M. College and Experiment Station be requested to carry on more experiments along apiciil- tural lines, to determine the best race of bees, the most useful hive for the farmer bee-keeper, the best manner of feeding the bees, and also to experiment with different honey-plants. We also request that an apiary be estab- lished at the College, and some help by lec- tures and exhibits on. some of the future demonstration trains be given. Be it further resolved that we tender a unanimous vote of thanks and appreciation for the courtesy extended us in announcing our program in the College literature, and furnishing us with a comfortable room in which to conduct our meeting. The next meeting will be held at the State Fair Grounds, Oklahoma City, Okla., during the period of Sept. 23 to Oct. 5. The following is the list of officers: N. Fred Gardiner, President, Geary, Okla.; Geo. H. Coulson, Vice-Presi- dent, Cherokee; G. C. Boardman, Sec- retary, Shawnee; and G. E. Lemon, Treasurer, Nash. The Indiana Convention The Indiana State Bee-Keepers' Asso- ciation held its annual meeting at In- dianapolis, Ind., Feb. 'I'Z, 1912, which was fairly well attended. The meeting was called to order by the secretary, Geo. W. Williams, of Redkey, Ind. In the absence of the president and vice-president, Mr. Ma- son Niblack, of Vincennes, preside4. An address was delivered by Dr. E. F. Phillips, of Washington, D. C, on American and European foul brood, illustrated by stereopticon views. It was very interesting and instructive, and was discussed at length. Mr. E. R. Root, of Medina, Ohio, gave a good talk on some very impor- tant questions. The wintering of bees was fully discussed and some very im- portant points brought out. The question-box contained ques- tions which were of interest to all. The following officers were elected for the ensuing year: President, Ma- son J. Niblack, of Vincennes; vice- president, C. H. Baldwin, of Indiana- polis; secretary, Geo. W. Williams, of Redkey; and treasurer, E. A. Dittrich, of Indianapolis. Messrs. E. A. Dittrich, J. W. Sw and John C. Bull were elected delegates to the National convention of 1913. Southern Beedom- Conducted by Louis H. Scholl. New Braunfels. Tex. The National Bee-Keepers' Association It is a great pleasure to see that there is " something doing," and more to be done, by the way the National Bee- Keepers' Association is organized now with its new Constitution. Heretofore the National Association did not really amount to a very great deal to its mem- bership, aside from a few benefits that were derived by belonging to the As- sociation, and the aid lent it in secur- ing things that can only be gotten by united effort. Since the reorganization of the Association, which it practically is, there has sprung up a good deal of new life and interest, and that there will be some results need not be doubted in the least. Since the mem- bers of the main part or the head of the National Bee-Keepers' Association are active or " real live wires," there is no question but that the various branch organizations will co-operate promptly in carrying out in a co-opera- tive way any important things that may come up before the Association. The writer has always been inter- ested in anything that had some " real life in it, or that was possessed of some get-up and go qualities that keep things moving and accomplish something," and the way the work of the National Bee-Keepers' Association is starting out is a pleasure indeed, and it is only hoped that this interest in the Associa- tion will continue, and that much good may be accomplished throughout the year and the time to come. Of much interest is the matter in Article 8 — organization of branch as- sociations of the National Bee-Keepers' Association. It is hoped that bee- keepers who are so situated that a local branch may be organized will avail themselves of the opportunity, and thereby assist in one great co-opera- tion of united effort and accomplish- ment. It is sincerely hoped that our grand Lone Star State of Texas will have one of the largest of these, or a number of such local branches, since the bee-keepers in Texas are numer- ous enough to organize many such with the required number of not less than 25 members. The writer has always been deeply interested in the organization of bee- keepers, the getting together of those who are interested in one and the same cause or vocation, and working in unity and co-operation for all that is good and of interest to their calling. It is hoped, therefore, that the beo-keepers of Texas may awaken to opportunities that are here for them at this time; Marcli. 1912. American l^ee Journal that they may get together and work more in unity and harmony toward ac- complishing great good and furthering the cause of the bee-Ueeping industry of our great Lone Star State. Let us resolve now that we will not stand back, but be with those in the lead toward achieving much in a united effort for a better and a more profitable bee-keeping. Value of Letters from Bee-Keepers Since our request in the January issue for "newsy letters" from the readers of Southern Beedom, we have had the pleasure of (luite a number of responses which are not only an en- couragement to us in our department work, but in some letters points are brought out that are of more or less interest. We shall be glad to hear from our readers throughout the year, and although we will not be able to publish letters in full, we shall use such parts of them as may be of interest to our readers. One of our old-time contributors, Mr. L. B. Smith, has always had a good word to say for the "old reliable" American Bee Journal and its various departments. For this reason mainly we are publishing parts of his letter, and another reason is because it shows as nearly as possible the kind of season that existed in Texas last year, which resulted in practically only half a crop of honey harvested in our big State as a w'hole ; but in spite of this, the total output of the Lone Star State was an enormous one : Editok Schoi. I,;— Seeing your request in the American Bee Journal of January for us all to write you of our success or failure with the bees the past season, I take the lib- erty of writinsr you. I am compelled to con- fess I have had more of the latter experi- ence the past season than of* the former, but you say both are acceptable. Starting in the sprint; of ivii with a little less than 100 colonies of bees about 50 were kept at home, the rest in out-yards from j to 12 miles away. The winter of igioandiuii was warm and dry over most of the State, and the bees generally wintered quite well and were strong in numbers early and well supplied with stores. This alone would almost insure a prosperous year with the bees. The season, however, seemed "all out of joint." so to speak, from start to finish. We had some real summer weather in mid-winter, which brought out many of the pollen-bearing and early honey-yielding plants at an unseasonable date, followed by a late, cold spring. The bees, however, seemed so determined and prosperous that nothing seemed to check them, and they were swarming at an early date. So much so that I lost a few swarms in the out-yards before I suspected it. I never saw swarms as persistent in ab- sconding in my 30 years as an apiarist. They would leave brood, honey, or anything that seemed tit to give thetn and " hike out " to the woods. Tiiis was a general complaint of all classes of bee-keepers, and one of them told me he hived one 4 times and then they " skipped " for parts unknown. I don't know the reason for this unless it was tlie scarcity of new honey at the time of swarming. At about the time the first swarms com- menceti to issue, the long-looked-for rains set in, and it rained almost continually till May 2d. Then it stopped off short, the weather changed from cool to extremely hot and continued throughout the summer. The abundant rains caused vegetation of all kinds to take on a growth we seldom see after such a dry winter as we had had. with the result that the whole face of the earth was a perfect Hower-garden by May loth. The flowers seemed well laden with the precious sweets that gladden the heart of fhe apiarist, and the bees practically gave up swarming and settled down to business at honey-gathering in a way that caused us to feel almost assured of a honey crop. But, alas! we realized only too soon that a long summer drouth had set in at least a month too early, and continued throughout the year ivii. By .Iiine loth the beautiful Howers that had gladdened our. ht^arts l)ut a few weeks before were now a brown, withering mass, under the scorching rays of a semi- troiiical sun, with the result that I secured only a little over 2000 pounds of extracted honey, and a few hundred i)Ounds of comb honey, and had some feeding to do in the fall. L.B.Smith. Rescue, Tex. Realizing how the tale of one's ex- perience during a successful year will encourage other bee-keepers, espe- cially our younger ones of the craft, and how mistakes and failures perhaps may be avoided by reading letters tell- ing of these, is a reason why we expect to publish once in a while such letters. We know from our own experience that reading them will help certain ones in one way or another in their chosen work, and is often a cause of their being successful in their under- takings. For this reason we are re- producing parts of one of our sub- scriber's letters here: Dear Sir:— In the January issue of the American Bee Journal you request your bee-keeping friends to send you " newsy letters" about themselves or about their successes or tailures. I have read all that you have written, for lama reader of all the bee-papers published in the United States and Canada, and your articles have always been highly appreciatedby me. Twenty-three years of age now. I was born of German parents and reared on the farm where my father kept bees in box-hives to furnish honey for our own use. During the swarming season father just hived the largest swarms and let the rest go to the woods. At the age of 12 years I contracted the bee- fever and hived every swarm, whether large or small, and have since increased my num- ber of colonies to 2to. Enough hives are ready to increase to 500 colonies this spring. 1 am also working 200 colonies on half share. It is my intention to go into the bee-business extensively, so I wiU work more for increase than for a large crop of surplus honey. 1 make my increase by the "shook swarm" method. I'or the last few seasons I pre- vented swarming as mucli as possible, but sometimes I tneet such a stubborn colony that insists upon swarming. Last season I had a few of these. I have a way of my own to hive virgin queens or any uncliijped queens. It is sim- ple and practical. Simply get a gallon can and put your empty hive to receive the swarm within 10 feet of the cluster. Then scoop about half a gallon of bees of the clus- ter and throw them at the entrance of their intended home. It won't take long for these bees to sound the note that a home is found. Then with tiie smoker give the clustering bees a good stnoking till every bee is in the air. The flying bees will hear the hum of their sisters and at once conclude to join them, and the hiving is done. The past season has not been Very favor- able for the production of honey. There was too much rain. in the spring and not enough later on; however, I averaged 71 pounds of bulk comb honey per colony. I have 50 divisible brood chamber hives in use at present, and am so pleased with them that from now on all of my increase will be in those hives. It is wonderful how many advantages that hive has. In one of the bee-papers I read that you were going to rear your own queens, and afterward heard that you discontinued the rearing of queen-bees on account of other bees being moved close to your queen-rear- ing yard. I am of the strong opinion that this is one of the most profitable branches you can start to your advantage, for queens sent by mail are never the equal of the home bred. I started to rear my own queens 5 years ago, and am still doing so. and will continue it as long as I continue to keep bees. I have made it a rule to requeen all colonies every fall that did not come up to the average, and am very well pleased with the results, for my bees are considerably better than they were 5 yeai s ago. Klmendorf. Tex. Alfred L. Hartl. Contributed Articles^ Some Helpful Hints on Foul Brood Treatment BY G. C. GREINER. For a number of years thefoul-brood question has been one of the main sub- jects in all our bee-papers. It has been discussed from all sides; signs and symptoms, treatment and cures, have been given by the different bee-experts, so that a detailed report of my late season's experience would seem like a useless repetition of what has been said before. Besides, we have Farmers' Bulletin No. 4-42, issued May 0, lOH, by the United States Department of Agri- culture, that, I believe, anybody can have for the asking, which gives nearly everything connected with the disease and its treatment better and more com- plete than I could think of offering. Still, no two persons have exactly the same experience in any line, and by mentioning a few points that are not spoken of by any one else, I may help some unfortunate brother who has the same task before him that fell to my lot last summer. We will take it for granted that foul brood has taken possession of an api- ary to such an extent that shaking oft' the bees and the introduction of Italian queens is the only way to save any- thing from the wreck. The treatment requires, as all our e.xperts advise, and I know from experience that this is correct, that all colonies should be made as strong as possible to prepare them for the ordeal. It does not 'pay to waste time with weak colonies, for the probabilities are that they will prove a failure during the season. As dis- eased colonies are very apt to be on the weak order, and as we have no sound, hatching brood under the cir- cumstances to help these weaklings, the only way out is to double'up or triple up, if necessary. To do this in system- atic manner, the whole apiary should be arranged in twos or threes, as the case may be, before the operation of shaking off is ever attempted. To prevent mixing up as much as possible when treated, it is an advan- tage to have these couples or triplets as far apart as they can conveniently be arranged. There is plenty of time between fruit-tree bloom and the open- ing of the first honey-flow to shift them about, for the shaking off should not be undertaken until a fairly good honey-flow is under way. Bees can then be handled without any danger of robber-bees transmitting the disease to March, 1912. healthy colonies that may be in the yard or near-by. Another part of the treatment — the one that generally causes the less ex- perienced bee-keeper a great deal of Fig. I.— Greiners Queen-Sieve. anxiety — is catching the old queens. To be prepared for the shaking, it is very convenient to have them all caught and caged before hand. As they are supposed to be blacks (as the great majority of mine happened to be), they are not easily found, in many instances baffling the skill of the most experi- enced expert. For this reason it is well enough to begin hunting for them a week or 10 days ahead of the time they are wanted. If a queen is not found at one time, by examining the hive the next day she may come in sight on one of the first combs taken out. In this way I caged the queens of nearly all my diseased colonies (some 44 or 4l3) before the white clover flow began. Only in two or three cases I failed to find " the ladies "in spite of my repeated search, and research, and I was finally compelled to resort to the excluder at the time of the treatment. The principle of the device illustrated at Fig. 1, is not a new idea. To find a queen by means of the excluder has been repeatedly mentioned in our bee- papers, but, as far as I know, no de- tailed description of its application has been given. It is a simple affair; still, when we are compelled to resort to our own resources it is sometimes a great help to have some one else's experi- ence to fall back on. Bees are very apt to clog up the excluder, and are thereby a great hindrance when trying to find the queen. To overcome this trouble, in a measure, the excluder should be as large as possible, and at the same time slant forward at the bot- tom. Tins seems to give the bees bet- ter chance to pass through the perfora- tions than an excluder in perpendicular American ISee Journal ing zinc is nailed, are simply a couple of pieces of V^-inch board that slip on each side of the hive and stand, and with a small wire-nail, partly driven in, in each, the whole rig is securely held in position. As a last resort to find a queen, I can recommend this device as almost infallible to any one in trouble along this line. Another point which I found by ex- perience to be of great importance, is this: A colony should not be shaken off and made queenless at the same time. In their consternation and excitement, trying to find their mother, the ma- jority of them will take wing and enter any hive where bees are in sight except the one we intend they should. If the colony under treatment is not entirely ruined by this desertion, it is so re- duced that it is likely to prove next to a failure during the season. In case the queen has Ijeen previously caged, she should be suspended for a few days among the frames of the newly pre- pared hive the colony is to occupy (see illustration. Fig. 3), and if the new Ital- ian queens are on hand, as they should be, they, too, may be introduced in the suspended cages at the same time. But if the queen has to be caught at the shaking off, she should be placed in the new hive as soon as found, and the ex- cluder removed instantly. The cage I use (shown at Fig. 2) has a number of advantages over the coni- Fk;. 2.— Wire-Cage with Qi'EEN K.nc losed position. The one I use (see drawing) reaches from the cleat at the top to about midway of the stand alighting- board. Then it should fit any hive and be adjustable and removable instantly. The two wings, to which the exclud- FiG. 3-— Suspended Cage Between Frames mon mailing-cage used by the queen- breeding trade, which make it better adapted for this purpose, and, in fact, for introducing queens at any time. Made of common window-screen, with a piece of stove-pipe wire wrapped around it to serve as supports when suspended between the frames, it pre- sents more open surface to come in contact with the bees than the mailing- cage. One of the end-plugs is perma- nently fastened by two or three little tacks, and the other, being the one re- movable, should have the selvedge-end of the wire-screen for its passage. This, too, makes a smoother passage for the queen, when being caged, than the sharp ends of the wires on the op- posite end. La Salle, N. Y. The Solar Wax-Extractor uv I. I'. ii.\i).\xr. A beginner in bee-culture has re- cently asked me about the advisability of investing in a solar wax-extractor to the exclusion of other wax-render- ing machines. Although I believe in the usefulness of solar wax-extractors, most practical bee-keepers who have tried them recognize that they are not by any means to be used in all circum- stances. The first mention I ever saw of this method of rendering beeswax by solar rays was in the '70's, in L'Apicoltore, the Italian bee-paper. Italy is under the same latitude as our Middle States. The sun has a great deal of power in that country, and shines most of the time. No one thinks of Italy without the prefix "sunny." At the first de- scription of the solar wax-extractor, we had no rest until we had made one. A little later, in this country, O. O. Poppleton made the invention of a similar machine without having ever heard of them. The solar extractor proved very beneficial in rendering the odds and ends of the apiary. We are in the habit of gathering the dribs of brace-combs and bridges which the bees usually build between their combs and over the top of them. These we roll into a ball which is put away until some suit- able time. With a wax-extractor these small lots may be rendered as fast as they are gathered. This saves them from possible loss or destruction by the moth, if they were left exposed. With an apiary of oO to 100 colonies I believe that the careful apiarist will save enough to pay for the cost of his solar extractor in one or two seasons. But when we tried the solar extrac- tor for old combs we were very much disappointed in ascertaining that the cocoons and residue absorbed nearly all the wax which they contained. Many apiarists assert that there is no wax worthy of mention, in the old, black combs. The trouble lies with their metlfbd of rendering them. If dry, black combs are heated with little or no water, the dry cocoons and resi- due become soaked with wax and give it up afterwards with difficulty. Our water-melting process has always been to crush those old combs during the cold weather, at the time when they are most brittle, and afterwards soak them thoroughly in soft water, either by put- ting them in a sack or under a cover and loading them with stones to sink them in the water. If the reader tries this, he will find that in a very few days the water has become yellow or muddy from the dissolvin.t; of a great deal of the slumgum. But the wax does not dissolve or rot, even if it were left un- der long enough to have acquired an unpleasant smell. The effect of this soaking is to prevent the absorption of wax, since the thoroughly wetted resi- dues can no longer absorb the wax. The breaking or crushing of the combs previously, helps this soaking, and pre- vents the wax, when it is melted, from lodging into the cell-shaped cocoons, from which it would afterwards be re- moved with dirtjculty. With the use of the solar extractor, it is out of the question thus to soak the residues, for the first effect of this soaking would be to create a great deal of steam by evap- oration of the water, as soon as we placed our soaked combs into the ex- tractor; neither would the wax melt until those combs were again dry. It may therefore readily be compre- American Hee Journal liended that it is entirely out of the question to melt old black combs with the solar extractor and expect any adequate returns, while the use of water in some sort of boiler will per- mit the separation of nearly all the wax from the slumgum of the ugliest combs. When it comes to the rendering of cappings, it is evident that the solar may be used without loss. However, unless we have a very small quantity, we will find that we get a brighter lot, though not so white, but cleaner, by using the same water-melting process. Whatever residue present usually sep- arates very easily from the wa.x in soft water, the wa.x rising to the top, and the residue almost without exception going to the bottom. The solar extractor has one advan- tage, however — it will make the wax lighter in color — more nearly white — for the rays of the sun have a tendency to bleach it. But if there is the least trace of untinned iron in our solar ex- tractor, its presence will reveal itself by the existence of a black, rusty streak wherever the wax touched it. One of the greatest disadvantages of the solar extractor is that the combs may be rendered by it at a temperature very much below the boiling point of water. 1 call this a disadvantage, be- cause if by accident one is rendering combs of a colony which has died of some contagious disease, such as foul brood, there is great danger of trans- mitting the disease to the bees that may come to it. I have sometimes seen cakes of wax which had been rendered with solar heat fairly dripping with honey. Such cakes of wax need to be Temeited with water and kept at the boiling point of water for a while, to make sure of destroying all possible germs. Of course, the bee-keeper who ren- ders his own combs generally knows whether there is disease among his bees or not, and he can take precau- tions. But if he has wax from others, or buys the combs of colonies that have died, it is very much better for him to take no chances, and melt all the wax by the water process. When we melt up the cappings, it is generally after having allowed them to drain in the uncapping can for several days, and even weeks. But they are still sweet, and we always wash them in water, and this water, after having been tested as to its sweetness, is used to make mead and vinegar. The Eu- ropean apiarists, who are much more prone to save every item more care- fully than we do here, sometimes uses the water in which wax has been melt- ed, if it is at all sweet, for vinegar-mak- ing or for distilling. In this case, they first filter it or clarify it by some pro- cess. In large apiaries where hun- dreds of thousands of pounds of honey are harvested, the cappings and the ■water from them constitute quite an item. We figure that for every 100 pounds of extracted honey, we produce about lyi pounds of capping wax, reckoned after it has been purified. So for Sn.OUO pounds of liquid honey, we would have about 7ju pounds of net beeswax from the cappings. It would take a long time, or a large- number of wax extrac- tors, to render up this (luantity. What is more important, the bulk of the ex- tracting takes place at a time when the heat of the sun is no longer adequate — in late August, or September and Octo- ber. With the water melting we can render them whenever we are ready. Beeswax is so expensive and readily selling an article that it is worth while to use all possible means of saving every particle. That is why the solar extractor will always be a profitable implement in a bee-yard. It should be made of good material and shallow enough to allow the sun's rays to shine on every part of its inside early in the day. If some sort of cheap clock-work could be used to keep it facing the sun all day long, it would be much more active. But in our latitude a few hours suffice for a small load of wax. Neither bee-moths nor flies can withstand the heat of the noon sun during the three hottest months — May, June and July — under the glass of the sun extractor, and the wa.x rendered by this process is at once made safe for cash returns. Hamilton, 111. Sting-Proof People— Comments BY E. G. H.\NX.\. On pages 7 and 48, the discussion of " Sting-Proof People " is somewhat in- teresting. Whether some people are absolutely " sting-proof " I know not, but I am well aware that the bees actually make a difference in people. A good many years ago, when I lived in the Southland, I had a yard with about 2.^ colonies of bees in it, dis- tributed all over the yard under native trees. Our well was in this yard, and a path ran through it, both to the gar- den and the public road. One after- noon, about -5 of the family were seated about the middle of the yard pealing peaches, and the bees were flying every- where, and we sat there for hours and not one of the family got a sting ; but during the time three negroes came in the yard, one at a time, and sat down with us, and each of the three was stung before being able to get away. Can some scribe account for this un- less bees make a difference ^ Self-Spacing Frames. On page .54, an enquirer wants to know if metal-spaced frames are better than staple-spaced frames, and Dr. Miller says he prefers galvanized shin- gle-nails to either. Now, if there is anything this scribe detests about an apiary it is a self-spacing frame of any kind. I used to cut out all my own frames with a buzz-saw, and I never made self-spacing frames. Then, I have bought a good many bees, and always with self-spacing frames, and they were always the hardest things on my tem- per of anything about the bee-yard. If you have no propolis in your locality, and use a division-board in place of one frame, you get along ; but otherwise, I have torn up many a frame in trying to get at the center of a hive. I like to have frames I can pry each way from the center of the hive, and can then slip out a frame with all ease. Repression of Swarming. On page 39, Chas. Reynders, in quot- ing from his German pamphlet, tells how to let bees rear their queen-cells, and of course you have to leave it to the bees as to how many they will start. My experience has been that as a rule they do not start as many as we want, and, besides, they are so light that we often spoil them in cutting out and handling. So this scribe long since quit letting the bees have their own way about it. I let them start the cells so as to get a supply of royal jelly, and then I make cells for them, and good, heavy ones, so I can break them off, or stick them on a frame at will, without any danger of spoiling them. Doolittle's " Scientific Queen-Rearing " will tell you how. I do not like the method here given. Loss OF Bees in 10 Years. A decrease of 800,000 colonies of bees in 10 years does not look very good for the bee-business of this coun- try. The fact is that when foul brood becomes as prevalent as it now seems to be, the average farmer will prefer to quit keeping the bees rather than go to the trouble necessary to eradicate the disease. In fact, the majority of farm- ers do not care for their bees enough to make a success with a few colonies. Poor Surplus Honey. I got about 50 pounds of surplus honey here last year from 11 colonies of bees, and most of it was the black- est, nastiest mixture I ever took from a bee-hive. As bees did nothing, I got so busy farming I neglected them, and did not " fi.x " them for winter, so I ex- pect to lose most or all of them on ac- count of the severe winter. Spring Feeding and Spreading Brood. By the time this is printed you would better see if your bees all have suffi- cient stores, and, if not, borrow a frame of honey from some hive which has a surplus, and exchange frames with the needy colony. You can help your bees to build up by spreading the brood, if you use good care and judg- ment not to spread faster than they can keep it warm. I have always got- ten good results from spreading brood. Good Resolutions. "Making and Keeping Good Resolu- tions," on page 4.j, is worth re-reading. We ought always to remember that there can be no failure upon the Lord's part, but we may fail by failing to com- piv with our part of it. Atwood, 111., Feb. 14. Handling Bees— How to Do It BY G. M. DOOLITTLE. From my multitudinous correspond- ence, and from what I have seen when visiting many ditTerent apiaries, I have come to the conclusion that there is a right and wrong way of opening a hive containing a colony of bees. The sea- son when we must look after our bees will soon be here, and I thought per- haps I could do no better at this time than to give a few words on the sub- ject of opening hives and handling bees. Stings are sometimes dreaded by all, and if we are careless in our operations about the bees we are liable to be told March, igi-'. American IBoe Journal in a very "pointed way" of our care- lessness. And even when we exercise due care, there are times when the opening of hives as rapidly as is neces- sary where the apiarist manipulates colonies by the hundreds, is somewhat beset with stings. Hence, it behooves us to start out right with each colony as we proceed in these operations. Many of these stings are brought upon us by the manner in which the hive is opened. There is more in this opera- tion than very many of us even dream. Many of our text-books do not give the best instructions on this Doint, so that even the beginner, having such a text- book, does not learn how to open a hive properly, while with those who have no text-book it is simply a matter of guess-work. Then, many of the instructions given in our bee-papers are largely at fault, inasmuch as they are given from the standpoint of an apiarist having only very gentle Italians. These may be all right for such bees, but when a begin- ner comes to apply them to the blacks, or still more vicious hybrids, he is obliged to beat a hasty retreat, or re- ceive so many stings that he almost wishes he had "never enlisted for the war." And nine chances in ten the be- ginner commences operations with such bees by finding some runaway swarm, a colony in a tree, or some bees left him by some relative having a few colonies in bo.x-hives. It took me several years to learn in this matter of opening hives, and here is what I learned : To open the hive of the average colony of blacks or hy- brids, have your smoker well filled with partially decayed wood, having placed a coal of fire in the bottom before fill- ing, then work the bellows till a good flow of smoke conies from the nozzle, when you are ready to proceed to the hive you wish to open. Arriving, blow smoke two or three times across the entrance, so as to start the guards back into the hive, and if you have reason to believe the colony an easily excited one, or no nectar-secretion is abound- ing, follow this with one or two puffs in at the entrance. Now, noiselessly, and with especial care about jarring, pry up the cover at one side, and as soon as a crack large enough to admit smoke is made, blow in a whiff or two, and as the cover is gradually lifted, blow more across the tops of the frames, so as to start the bees down between the frames of comb. Unless you have reason to think they need more than this, do not blow smoke down between the combs, for by so doing the colony, especially if blacks, will be stampeded out at the entrance, and returning will boil up over the tops of the frames and sides of the hive, thus thwarting all pros- pects of finding the (|ueen, should you wish to do so, as well as making all your manii)ulations very unpleasant. If at any time the bees become rest- less and show a disposition to fly at you from the frames as you are hand- ling them, more smoke will be re(|uired. By giving it at just the right point at this stage, the bees can be kept in quietude until you close the hive ; but if delayed until quite a lot of bees get in the air and commence stinging the person or the clothes worn, nothing short of sufficient smoking to subdue such a colony entirely will answer. Under such conditions I have had al- most literally to drive the smoke down through each range of combs, till nearly the whole colony was out at the entrance, or over on the outside of the hive before I became master of the situation. However, when nothing un- foreseen happens after opening the hive of the most vicious bees, occasionally a few puffs of smoke floated over the tops of the frames is sufficient to keep them in good subjection. With gentle bees it is a very rare thing that I blow any smoke at the en- trance except when a profuse flow of nectar has suddenly stopped. At such times, and with a cool, cloudy day, when all the old field-bees are at home, almost any colony will resent handling without considerable smoke, unless more time is taken to open the hive slowly and cautiously than is at the command of the apiarist who has more than 25 or 30 colonies. Now while I have spoken of opening a hive noiselessly, cautiously, and with- out jarring, do not get the idea that lots of time must be spent on each hive. On the contrary (but always having these points in view), the quicker any hive is opened, throwing the full light onto theco'onyat an unexpected point, the less liable are they to rally to a de- fence. By opening the hive gently but quickly, one will soon get so that be- fore he has a chance to think twice the hive is opened and a frame out. Smoking at the entrances drives the guards from their place as sentinels, while the smoke floating over the tops of the frames seems to tell them " house on fire," while the quickly removed frame throws a flood of light into where it is usually dark, and the whole colony is so demoralized, or thrown out of its normal condition, that a fight for home is not thought of for some little time. If our removal of the first frame is somewhat delayed, the colony relapses into its normal condition, when, unless more smoke is used, they will resent the removal of the first frame. I well remember getting the cover oft' a hive as here advocated, when at that mo- ment an urgent call came from the house. On returning some two or three minutes later, I attempted to lift out a frame without further smoking, and was driven from the field with dis- honor by the onslaught of hundreds of bees pouring from the tops of the frames, almost completely covering me, and singing and stinging at every "'point of vantage " they could find. Where one leaves a hive uncovered in this way, never try to open it further till the bees collected on top of the frames have been stampeded down be- tween the combs with smoke. This is the order for the beginner: Smoke at the entrance first, through the crack under the cover as the cover is raised, then over the tops of the combs until the bees are running down, then removing the first frame quickly to very fast. Don't wait for the bees to fill with honey, let them fill while you are doing what you think is necessary, or not at all. Operating in this way, yi>u will be very free from stings. I often work a whole day with- out a single sting, and at one time two weeks of steady work with the bees was done with only one sting, and that from pinching one when holding a frame up to the light to see if any eggs were in the cells. One other point before closing: If through some mishap, or not getting the desired subjection expected, a dozen, more or less, of cross bees get into the air and persist in following us about like a "bodyguard," little peace can be had in the work of the apiary as long as these bees live. They are al- most sure to be on the alert for you as soon as you enter the apiary, and keep this "guarding" up day after day. Stand up straight with your back to the wind, if there is any, when all of these bees will attack you from the front, when with a shingle, fence-sep- arator, or a paddle of wood and wire- cloth, made for the purpose, they can all be killed in less time than it takes to tell how it is done. But if the day is still it will take longer, as at such a time they will scatter all about you so that only one at a time may be hit. But no matter what the day is, the killing of these angry bees is the only chance of any peaceful work in the apiary for many days to come. Borodino, N. Y. Requeening^When and Why BY ARTHUR C. MILLER. That fall is the true beginning of the bee-keepers' year is gradually becom- ing recognized. The season's crop is very largely dependent upon the atten- tion given to the bees the preceding fall, and the principal feature of such attention is the requeening of the colo- nies. The more progressive among the bee-keepers regularly each fall re- move all the queens from their bees and put in young ones. That the very highest results may be secured some are taking the pains to have all the young queens reared from the same mother, and as nearly as possible hatched at the same time. To remove a vigorous queen doing full duty in a colony and replace her with a new one seems to many persons to be a grievous loss, but nevertheless it is the most profitable thing to do. Though a queen may be up to the highest grade in work this fall, next year, when most needed, she fails to meet requirements. Some queens, so far as can be seen, do just as good work the third season as the first, but it is impossible at present to predeter- mine which queens will he good the second or third year. Breeding of bees has not yet progressed to that point where characters are fixed, and until they are, and until the bee-keepers rear more uniformly well-grown queens, it will be wise to follow the plan of an- nual requeening. And even under this method, and with the best of care, some (jueens will not produce colonies as good as the others. The best time to requeen depends somewhat upon the honey-flows of the section one is in, but it is customary to get the (|ueen in after the main flow and before the last flow of the season. By putting her in after the main flow American ^ec Journal tlie bees' work is not interfered witli, and by getting her in before the last flow opportunity is given her to supply an abunilant population of young bees which will aid in the ripening and plac- ing of the supplies for winter. Suc- cessful wintering of the colony is largely dependent upon the bees hatch- ed late in the fall, and still more impor- tant is the strength they give the colony in the spring when breeding is active. The rapid shrinking of the bee-popula- tion in the spring known as " spring- dwindling " IS due to an excess of old bees and a scarcity of young ones. In the latitude of southern New England, mid-August is the favored time for requeening ; farther north it is done earlier, and farther south later. Sometimes after the queens are put in no nectar is to be secured by the bees, and hence the queens do little or no laying, much to the bee-keeper's dis- appointment and disadvantage. A slight and constant supply of food will cause the queen to lay freely, and the desired population of young bees will be secured. The simplest, most effec- tive and most economical method for this purpose is known as "Simmins' soft-sugar plan." A " division-board " feeder is tilled with the soft, cream- colored sugar variously known as " A" or " CofTee A " sugar, and is hung in the brood-chamber ne.xt to the side of the hive, one or two frames being re- moved to make room. Water should not be added to the sugar. The bees will lick away steadily at this and use it as food. It seems to be all consumed by the bees and the brood, none of the liquefied sugar being stored in the combs. If the bee keeper has neglected to requeen early in the fall, it should not deter him from requeening at all. A young queen put in so late that she will scarcely begin to lay before the colony clusters for cold weather, is far better than an old one left there. Where a colony has a vigorous queen, one that is keeping the popula- tion large, it is the practise of some, in sections where a fall crop is usually secured, not to requeen such colony until after the first killing frost. In the hands of the skilled bee-keeper this is often good policy, but may prove disastrous with a beginner. An advantage of the annual requeen- ing system which is not often spoken of is the uniformity of colony condi- tions produced. If the work was done at the proper time, and at about the same time, all the weak colonies were either thrown in with the others or built up with brood and bees from the others, the following spring all the colonies will be very nearly alike, and if there is superiority in work of one over the other it can be pretty safely attributed to the queen, and she can be used as a breeder for the season's queens. Providence, R. I. Nendelism and Heredity Ap- plied to Bees BY DR. A. F. BONNEY. There are two factors which will have to be dealt with hereafter in rear- ing queen-bees, in addition to the puz- zle of parthenogenesis and the problem of mating and these are Mendelism and Galton's Law of Ancestral Inheri- tance. That some pleasing results have been secured vvhil^ the experimenters have been working in a strictly empirical manner, it is not enough. Bee-keepers are, or have been, satisfied with almost anything. They have accepted queens shipped by mail which could not pos- sibly amount to anything unless to fur- nish eggs for another generation of queens, and such progeny must of necessity be variable if not eternally deficient. So far as I am concerned, I shall never again try to rear queens or good workers from queens sent in any other way than in nucleus and by ex- press. I think one queen secured in this way early in the season will be worth a score sent by mail. Any one wanting to post up cheaply on Mendelism, can secure some fine articles by getting from the Scientific American supplements containing them. These cost but 10 cents each, and are splendid. Those who wish to go deeper into the subject can get from the same office '' Breeding and the Men- delian Discovery," by \. D. Darbishire, at an outlay of but %i. I have another work which costs more, and books can be got tor less (as low as $1), and any of them will be a great help to the stu- dent who, like the writer, wants to go to the bottom of the matter. Briefly recited, Galton's law is that an offspring inherits half of its nature from the parents, a fourth from the grand-parents, an eighth from the great- grand-parents, and so on into the deci- mals. It would seem from this that it would be easy to have several gen- erations of pure-bloods, and thus solve the problem of breeding truly; but, unfortunately — if we may question the Creator's work — there is still another factor to deal with — atavism — the ten- dency to revert to some ancient ances- tral type, a something which, skipping father, will go back of even the grand- father, and from some remote and mean forefather or forbear choose an undesirable trait and spoil our reckon- ing; and the writer suspects that //;/*■ is much more apt to haf'peii -with insects than the higher forms of life. To make much progress in the study of eugenics, biology and heredity, one must be working independent of an in- come, and most of our great experi- menters are, large sums having been set aside for their use, and I regret to find that bee-keepers can not hope to do much. In the first place, our time is limited to two or three months in the summer, and if we fail to get what we want we are obliged to wait an- other year, which makes the rearing, intelligently, of queens, in the north half of the United States, at any rate, about as slow as the rearing of blooded cattle. If this looks unreasonable stop and consider how difficult it is to rear a queen and get her to give you brood (to say nothing of another queen) the same season. Last season I had hardly a drone in my yard on account of a lack of rain. I can imagine the protests which will arise to this, and the advice I shall re- ceive, but I am not alone, and in time may be able to make myself better un- derstood. What I now want is to get bee-keepers to approach .Tiore intelli- gently this matter of breeding bees (queens), for surely a worker which lives but a month can not count. What 1 hope to be able to do — as there are few bees near me, and some of them pretty pure Italians — is to de- velop a strain of bees which I can rear a queen from and say : " .At least two- thirds of the queens reared from this bee will do so-and-so as to honey-gath- ering," for that is what we want, and if a colony will, in a normal season, store 100 pounds of honey, I for one do not care if they swarm every day. It is honey we want, not five yellow streaks, not long tongues (on paper), not bees so gentle that the babies can use them for playthings^y'rt.s-/ honey.' I want to close this rambling article by asking a few questions. Of what use is a .5-banded bee ? Will one or two more yellow bands increase the tendency to store sweets ? I wonder. What bee-keeper in the Un ted States, or the world, has as yet developed a strain of bees which will breed true to type I Remember that we have strains and breeds of pigs, chickens, horses, ducks — almost everything in the way of domestic animals that we can depend upon to give progeny in no way in- ferior to the parents. The breed or strain is developed. Dr. Phillips writes me that the Italian queens we get from Italy are variable, and have to be bred in this country for improvement! Can we ever expect to get the best results by using queens that have been sent by mail, sometimes across the ocean and continent ? Mr. Ed Miles, of the Miles Honey Co., writes me: " Let me whisper in your ear, if you ever lind a queen that has gone through the mails that will produce a colony of bees superior to our best 'mixed bees.' you will have found somethinir I never have, and I've pur- chased quite a few queens through the mail." I'd like to quote his whole letter, as he is intensely practical — and we are " scrapping" all the time. Finally, while Mendel discovered some wonderful things about plants and flowers, it was left for later stu- dents to show equally startling results with mice and the higher vertebrs, and it is now practically demonstrated that his laws will apply to the human race as well. Several years of eugenics and Mendelism makes it seem almost certain that in the latter we have a so- lution of the fundamental problem of heredity, and I want to apply it to the bees. Buck Grove, Iowa. " The Amateur Bee-Keeper " This is a booklet of 86 pages, written by Mr. J. W. Rouse, of Missouri. It is mainly for beginners— amateur bee- keepers—as its name indicates. It is a valuable little work, revised this year, and contains the methods of a practical, up-to-date bee-keeper of many years' experience. It is fully illustrated. Price, postpaid, 25 cents ; or with the Ameri- can Bee Journal one year— both for $1.10. Send all orders to the office of the American Bee JournaL March, 1912. American Hee Journal Dr.Miller*s ^Answers- Send Questions either to the office of the American Bee Journal or direct to Dr. C. C. Miller. Marenuo. [ll. He does not answer bee-keeping questions by mail. Management for Increase. 1. To increase in spring would the following be a good plan : Take from a populous colony that you think will swarm the coming season, one frame of brood with bees and queen adhering, and place this frame in a hive-body filled with empty frames or foundation, placing it under- neath the original body with screening between the two ; supply the old brood- body on top with a new queen in a cage, so arranged that the bees will release her in 3 or 4 days. The top body should have an opening for egress and ingress. By this means I should think that nearly all the fjeld-ibees would go in the new body underneath, and the remaining bees and brood in the top story should readily accept the new queen, and the two com- bined by their mutual heat would rapidly develop. In 3 or 4 weeks the top colony could be removed to a new stand, thus adding more strength to the bottom col- ony. I think it would also be well to place the Alexander feeder under the bottom colony and by thus feeding stimu- late and help rapid increase. 2. If feasible, would you advise that the opening to the top section should be on the same side, or opposite to the lower section? Missourl Answers. — i. The plan ought to work all right, only there is a possibility of -snags. If you operate early in the sea- son, the colony will not be very strong and the weather not very warm, and the division of forces will retard rather than advance progress. As a rule it is not wise to think of dividing before about the time of harvest, and at that time you will have supers in the way. Better not try it on a very large scale. 2. Let both openings face the same way. Then when you take away the upper story the field-bees that return from it will the more readily find the entrance of the lower story. Queen-Cells and Re-queening with Cells, Etc. 1. What do you consider the best method of getting choice cells built? I will say that I have always removed the •queen and brood from a strong colony and fed them 3 days before giving cells. What I wished to know was whether there is a method of producing better celli than the above will. 2. When requeening with cells in a ■cell-protectnr, is it safe to place the ceu in the hive at the time the queen is re- moved ? 3. I want to thank you for the ques- tions you have answered for me. I have troubled you a number of times. I have learned muoh from your question-box. Ohio. .Answers. — i. I don't know. All things considered. I think I would prefer the plan given in "Fifty Years Among the Bees." Briefly it is this : Give to your best queen a frame with small start- ers of foundation. In a week or less the frame will be partly tilled with comb and this will be filled with eggs and young larva. (If the colony be very strong. there is danger of too much drone-como in your frame. In that case it is well to givf- 2 or 3 such frames.) Trim off the edge of the comib so as to leave very few or no eggs. Put this comb in the center of a strong colony from which you have just taken the queen and one frame of brood. You have left all the old frames of brood but one, and of course the bees can build cells on all those old combs if they want to. But they won't want to. That tender virgin comb suits their taste so well that cells will be built upon it entirely, or almost entirely. Of course you don't need to use any wild cells. With their hive left full of brood I fancy the bees may be in a little better heart than if all brood be taken away. At any rate I don't believe it is possible to get better cells by any other way, and the trouble is very little. 2. The cell is supposed to be safe at any time, queen or no queen. It is cov- ered except at the extremitv. and bees tear into cells at the side and not at the end. 3- If others think the same as you about the answers. I suppose we ought to thank you for sending in the questions, for without the questions there would be no answers, .'\llee samee, the kind words of appreciation I get from you and others do me a wihole lot of good, and make me try to make the answers just a shade better in the future than they have been in the past. So send along your ques- tions. Finding Queens with Carbolic Acid— Virgin-Queen Management. 1. In the January number of the Amer- ican Bee Journal, I have read with much interest the item of Mr. Geo. H. Redford, on how to find the queen with carbolic acid. If this works all right without in- juring any bees, what a blessing for the bee-men, as it is sometimes impossible to find the queen when the colony is very strong. What a blessing for the men that need bees by the pound. Now, I would like to know how strong roust be the carbolic acid — is 10 percent all right? 2. What becomes of the drones when all the bees are in the screen box? Will they assimilate with the queen below ? 3. I would also like to know how long 11 virgin queen can be Kept in a Ranch- fuss cage without injuring her welfare as a breeder, — virgin to be kept in the upper story ot a hive, queen-excluder be- tween the two bodies, and reigning queen down below. 4. I have in my mind a plan that would be like this: June ist I would insert a frame with full foundation in my best breeding hive; then 3 days later 1 would put another colony on top, put 2 brood-frames with brood and bees, and the 3-day old foundation comb between the brood, and separate the 2 bodies vrith a queen-excluder, and keep the queen be- low. I suppose th.at the bees will go right at it and build quccn-cells on that comb foimdation. In about 10 days the queen- cells should be capped (June 13th). Now I would cut all the ripe queen-cells, put them in Rauchfuss cell protectors (with candy in the hole, so that when queens emerge they have something to eat), and hang the cells in Rauchfuss cage in a Hoffman frame in the same hive-body for further use. After all the queens emerged, sometimes by June 15th. the white clover will be blooming, and now will be my time to shake all my colonies for the comb-honey harvest, the usual way, * to put a new hive with full foundation on the old stand, and the beeless brood on a new stand. Now I would requeen all my colonies by killing all the queens, and in the even- ing of the same day, let a virgin run in each of these queenless hives where there is no brood, only supers on top The rest of my virgins I would put in each of these beelessjbrood hives I have shaken off, and if I have any virgins to spare, I would keep and feed them in Rauchfufj cages until I am sure that every queen is safely introduced, and is also laying after she is mated. Do you think thif will work all right, or will it reduce my honey crop? Or do you think to do the same plan I have mentioned after the honey-flow is over, the end of July or the first part of August ? But I have heard that the best queens are reared in the honey season, so I would prefer the first plan if pos- sible. 5. To put the virgins in these (brood- lessj) beeless hives, but full of brood that I have shaken off. must I leave some bees in the hives for the virgins, or will bees hatch out fast enough to take care of the virgins? I intend to put those vir- gins directly in without a cage. 6. When shaking a colony into a hive with new foundation, is it necessary to put in one frame of brood with queen to hold the bees, or will it work just as well to put in only foundation and no brood at all? Wisconsin. Answ'ers. — I. I think it is a fair sup position that Mr. Redford uses the acid undiluted. He puts 3 or 4 drops on top of the fuel in his smoker. So few drops as that would hardly have enough driv- ing power if he used a 10 percent solu- tion. A 10 percent solution might do to moisten a cloth with which to drive bees, but 3 or 4 drops in a smoker is quite a different thing. 2. The drones will be caught with the queen. If very many in number, they will of course make some trouble as to seeing the queen. 3. I should say the shorter the time of such confinement the better. Still I've had a virgin confined 2 or 3 weeks with- out seeming to be hurt by it. At other times I've found her dead in less than that time. 4. You can tell best how a plan will work out by putting it actually to the test ; but it may be well to mention some things in which there may be variation from the program you have laid out. June I you put a frame of foundatioB in your best colony, and you expect to find it filled with eg.gs 3 days later. You may not be disappointed, and again you may. The queen may lay in that frame in less than 24 hours, and she may not lay in it until a week or more has passed. I remember putting in such frames and in some cases the bees plumped them full of honey, just as if they supposed they had been put in for surplus honey. But suppose the queen begins to lay in that found.Ttion within an hour after you have put it in the hive, although such a thing is exceedingly unlikely. Then 3 days later, which will be June 4 (not June 3), you put that frame of found;ition with its eggs into an upper story over an excluder, and you suppose the bees will go right at.it to start queen-cells in it. Very un- March, 1912. American Hee Jonrnalj likely. Bees rarely build post-constructed, or emergency, cells over eggs. They pre- fer larva; to eggs, and as there are larvae in the combs of brood on each side of the foundation-frame, those larvae would be what they would use if they should start cells right off. However, they are not likely in any case to start cells so soon over the excluder, so long as there is a laying queen under it. I don't know for certain what is the average, but so nearly as I can remember I think they will be spry enough if they start cells in 3 or ^ days. Before we get any farther, however, it may be welU to mention that there is a good deal of danger that you will be dis- appointed as to the number of cells started. A good laying queen is below the e.tcluder, and the bees are in no great panic about getting the cells started, and what's more, they are not greatly im- pressed with the need of starting a large number. So there may be only one or two started, and that would hardly suit your purpose. Suppose, however, there is no hitch in the program, and that the queen begins to lay in the foundation within a minute after it is put in the hive, and the bees start cells within a minute after it is put over the excluder. In that case you would not have virgins emerging from their cells June 15, as you figure, but June 16 at the very earliest, for 15 days is as short a time as you can count on from the laying of the egg to the emerging of the virgin. With all the chances for delay, June 20 might come nearer the mark. "This matter of delay, however, is not a thing of vital moment, but the probability of a small number of cells and the possibility of none at all may be serious. On the whole, you will do well to put that frame of foundation with its eggs into the cen- ter of a strong, colony from which you have removed the queen, and then you will come pretty close to the plan given in "Fifty '^ears Among the Bees," which plan I have followed with great satisfac- tion. You will now shake a swarm, kill the queen, and in the evening run in a vir- gin. If the virgin be young enough, she will not be ;nolested, but the loss of the laj-ing queen when there is not as yet very much done in the way of starting a brood-nest will have a discouraging effect on the bees, and may cause an unpleas- antly large number of colonies to desert their hives. Some of the virgins will be lost on their wedding flight, but even if there be no such loss, it will be 8 to 16 days before they will be laying, meaning the loss of just so much in the strength of the col- ony which may mean a serious loss in the honey-crop. If you wait till later you can still rear your queens without interfering with tie honey-crop, unless the harvest should be very late. 5. The virgins may be all right with- out any bees, but the loss of brood is to be considered, and if a cold night sbouiu come it may be very hea\-y. Even with good weather it is better to leave enough bees to feed and keep warm the young brood. 6. Better have the frame of brood. Without it there will likely be cases of desertion. But some think it better to take out the frame of brood after 3 or 4 days. Bees Robbing Weak Colony. When a person goes into his apiary and finds bees robbing out a weak colony, what is the best thing to do? I just found the bees robbing out a weak colony, and I did not know what to do. Arizona. Answer. — Just what is best to do de- pends upon how weak the colony is, what kind of a queen it has, etc. If it has a good queen, and has frames enough to cover 3 or more frames of brood, then it is worth while to make efforts to save it. If the robbing has been going on only a little while, it takes less efforts to stop it than after it is well under way. Closing the entrance so as to leave room for only one bee to pass at a time may be enough. Painting carbolic acid about the entrance will help. Indeed, enough carbolic at the entrance will stop a pretty bad case, but the carbolic must be renewed as often as it loses its strength. A pretty good plan is to pile hay or straw in front of the hive and a little hay at each side, making it as high as the top of the brood-chamber, and then keeping it well drenched with water. Perhaps better than either of these is to take the hive down cellar, keep- ing it dark, and leaving it there two or three days. But when you take the hive from its stand, be sure to put in its place an empty hive similar in appearance to the one removed. Unless you do this, as soon as the robbers find a vacancy where their prey was, they will think they have made a mistake as to the hive, and will pitch into one of more of the neighbor ing hives. If they find an empty hiv« in the old place, they will think it has been all robbed out and will give it up. In probably the majority of cases, un- less the robbing has been started by some foolishness on the part of the bee-keeper, there is something wrong with the queen and the colony is not worth saving. In that case it is best to do nothing. Let the robbers go on and clean out the hive, and when they are done they will quit, whereas if you meddle in any way there may be some danger that it will start the robbers at some neighboring colony. Plans for the Prevention of Swarming What are the Alley and the Swarthmore plans to prevent swarming? California. Answer.— I don't know. It there is any special plan of swarm-prevention called the " Alley plan " or the "Swarthmore." I do not remember to have seen it. Getting Brood -Combs Drawn Out How and when is best to have brood- combs drawn out. or made from full sheets of comb foundation ? Kansas. Answer.— Give such frames of foundation any time when bees are gathering more than enough honey for their daily needs, if you think they will not stop gathering before they have time to finish the combs. Of course, thafsas much as to say that the very best time is at the beginning of a harvest that you have good reason to expect will last two weeks or more. A strong colony, of course, will need less time than a weak one. Sweet Clover — Cleome— Rape — Minnesota Bee- Country 1. How far north and south will sweet clover thrive and do well ? Would it do well in cut-over timber lands ? 2. Where can the seed of the Rocky Moun- tain Bee-Plant [CUorne iiiteeri/otiii\, i\\^t Da- dant in " First Lessons in Bee-Keeping " re- fers to. be secured? Would it be a good thing to plant here ? 3. Has rape any honey-value to make it worth planting for bees alone? When should it be planted to yield the most honey? 4. What kind of a bee-country is northern Minnesota going to be where it has been logged off ? Does it offer any better possi- bilities to the bee-keeper than the Ozark country of Arkansas ? Iowa. Answers —I. I suppose if sweet clover may be considered as having any native place it is Bokhara, in Asia, about 40 de grees north of the equator. .•\t any rate.it is called "Bokhara clover." and years ago that was the chief name for it. According to that, one would suppose that it would be at its best on the parallel of 40. which runs centrally through Ohio. Indiana. Illinois. LItah. and Nevada. But it does not seem to be very limited as to its habitat. I think it succeeds about as far north as bees are gen- erally kept. Mrs. Lucinda Harrison failed to make it grow in Florida, but I have an im- pression that it succeeds as far south as Florida, in Texas. It ought to do well in cut-over timber-lands. 2. Leading seedsmen should have it, or be able to get it for you. 1. Rape is a fine honey-plant, but neither that or any other plant will pay to sow for honey alone, unless it be on waste land where it will take care of itself. Spring is probably as good a time as any to sow rape. 4. It ought to be good. I don't know how it will compare with the Ozark country of Arkansas. Caging Queens and Making Increase 1. In"ABCof Bee Culture." Mr. Somer- ford says in speaking of increase, page 310, to " cage queens in all your fancy stock." release explain. 2. Can you cage a queen and put her in a colony having a laying queen ? If so. how long can she be kept there ? California. Answers. — I. He says. "Remove the queens or cage them in all your fancy stock." That is. remove or cage them in tliose colo- nies you want to start queen-cells, since a queenless colony will be sure to start cells. It is well to understand, however, that a col- ony with its queen caged is not so certain to start cells as one which has no queen in the hive, nor is it likely to start so many cells. 2. Yes. and she may remain weeks, or she may be dead in a few days. She will be more sure to remain in safety if the cage is pro- visioned than if she has to depend upon the bees to feed her. Preventing Swarming — Half-Dead Bees 1. If I put on the supers before the bees swarm, will that keep them from swarming? 2. Some of my colonies are now {Feb. 81 carrying out quite a few bees about half dead. What do you think is the cause of it ? Texas. Answers.— 1. Sometimes it will; gener- ally it will not. Givingplenty of room is one of the things that helps to prevent swarm- ing, but it is only a help, and not a reliable preventive. 2. It may be that the larva; of the wax-moth, or " wax-worms." as they are called, have made their galleries along the cappings of the sealed brood, mutilating the young bees in the cells, which are tnen dragged out by their older sisters. Feeding Thin Syrup 1. How thin a sugar syrup may be fed to bees without danger of spoiling after taking into the hive ? 2. Is there any ingredient that may be put into the syrup to obviate the difficulty ? and are there conditions as to weather, or other- wise, affecting the matter ? 'Virginia. Answers.— I. Early in the season, when bees are flying daily, it will do no harm to feed them syrup just as thin as they will take it, say one part sugar to 10 of water. And the same is true until fairly late in the season. As the weather begins to be cool toward fall, the syrup must be given thicker and thicker, lest the bees do not have time to evaporate it sufficiently, and as late as November it will not be well to feed a thin- ner syrup than 2 parts sugar to one of water, and 2j^ of sugar to one of water is still better. 2. The weather does not make very much difference, although the drier the weather the less danger of too much water. But I don't know of anything that you could put into the syrup to counteract the effect of too much water, unless it would be a sheet of blotting paper, and I'm afraid that would hardly answer. Cleansing Beeswax — Comb and Extracted in Same Super 1. 1 have about 40 pounds of beeswax which I rendered from old combs that I intend sending to the factory to be worked into foundation. The cakes are dirty. How can I remelt and clean the wax ? 2. Can I use shallow extracting frames in March, 1912. American Hee Journal the reeular dovetailed super with part of tlie space Hlled with comb-honey sections, and produce both in the same super to yood advantage ? Wisconsin. Answers.— I. The chief secret of getting tlie impurltes out of wax lies in keeping it liquid a long time so that the impuriiies will settle toihe bottom, or. as it Is generally expressed, letting it cool slowly. NIelt the wax in a vessel of tin. or something else than iron, liavjng some soft water with it. When heated it may be allowed to cool in the same vessel, or the wax may be poured into an- other vessel The larger the body of wax of course the longer it will be in cooling, and so the better chance for the impurities to settle. A considerable quantity of water helps also to keep the whole body warm longer. Cover over closely in any way you like, and you may also wrap something around the whole to retain the heat. If it be set on a cook-stove at night with a slow fire, and the fire allowed to die down, that will help. All of these things, you will see. are for the purpose of keeping the wax hot as long as possible. When cold, of course the dirt is to be scraped off the bottom of the cake. 2. Yes. some think this a desirable thing to do. Just how much advantage there may be in it depends upon your market. If you can dispose of extracted honey to good ad- vantage then the plan is advisable. If you have no market lor extracted, and a good market for comb, then the plan is not advis- able. Hive-Ventilation in Outdoor Wintering What is the least ventilation that will surticefora strong colony outdoors during freezing weather ? The hive entrances of several of my colo- nies became blocked with solid ice during a very cold time suddenly following a day during which the water and soft snow col- lected upon the alighting- boards, and I would use a lower chamber with additional ventilation high up. if too large a hole is not necessary. Virginia. Answer.— For a strong colony an entrance 8x/4, 4XJ2, or any other size equivalent to 2 square inches is little enough Your idea of a lower story with an entrance high up is good. You might do worse than to bore a small hole in the front of your present hive, half way between bottom and top. So long as the entrance is clear to the botlom.no matter what size, there is always some dan- ger of its being closed if there comes a damp snow to clog the entrance and then freeze. I suspect you would be well pleased with bottomb-boards 2 inches deep. They're great in summer-lime used with a bottom- rack to prevent building down, and in win- ter you could close the lower part of the entrance and have the opening nearly 2 inches from the bottom. That would meet your difficulty, and also get rid of the dan- ger of having the entrance clogged with dead bees. Caging a Queen in Own Colony How long can a queen stand confinement caged within her own colony without in- jury? My experience in that line is not sufficient, as I wish the information from diDcriHt localities for the benefit of bee-men under present conditions here. California. Answf.r.— I've had a largeexperience with queens thus caged for 10 days, and it seemed to do them no harm. Beyond that my ex- perience is limited. In a few cases they may have been caged ? weeks. Will others, especially Californians. give us their ex- perience ? Preventing Honey-Granutation 1. I am surprised at the people in general tiere in .San Francisco in regard to pure honey. How hard it is to convince them that honey will granulate from exiiosureto the cold. Nine-tenths of the people do not believe that they get pure honey; as they are so accustomed to being humbugged they expect itat every corner. I tell them the pure food law does not allow any one to misbrand or mislabel goods pure unless they are really such. I have competitors telling their customers their honey will not granu- late, I think they use something to keep their packages from granulating. Still they label it " pure" honey. 2. Can vinegar be used to advantage without spoiling the flavor ? If so. how much to the gallon P In the October Ameri- can Bee Journal, glycerine was mentioned as an article to keep honey from granulating. I have much trouble in this matter with most people who do not know or seem to care about pure honey. They say I put too much sugar in it! California. Answers.— I. If there is really adultera- tion in the case, the pure-food authorities might be set on their trail. But the federal authorities have nothing to do in such a case unless the goods in question are shipped from one State into another. Adulterated goods that do not go outside the State are only subject to State laws. 2. It is not advisable to try anything of the kind. Even if it would act satisfactorily, there would then be some ground to accuse you with tampering with the purity of your honey. Possess your soul in patience, and in time you will come out ahead. Patiently explain what granulation is. and some will learn to prefer the granulated honey, while others will, in response to your instruction, learn to liquefy properly the candied article. An Unusual Queen Experience In the spring of loii I had an experience with a queen in one of my hives that I can not account for. The results were sostrange that 1 would like to know if any up-to-date bee-keeper ever had the same experience. Last March I put my bees on the summer stands, and while taking them from the cel- lar t noticed that one colony was very quiet, so when a warm day came I opened the hive and found that there were not over 40 or 50 bees with the queen. As there was plenty of honey in the hive, and not having any use for the queen. I closed it up. About 8 days later I again opened it and found the queen alone on a comb. Thinking that the bees were in the field I waited a half hour, but as none returned I closed up the hive-entrance to prevent the other bees robbing, and left her. About 10 days later, having use for the combs. I opened the hive. You can imagine how surprised 1 was when viewing the combs to find the queen still there as quiet as if the hive were full of bees. I did not have the heart to kill her. and in the end I went to a strong colony and took a frame with all the bees and placed it in the new hive with the lone queen. On the fourth day I opened it, expecting that they had killed the queen, or returned to their own hive, but judge my surprise when I found the queen all right with a small batch of brood, which, by July, was as strong a col- ony as the rest. Now. this may be a com- mon thing to some of the older bee-keepers, but I thought that a queen could not live alone. Illinois. Answer.— You have had a unique experi- ence. At least I never heard of such a case before. To be sure, it is the usual thing when a colony dies for the queen to be the last to succumb, but to have the queen live all alone as late as in .\pril for 10 days is what you will probably never experience again. Keeping Bees from Objectionable Places Referring to the editorial on "Salt and Vinegar in Syrup," in the January issue of the American Bee Journal, can you tell how salt should be used to keep the bees from such objectionable places as Pxlitor Herrod mentions when no syrup is fed P I have no- tired bees at such places at different times during the summer months when the bees were gathering their own stores, but. of course, it would not be feasible to feed syrup the year around for the sole purpose of giving the bees salt. Perhaps you know of some other way of keeping the bees from these places. If so. any information you may give will be greatly appreciated. New York. Answer.— The first question to be an- swered is: What is the attraction for the bees at these places which are objectionable to bee-keepers ? If we know that, there is a fair chance to offer a greater attraction elsewhere. For a long time it was lienerally held that salt is what the bees were after. In that case the thing to do is to offer salty water in an unobjectionable place. Latterly, however, there is a growing belief that the salt has little or nothing to do in the case, but that warmth is the attraction. The bee prefers warm water, and very likely prefers to be in a warm, sheltered place while it is loading up with water. That gives us our cue. Give the bees water in a sheltered, sunny place, where the water will be com- paratively warm, and as David Harum says. " Do it fust." For bees are great creatures of habit, and if you offer them water in a desirable spot befoie they get in the habit of going elsewhere it will be a great point gained. Having chosen a desirable watering-place. I know of no better way to give the water than to give it in a pail. tub. or other vessel, with a layer of cork-chips on the surface of the water. Any grocer who gets grapes in cold weather in kegs will have these cork- chips to throw away, for they come as pack- ing for the grapes. A layer something like an inch thick or less will answer. They will last for a whole season, but as the season advances they \\\\\ become soaked so that it will be well to renew them, or at least to add some fresh chips. There must not be so few chips that the bees will drown, nor so many that the bees can not easily reach the water. Some keep the water warm by means of a lamp. If. however, the bees have already made a start at some objectionable place, and that place is known, it may be possible to drive them from it by a sprinkling of a solution of carbolic acid. If you think the bees want salt, then add salt to the water you offer. Caucasians and Carniolans Is the Causcasian bee a bad one to swarm ? Is the Adel bee a sort of Carniolan bee. and can it be kept in an a-frame hive? What kind of a cross would it be ? Is it true that Carniolans are bad swarmers ? Illinois. Answer.— The Caucasians have not the reputation of being great swarmers. but the Carniolans have. There is no such race as Adels. The word "Adel " is a German word which Germans spell " Fdel." and the word means noble or excellent. So any one may call his bees .-Vdels. whether they are black or yellow; only, of course, it will be a mis- nomer if applied to poor bees. Fastening Foundation in Brood -Frames In using full sheets of foundation, even "medium brood" happened to warp, and after the combs were finished ihey showed an uneven surface, although they were put in true and straight and fastened on all sides, except below, with melted wax. To avoid this in the future my plan is to fasten a ?2-inch strip in the middle of a Langstroth frame, running from top to bottom of the frame. The foundation comb then is cut crosswise in two, and fastened the same way as full sheets are. The combs being thus supported in the middle would likely re- main more even and would not sagas they do when fastened in the usual way. My way of fastening foundation in brood- frames is simple. I take a board larger than the frame, and on this board I fasten an- other board which goes inside the frame, and thick enouijh to occupy half the space of the frame. An empty frame is put on this board and thus the foundation sheet will come right in the middle of the frame. I use a spoon to pour on the melted wax. Would you advise me to put a strip in each frame as described above? Indiana. Answer.— Your scheme will work all right if you do not object to the wooden strip in the center of your frame. Some would pre- fer to use'splints or wires. Another plan is to paint the upper part of the foundation with melted wax. Management of Increase. Etc. I. I want to increase my coUuiies without natural swarming, when they are strong in bees, and I want to have 7 or 0 frames of brood next May. I will try to build up with my first colony, set the hive off the stand, replacing a hive filled witli frames having full sheets of foundation. Then I want to find the queen of the colony just taken from the stand, and take the frame of brood she is on with all adhering bees, and put it in the center of the new hive, having first taken one or two frames of foundation to make room for the easy introduction of the frame of brood, bees and queen. I place a queen-excluder over a new hive, and set the old colony on top. I want to get queen-cells reared in the top. Five days later I intend to set the old lor top) hive on a new stand. Will queen-cells be reared in the top? I will feed them properly, when they will be ready in countless numbers to enter the field of sweets. arcli. 1912 American ^ee Joiirnajj J I want to make a few nuclei next May .hine. I want to take one frame of iiad containiiis; worker-eKtrs. some ciueen- lis. and bees just crawling out of their Us. witliout a queen, and put it into an . inpty liive, and put a board in the middle M make the smallest room for the baby t .'louy Is it a grood plan ? I intend to take -I'liie frames of brood from other colonies 1 !h1 shake or brush down young bees 10 aive ire bees to the nuclei, at noon. Can K.-en-cells be reared safely .'' i. Can I put fresh snow over the entrances of the bee-hives when the coldest, windy days come ? 4. If queen-cells appear in any bee hive, can I cut them off at all. as I do not want swarms ? 5. Will the colony be stronir in numbers if queen-cells are cut off ? Should 1 >:ive more room ? Will they build up combs quickly and gather honey fast ? Indian.^. .Answers.— I. They may start cells and they may not. You will be more sure of cells, and will have more cells if you take away the queen for a week. 2. If 1 understand you rinlitly you will have only one frame for the nucleus. At least you should jiut a frame of honey, or partly HUed witii honey, on each sideof your frame of brood. Then if you add enough young bees, as you suggest, you can rear good queens provided the queen-cells are ad- vanced enough so the young queens are about ready to emerge. If the cells have not been sealed very Ions when given to the nuclei, you can not count on good queens. 3. It will be all right if the snow is dry. If the snow is wet and packs together it may smother the bees. 4. If you cut out all queen-cells it will de- lay swarming. Generally, however, the bees will start cells again, and if you keep cutting them out the bees will sometimes swarm without a queen-cell in the hive. Simetimes. however, cutting out the cells will prevent swarming entirely. 5. Cutting out cells will not interfere with the strength of the colony, nor with build- ing nor storing. Last Season Good for Bees Last season was a good one for bees. I sold $14 worth of honey from 2 colonies, be- sides what we used ourselves, and also in- creased to 3 colonies. So far this winter I have lost but one colony out of 5. Last win- ter I lost 3 out of 5. Bees were flying for the first time today since December, igii. Riverside. Iowa. Feb. lu. Wm. Zahs, Jr. all bred from my best queen. Some other colonies which were just as strong were far behind in storing honey, f don't know why this is. but 1 think it pays well for every bee- keeper to work a little in this direction. A Iirolilic queen in a strong colony during a honey-flow will produce eggs for good queens if such a colony is made queenless. I have tried this with good results, but will not work well during a honey-dearth. Bro. Alphonse Veith. Heavy Loss of Bees in Wintering I don't want to be pessimistic, but. in my opinion, we will have at least a 50 percent loss in bees in this locality this winter. 1 lost one colony, but I got to the others in time to save them. Farmer bee-keepers with 5 or 10 colonies each have lost practically all; some had plenty of honey, but arranged so that the bees could not get over the top of the frames. J. W. Swails. Lebanon. Ind.. Feb. 26. ■Valued at Twice Its Cost I would not discontinue the .-Vmerican Bee .Journal for twice its cost. If at any time you do not receive remittance in good time notify me; but continue the lournal until notified to discontinue. R. H. Lindsav. Aylmer. Ont., Feb. i3. No Snow — Short of Stores Bees are doing fine, having cleaned out their hives in good style. We have not had any snow this winter. Bees have been out everyday the last 4 weeks. Last season the honey-tlow stopped Aug. i8th — no more honey after that, so the bees filled up their brood-nests with bee-bread, and some colo- nies are losing quite a lot of their bees. I am feeding those of mine that need it. Jensen. Utah. G. W. Vangundy. Rather Severe Winter on Bees It has been a rather severe winter on bees here. There will undoubtedly be heavy losses among those wintered outdoors. So far I have lost none, but some of the nuclei will hardly stand it till the blossoms open. Bellevue. Ohio. H. G. OuiRiN. A Terrible Winter in Minnesota This has been a terrible winter thus far. and the lowest known thermometer in the 41 years that i have been in Grand Meadow. For 13 days the mercury did n6t get up to zero, and for 54 days it did not get up to the freezing point. 1 think that H of all the bees have died out here during the last 2 years. There has been no white clover honey for 2 years, and I have not taken 10 pounds of surplus honey during the last 2 seasons. It Is very discour- aging; but " never say die." C. F. Greening. Grand Meadow. Minn.. Feb. 20. Prospects Better for 1912 We have had bad bee-keeping here for 3 years on account of drouth. There was but very little surplus honey last year, as most of our bees died. I think the prospects are better for this year. Honey is 25 cents per pound here. Catharine Wainwkight. Tilton. Iowa. Feb. 22. Grafting Wax Take 4 pounds of rosin, one pound of bees- wax, one pint of linseed oil. Put in an iron pot and heat slowly. When all is inixed pour in cold water and then work it by pour- ing in until it is light color, but put oil on the hands before working it. Lay it away in a cool place until you need it. It will never run. If the day is warm when you are graft- ing, better moisten your hands with water occasionally, and work the wax around the graft. Loiis Werner. Edwardsville. HI. Improving the Honey-Bee Among the many articles which I read on this subject, that of .Arthur C. Miller, on page .!;o. seems the best for me. For some years I practised on a small scale the plan which he describes, and I have found that it works fine. My experience is. that by breed- ing from the best will soon improve an api- ary at least 50 percent. For example, one colony stored 75 pounds of surplus honey in loil. and went into winter quarters with an abundance of stores, and several others were of the same quality in storing honey. Rearing Brood — Sawdust for Pollen We had an average flow of honey in the late summer and fall of ion. and our bees had abundant stores when they went into winter quarters. We have had a very cold and disagreeable winter, but in spite of all the snow and bad weather my bees have already commenced rearing young bees. The weather has been pretty warm for the last few weeks, during the day. but snow still shows up at present. Yesterday I opened one of my hives to see if the bees were short of stores, and found young brood already sealed. Say. did any one ever see bees use saw- dust for pollen ? Last spring I saw them flying around the sawdust pile at a sawmill near by. 1 began to watch, and found they were working the finest part of the dust on their legs just as though it were pollen. This spring I have seen them do the same thing. It was oak sawdust, so they must have wanted it for a substitute for pollen. ^ , Georue Gunther. Cushman. .\rk.. Feb. 24. Coldest Weather in Years My bees did very well last year, but the most they gathered was fall honey and yel- low in appearance. 1 am wintering my bees on the summer stands — the first time in 20 years— and it has been the coldest winter since Jan. ist for I don't know how many vears. Jos. Hentrich. Granton. W is. Good Results in 1911 I have only 2 colonies of bees I bought in the spring of iQio. I had not a single swarm. but more honey from a single colony than any other man around here. Last year was considered a poor one. but I got over 200 pounds of comb honey from 2 colonies I commenced feeding as soon as the bees came out of the cellar, and when the blos- soms came I had a good, strong colony of bees. I put on the first super when the trees were in bloom, and kept putting on supers when they were about half full so the bees had always plenty of room. For feeding I give one-half sugar and one-half water, and then had a box with ground corn standing in the garden. I used flour, too. but the bees would not take the flour, but were working in the ground corn— more bees there than at the hive on a warm day Ogden. Iowa. M. H. Rosacker. The King Bee-Keeper— Dry Spell Mr. S. M. W. Easley. of this (Ventura county, is 70 years old. and one of the pio- neer bee-keepers of this State. He has kept bees for 53 years, and has harvested many carloads of honey in his time. In 1884 he had the largest crop of honey that ever had been taken up to that time. He started that season with 560 colonies of bees, in- creased them to 1250 colonies, and extracted 81 tons of honey; and had it not been for the death of a son during the honey-flow he would have added many more tons to this amount. The location he had at that time has but a small amount of the sages growing now. as the plow. fire, and cultivation have wiped out the greater part of the forage. We are having the worst spell of dry weather we have had for many years, and unless we have rain soon many apiaries will starve out. The loss of bees will be great. M. H. Mendleson. Ventura, Calif., Feb. 12. Connecticut Convention. — The annual meeting of the Connecticut Bee-Keep- ers' Association for the election of officers, etc., will be held Saturday, April 13, 1912, at the Y. M. C. A. Build- ing, Hartford, beginning at 10:30 a.m. The matter of forming a branch of the National Association will be discussed. Good speaking assured. James A. Smith, Sec. Hartford, Conn. " Scientific Queen-Rearing " No other book compares with this one written by Mr. G. M. Doolittle. He is an expert in the business. It tells just how the very best queens can be reared. Bound in cloth. By mail, $1.00; or with the American Bee Journal, one year — both for $1.00. In leatherette binding, 75 cents, postpaid ; or with the .American Bee Journal one year — both for $1.2.5. Send to tlie American Bee JournaL Marcli, 1912. American Bee Journal Plants True to Name.— Buyers of nursery plants are confronted witli the problem of securing the varieties of fruits and shrubs they want. True.it is not difiicult to find the names of the varieties desired in the catalogs. But after carefully unpacking, planting and cultivating, too often only dis- appointment awaits us at fruiting time. Be- cause of these experiences with unscrupu- lous growers of nursery plants, the purchas- ing public has rightfully grown suspicious. The result is that they have placed a pre- mium on the man and his stock whom they can trust implicitly. W. l'\ Allen, of Salis- bury. Md.. has 120 acres planted to straw- berries alone, in which there are over too varieties. Besides strawberries. Mr. Allen grows raspberries, blackberries, gooseber- ries, currants, grape-vines, California privet, and other small shrubbery on a large scale. His advertisement appears in our columns, and we suggest any one wishing to buy any nursery plants will do well to write for his catalog. He guarantees every plant to be true to name, and sends a booklet on cul- tural directions free with each order. Please mention the American Bee Journal when writing. * ■ » Bee-Supply Catalogs received at this office are as follows: G. B. Lewis Co., Watertown, Wis. Arnd Honey c& Bee-Supply Co.. 148 W. Superior St.. Chicago. Ill, A. I. Root Co.. Medina. Ohio. Dadant & Sons. Hamilton, III. F. A. Snell. Milledgeville, III. H. S. Duby. St. Anne. III. A G. Woodman Co. Grand Rapids. Mich. August Lotz & Co.. Boyd. Wis. Marshfield Mfg. Co., Marshfield, Wis. The Opfer Hive-Entrance Bee-Feeder.— In the spring we must feed the bees to have them strong for clover-bloom. With all the present feeders this is a troublesome job— either the hive-bottom or covers have to be taken off every time we feed. With the Entrance Feeder shown herewith, all you have to do is to push it in at the hive- entrance and leave it there until there is no more need of feeding. It contracts the en- trance, and that is what 3'ou want in spring. The size of this feeder is 7xR inches, and J4 inch deep, and holds 5 ounces of feed. You can feed 100 colonies in about 25 minutes. Incase of foul brood you can feed medi- cated syrup and your bees will build up strong and healthy, and be in good shape when clover starts, ready to shake on foun- dation. I have used 75 of these feeders about 8 years, and today they are as good as ever. With proper care they will last a life-time. In spring or in fall most beekeepers neg- lect to stimulate brood-rearing— one of the most important things in having strong colo- nies and good wintering. It does not de- pend so much upon the amount of feed as it does upon regularity every night (unless the weather is too cold), ancf you will won- der where your strong colonies come from. Some of the many good points of this En- trance Feeder are these: 1. It is made of heavy galvanized iron and will last a life-time. 2. It reduces the hive-entrance. 3. It reaches where the bees can get at the feed even in cool weather. 4. It feeds the right amount. 5. It will not cause robbing. 6. It will not disturbthe colony wlille feed- ing. 7. It permits ouick work. 8. The bees will not drown in it. lam in position to furnish all demands for these feeders at the following prices, f. o b. Chicago: One for 20c: sforiSceach; 10 for I6c each; 25 for 15c each: 50 at 14c each; 7.5 at 13c each, or 100 for $12. If ordered by mail, add IOC each for packing and postage. Address all orders to— A. H. Offer, 117 N. Jefferson St., Chicago. 111. Easy to Use.— The Pilling Milk Fever Out- fit and the Pilling Garget Outfit should be on hand now' as the time is at hand when those accidents of par- turition — m i I k- fever and infia- mation of the ud- der 'garget' — are apt to occur. If you save one cow by the use of the Pilling a i r- t r e a t m e n t for milk-fever, or re- store one udder to full secretion that otherwise would make good cow worthless, by the use of the Pilling Ciarget Remedy, you will have saved enough money to purchase the instruments and remedies needed on a dairy farm for the rest of your natural life. They are easy to use, easy to buy : tliey are not expensive— (V^j-r toprescrzre; they last for a good many years. Altogether an easy way to make money — let the Pilling people help you to save it. The Pilling Cattle Case No. 3 contains not only the Milk Fever and Garget Outfits, but several other " easy to use" cattle instru- ments needed by every dairyman and breeder. Write G. P. Pilling & Son Co.. 23d and Arch Sts., Philadelphia, Pa., for their free books on "Easy to Use" cattle instruments. Write now, as you may need some of these goods sooner than you expect. Please mention the American Bee Journal when writing. Have You Received Your Copy of This Book 7— This book is being mailed free to all interested in poultry and egg-production for profit. We believe it is one of the best ever published on the subject. You should not fail to have a copy. It tells all about Cyphers Incubators and Brooders— but it is so much more than a catalog that the Cyphers Com- pany calls it "Poultry Growers Guide for IQ12." And the name fits the book perfectly. In addition to complete description of all the Cyphers styles and sizes of incubators, brooders, as well as over a hundred stand- ard poultry supplies manufactured by the Cyphers Company— this great book contains eight chapters which are almost priceless in their value to the beginner or old-time poul- try-raiser. Even those eight wonderful chapters are not all you will find in the book. Read the opinions of experts on in- cubators and brooders. Read about Cyphers Company Service — the greatest help to big- ger poultry profits since the incubator was first invented. Read about the $1000 Cash GUmuA BY. USA. INCUBATORS. BROODERS POULTRY APPLIANCtS. FOOOS AND STANDARD SUPPLIES To The New Century Queen-Rearing Co. Prize offer. Read about— but get the book. It is bigger than any issue of the American Bee Journal. It weighs a pound Yet it is gladly sent tree to any of our readers who are interested. Simply write a postal card to the Cyphers Incubator Co.. Dept. H3. Buf- falo, N. Y, The book will come at once. FOH Goldens, Caucasians, Carniolans, S-b'd Italians Untested, $1.00;'iTested, $1.50. Write for prices in large quantities. "Right Treatment and Quick Service" is our motto. Address as above, or JOHN W. PHARR, Propr. BERCLAIR, TEXAS. Pleafle mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. Crown BdiieCulter Best Made- Lotrest in Price pKKI) TOLir hfiisc.il crecii tifne * and pit uiure v^f,i. \\\\\\ a Cron n Roue Cutter ymi caa out up nil sortip tjniics easily anil qun^kly, ami witlmul any Irouhlf, oiir frt-c catitl..i!ui'. WILSON BROS., Boi8i4 . Easlon, Pa. t'ficase mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. Italian Bees, Queens and Nuclei Choice Home-Bred and Imported Stock. All Queens reared in full colonies. Prices for April OneTested Queen $1.85 " Select Tested 2.40 " Breeding Queen.. 3.65 Comb Nucleus(no queen) 1.50 H Pound Bees 75 Safe arrival guaranteed. For prices on larger quan- tities and description of each grade of Queens, send for Kree Catalog. Send for sample Comb Foundation. J. L. STRONG, 204 E. Logan St., Clarinda, Iowa. PleAse mentjoo Am. B«c Journal wlten writing. This fine qoc Honey-Spoon and the Ameri- can Bee Journal for one year— both for only St. 75. Send all orders to to George W. York & Co.. 117 N. Jefferson St.. Chicago, III. Souvenir Bee Postal Cards We have 4 Souvenir Postal Cards of interest to bee-keepers. No, 1 is a Teddy Bear card, with stanza of poetry, a straw bee-hive, a jar and section of honey, etc. It is quite sentimental. No. 2 has the words and music of the song, "The Bee-Keeper's Lullaby;" No. 3, tlie words and music of " Buckwheat Cakes and Honey ;" and No, 4, the words and music of "The Humming of the Bees." We send these cards, postpaid, as follows : 4 cards for 10 cents, 10 cards for 20 cents ; or 10 cards with the American Bee Journal one year for $1.10. Send all orders to the office of the American Bee Journal. March, 1912. American T^ee Jonrnalj Wants, Exchanges, Etc. (Advertisements in this department will be inserted at 15 cents per line, with no dis- counts of any liind Notices here cannot be less than two lines. If wanted in this de- partment, you must say so when ordering.] Wanted— House, some land. 50 or more colonies of bees. W. C. Davenport. 2100 Lunt Ave.. Chicago. HI. Sample of Honey 10 years old. and Best Mailinu Case— free. , , 'v^'y C. W. Dayton. Chatsworth. Cal. For Sale.— Bees, honey, and bee-supplies. We arein the market forbeeswaxand honey. sAtf OgdeB Bee & Honey Co.. Ogden Utah. For Sale— Choice light-amber extracted honey— thick, well ripened, delicious flavor. Price 0 cents per pound in new bo-lb. cans. i.Atf J. P. Moore. Morgan. Ky. Barred Rock— bred to lay. and exhibit. Eggs. $2 per 15; $3 per 30. Satisfaction guar- anteed. Louis Van Butsele. 2A2t Rt. 1. Collinsville. IlK Indian Runner Duck Culture Book. In- formation that beginners are looking for, (Special price, 50 cents.) George W. York & Co., 117 N. Jefferson St.. Chicago. 111. Cook's Barred Rocks— Eggs for hatch- ing. Two grand pens. Write for prices. and list of winnings. Fred M. Cook. 3A2t Box 105. Mechanicsville. Iowa. For Sale— Orange Grove. 300 bearing trees on high pine land near Sanford. Orange Co.. Fla. Good condition, near R R. Sta. Sac- rifice price. James Graves. New London. Ct. Penna. Bee-Keei'ERs— Having bought sup- ply business of Geo. H. Rea. I can furnish eomplete line of Root's goods. Full car just in. Catalog free. Thos. H. Litz. Osceola Mills. Pa. Queens — Mott's Strain of Italians and Carniolans. Ten-page list free. Plans of Increase for 15 cts.; also. How to Introduce Queens. 15c; or copy of both for 25 cts. ?A2t E. E. Mott. Glenwood. Mich. Mv System — Union bee-hive and Queen. Will increase both your colonies and honey crop, and improve your stock, making bee- keeping a real pleasure. Cash orders Sio.oo. jAtf Joe Elgner. Box 552. Lavergne. 111. Queens — Italians and Carniolans. Will exchange choice queens for bees by the pound, frame, or hive. Write, stating what you have. Frank M. Keith. t Atf SiM Florence St.. Worcester. Mass. Three Months' Trial for 15 cts. for the bee-iournal that "Grandpa" can read. Large type. New cover design. Eight extra pages. The Bee-Keepers' Review, 230 Woodland Ave.. Detroit. Mich. Wanted— All Southern Idaho bee-keepers to know they can get all kinds of Bee-Keep- ers'Supplies at home. Write for catalog. I have my own factory. C. E. Shriver. 2A4t 1621 Bannock St.. Boise. Idaho. For Sale— California bee-ranch: first-class apiary; concrete buildings in excellent re- pair; good spring water and healthful cli- mate; a comfortable homenear the cleanest town in the United States at moderate price. H. E. Wilder. Riverside. Calif. Wanted —Apiarist who has had experi- ence, and knows how to rear good queens cheaply; who can do any work with bees alone, yet follow instructions when given. Give reference; state wages wanted first letter. H. C. Ahlers, West Bend. Wis Complete Comb Honey Outfit for 1000 colonies, consistingof 460 Colonies of Bees in good condition. Hives with worker-combs, supers filled with sections, etc. Corres- pondence solicited from parties meaning business. Address. Frank Rauchfuss. 1440 Market Street, Denver. Colo. lAst " If goods are wanted quick, send to Pouder." Bee-Supplies Standard hives with latest improvements. Danzen- baker Hives. Sections. Foundation. Extractors. Smok- ers; in fact, everything used about the bees. My equipment, my stock of goods, the quality of my goods and my shipping facilities can not be excelled. PAPER HONEY-JARS For extracted honey. Made of heavy paper and paraf- finc coated, with tight seal. Every honey-producer will be interested. A descriptive circular free. Finest white clover honey on hand at all times. I buy bees- wax. Catalog of supplies free. WALTER S. POUDER, Indianapolis, Ind. 85', Massachusetts .Avenue. Protection Hive Bingham Smokers The best and lowest-priced double - wall hive on the market. This hive has ?8-in. mat e r i a 1 in the outer wall and it is not cheaply made of H material as are some other hives on the mark- et. Send for CIRCULAR s h o w i n tr 12 large illustra- tions. It will pay to inves- tigate. BINGHAM TLEAN BEE SMOKER Manufactured only by Insist on "Old Reliable" Bing- ham Smokers. for sale by all dealers in Bee- keepers'supplies For over .^0 years the standard in all countries. The smoker with a valve in the bel- lows, with direct draft, bent cap. inverted bellows and soot-burning device. Smoke Engine, 4-inch. each. Si. 25; mail, $1.50. Doctor, 3'2-inch. each. 85c; mail. $1.10. Conqueror, vinch. each. 75c; mail. $1.00. Little Wonder. 2-in.. ea.,5oc; mail. 65c. Honey-Knife, bo cents; mail. 80 cents. A. G. WOODMAN CO., Grand Rapids, Mich. Wanted — Choice extracted white and amber honey in barrels or cans. Send sam- ple, and price delivered f. o. b. Preston. iiAtf M. V. Facey. Preston. Minn. QuiRiN's famous improved Ita'ian queens, nuclei, colonies, and by the pound, ready in May. Our stock is northern-bred and har- dy; five yards wintered on summer stands in 1008 and iqoq without a single loss. For prices, send for circular. sAst Ouirin-the-Queen-Breeder. Bellevue. Ohio. Golden and 3-band Italian Queens (strict- ly free from disease). Tested Queens. $i.oo each; 3 for $2.75; b or more. 8s cts. each. Un- tested. 75c each; 3 Queens $2.00; from 6 to 50. 65 cts. each. Bees by the pound. St. 00. Nu- clei, per frame. $1.25. Safe arrival and satis- faction guaranteed. C. B Bankston. 2.Atf Buffalo. Leon Co.. Texas. For Sale— 131 acres of extra-fine farming land in the famous San Saba Valley. All tillable, enclosd with Swire fence; good tank of water. 20 acres fenced off; 10 acres in cul- tivation. Plenty of oak and mesquite tim- ber; good bee-location, ind will grow pecans —near largest pecan orchard in Tex. If sold at once. $35 an acre. L. B. Smith. Rescue. Tex. For Sale— An apiary of 240 colonies with all appliances for managing this number of bees in an up-to-date manner for extracted honey. In the far-famed Hudson River Val- ley, on a location which has not failed in 32 years to give a paying crop of honey. The encroachment of the city, which necessi- tates the removal of the bees, the cause of selling. Correspondence solicited from those only who mean business. James McNeill. Hudson. N. Y. Dr. Peiro will continue to give the readers of the American Bee Journal free advice regarding the subject of Surgical and Medical treatment. Many have availed themselves of this oflfer. Return postage is all you need to send. Address, Dr. Peiro, 2148 Sun- nyside Ave., Chicago, 111. f Famous Queens! From Improved Stock. The Best That Money Can Buy Not inclined to swarm, and as for Honey- Gathering they have few equals. Three - band. Golden, and Carniolans— bred in separate yards; ready March 20th. Untested. $1,00; 6 for Ss; 12 for $9. Tested. $1.50; 6 for $3; 12 for S15.00. Breeders of either strain. $5.00. Nuclei, with Untested Queens — i-frame, $250; six i-frame. $15; 2frame. $3.50'. six 2-fr. $20.40. Nuclei with Tested Queens— i-frame. $300; six i-frame. $17.40; 2 frame, S4. 00; six 2-frame, $23.40. Our Queens and Drones are all reared from the Best Select Queens, which should be so with the Drones as well as the Queens. We guarantee safe arrival and satisfac- "°" D. E. BROTHERS, 2Agt Jacksonville, Ark. Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writinit. American Bee Journal lor 1911 — We have a number of complete volumes of the American Bee Journal for 1911, which we offer for 60 cents for the 12 numbers, as long as they last. Or, should there be among our subscribers those who would like to have any copies of the American Bee Journal for 1911 to complete their volume or other- wise, we will fill such orders at 5 cents per copy. Address all orders to, Geo. W.York & Co., 117 N. Jefferson St.' Chicago, 111. March, 1912. American Hee Jonrnal The Orange : Its Cultivation and Commercial Value The Washington Navel is easily a peerless prince among fruits. To plant and care for it is "a gentleman's job," and when in the hand of a skillful or- chardist, and planted "in the right place," possible cash returns are in- credible. The following item that has been going the rounds of the press in this State has elicited many comments: " C. B. Pulver, of Santa Ana. reports cash returns of $1800 an acre for two acres of oranges just marketed; that is, $i6oo for the two acres. He states that he made no ex- ceptional effort, and gave the trees only the usual allowance of enrichment." This was published in the The Pacific Rural Press of Jan. G, 1912. E. J. Wick- son, Dean of the State University at Berkeley, is editor. He is well known as an eminent authority on citrus fruit, and a most conservative and scrupu- lously careful man. No such item could reach his columns unless he were entirely satisfied as to its truth- fulness. Shall we brand this statement as "incredible," or shall we accept it as probably true ? Similar items have appeared in print frequently in the past 8 or 10 years, the returns given ranging from $.500 to $1200 an acre. Many of these have been so carefully corroborated as to leave no tenable doubt of their truth- fulness. Occasionally it was 20 to .50 acres instead of only two, giving the large returns. But the important point is not the credibility of a few isolated freaks, but rather what may we state as a reason- able average for all the ground planted. One thing is certain, somebody is mak- ing a whole lot of money in California off of fruit in general, and oranges in particular. Official statistics show our people have the largest percapita wealth of any State in the Union, being $223.j for every man, woman and child in the State. New York comes ne.xt with a percapita wealth of $1868. But New York has a percapita State debt of $■57.64, while California's State debt is $9.71, giving us the largest percapita wealth, and at the same time the small- est percapita debt. Surely, our people are not making a financial failure in "the fruit-business." Accepted statistics show we have 10,000 orange-growers, with 70,000 acres in " bearing orchards," and that our people received approximately $:W,0i)0,- 000 cash returns from oranges last year. Dividing the returns by the 70,- 000 acres in bearing, gives a cash re- turn of $485 for every acre reported by our assessors. Again dividing the 70,000 acres among the 10,000 growers, we have but 7 acres for each of them, with an average income of $3400. Haven't we here reasonable justifica- tion for encouragement given to the man who modestly ventures with "just a small orchard " of only 7 acres, ex- pecting to support a family ? But if such returns are actually re- ceived, then what kind of prices are being paid fororchards in full bearing? In nearly all cases we find bearing orchards are bought by investors and for an income. The most nervously careful man you find using money is "the investor." He not only counts the present returns, but he also care- fully calculates the future. When he buys bonds, he must be content with about 5 percent; but the statistics quoted show the gross returns from oranges gives an income of over 17 percent on the accepted statement of $200,000,000 invested in the orange in- dustry. Groves began changing hands but a few years since, at about $-500 an acre. The increase has been steady and strong, and what was once sold for $500 is now held at $1,500, and "the rare cases" reach $3000 to $400(1 an acre. The accepted average yield of $485 is 20 percent on a valuation of $242.5 an acre. This, then, would be States. I answer that Washington Navel oranges can be grown in only one State — there is no other that is "just as good." Furthermore, we are considering "the best quality of the Navels." Such fruit can not be grown " all over California," as we so often hear flippantly stated. The orange is exceptionally arbitrary as to its location — and that is the kind we are talking about. To secure tliis you must plant where there is an abundance of water at small cost; where the climate will insure a perfectly ripe and exquisitely colored orange as early as the middle of No- vember. It prefers "red foot-hill soil" that is deep and rich, underlaid with gravel to insure perfect drainage; where it has " a summer of at least 90 days, over which the temperature never falls below 90 degrees; where there is » /%• t ^)b li ■ |i^ .; W^3j&|\>yj 1 vat^it::'-' i j 1 1 1 Bp y \ >^ff-^FSimf ^T ':' r"' ' ■' .- ^ ,■'- n B 1 H ■ '*:-. ': '■ -, ^ >■ ' ■ ' ' jf ■ "■ , :--■■• Okange-Tkees ok the Sacramento Vallev. Butte Co., Calieokma. the market valuation of the whole 70,- 000 acres. But such a valuation would give us but $169,750,000, while assessors' returns give us $200,000,000 as invested in this industry^this is $30,250,000 short in amount, and means the actual value of a bearing orchard as $2425 is entirely too small, or less than the appraised value. Have we not here ample corrobora- tion of the probability of occasional returns up to $1800 an acre for a single harvest ? $1800 an acre is 20 percent on a valuation of $9000 an acre. But 15 percent is regarded as " a very fair income" on cost of real estate. On such a basis an acre of ground that produces $1800 is worth $12,000. Re- membering that thus far our oldest orange-groves are still increasing in productiveness with age, what shall we say should be accepted as "a reason- able price " for orange-groves when in full bearing ? Oh, but you say such prices for or- chards are absurd, because there is such an enormous amount of unused land where oranges can be grown, and they are now produced in 7 of our no ocean breeze or fog. Not a drop of rain or dew, nor a bit of humidity or scarcely a cloud to obstruct the continuous flow of pure, unadulterated California sunshine." If any of these are wanting, the sun will be in some measure robbed of its chemical powers to the detriment of its quality and loss to the fruit. There must be " no black scale," no smut from scale or from fire-pots used in a desperate battle to " heat all out- doors " and prevent loss from frost. Besides, " for the best results," you require a convenient transportation to save time and cost as well as damage to the fruit from hauling it long dis- tances over rough roads. Only " the perfect fruit" can win the prize. The cheapest fruit in the market is "a defective orange" — it won't pay freight. It is a mistake to plant any fruit where it will not be a/ ifx best, and this especially applies to the orange. I repeat, the land is " strictly limited " where the largest number of oranges per acre of the finest quality, ripe promptly "at the best time," can be grown, and in consequence such March, 1912. 91 American Hee Journal ground has a real value away beyond that yet ascertained or considered. I do not say the time is near when all groves will give a return of $1800 an acre, or $8i)0 an acre, or even far less. I freely grant it is possible even under the most favorable condition to so treat a grove of oranges so that you won't get over $100 an acre, and, in fact, so you ought not to get anything; but all such possibilities prove nothing so long as it remains a fact that one might secure a return of $1800 or $800, or even $400 an acre. Conceding all this, and it still remains true that an acre of ground on which can be grown the finest quality of the Early Washing- ton Navel orange in perfection, is cheap property (if it has convenient market and plenty of water at small cost) at even $1000 an acre for " bare ground," and there is plenty of money in doing so, if you sell the bearing or- chard for $1,500. Whether land is cheap or not de- pends upon what revenue it may be compelled to yield — wo/ first cost. Glad to have you, reader, write me for such further information as you may desire, always mentioning having seen this in the American Bee Journal. E. S. Weeden, /^res. Calif. Land i.^ Development Co. Oroville,' Butte Co., Calif. fully agree with Mr. Hobson's final method of destroying the Great De- stroyer, we do agree with his attitude toward it, and are satisfied he is right in his comprehensive investigations of the subject. Ask for a copy of it. Ad- dress, Hon. Richmond P. Hobson, care House of Representatives, Washing- ton, D. C. *—* "A Year'.s Work in an Out- Apiary" is the name of a booklet by G. M. Doolittle, the well-known honey- producer of New York State. He tells how he secured an average of 114^ pounds of honey per colony in a poor season. It is fully illustrated, and tells in detail just how Mr. Doolittle has won his great success as a honey-pro- ducer. The price of the booklet is 50 cents, postpaid, but we club it with the .•\merican Bee Journal for a year — both for $1.30. Every bee-keeper should have a copy of this booklet, and study it thoroughly. Address all orders to the American Bee Journal, 117 North Jefferson St., Chicago, 111. " The Great Destroyer " is the subject of a great speech by the Hon. Rich- mond P. Hobson, Congressman from .\labama, on the livest topic of the day — the temperance question. We wish that every reader of the American Bee Journal would send for a free copy. It contains the most and best ammunition on the subject we have ever seen in print. While we do not "Bee-Keepers' Guide" This book on bees is also known as the "Manual of the Apiary." It is in- structive, interesting, and both practi- cal and scientific On the anatomy and physiology of the bee it is more com- plete than any other standard Ameri- can bee-book. Also the part on honey- producing plants is exceptionally fine. Every bee-keeper should have it in his library. It has 544 pages, and 295 illus- trations. Bound in cloth. Price, post- paid, $1.20 ; or with a year's subscrip- tion to the American Bee Journal — both for $1.90. Send all orders to *'■•» 'iCce of the American Bee Journal, Beeswax Wanted.— We are paying 28 cents, cash, per pound for good, pure yellow beeswax delivered at our office. If you want the money promptly for your beeswax, ship it to us, either by express or freight. A strong bag is the best in which to ship bees- wax. Quantity and distance from Chicago should decide as to freight or express. Per- haps under 2=; pounds would better be sent by express, if distance is not too great. Ad- dress. George W. York & Co.. 117 N.Jefferson St.. Chicago. III. Please mention Am. Bee SUPERIOR CARNIOLAN QUEENS Write for our paper. "* Superiority of Carni olan Bees." giving our ten years' experience with this race, general description, points of superiority, best system of management of these Bees, prices of our Queens, etc. It's Free ALBERT C. HANN, Scientific Oueeii-Breeder. Pittstown, N, J. Journal when writinR. White Sweet Clover Seed Sweet Clover is rapidly becoming one of the most useful things that can be grown on the farm. Its value as a honey-plant is well known to bee-keepers, but its worth as a forage-plant and also as an enricher of the soil are not so widely known. However, Sweet Clover is coming to the front very fast these days. Some years ago it was considered as a weed by those who knew no better. The former attitude of the enlightened farmer today is changing to a great respect for and appreciation of Sweet Clover, both as a food for stock and as a valuable fertilizer for poor and worn-out soils. The seed can be sown any time. From 18 to 20 pounds per acre of the un- hulled seed is about the right quantity to sow. We can ship promptly at the following prices for the white variety: Postpaid, one pound for 30 cents, or 2 pounds for 50 cents. By express f. o. b. Chicago — 5 pounds for 80c ; 10 pounds for $1.50; 25 pounds for $3.50; 60 pounds for $6..50; or 100 pounds for $12.00. If wanted by freight, it will be necessary to add 25 cents more for cartage to the above prices on each order. 6eorge W. York & Co., 117 N. Jeff, st., Chicago, III. n A D il C C ' Foot-Powsr DAnllCO Machinery Read what J. L Parkkt, of Chaxl- ton, N. Y.. says- "We cut with on« of your Combined MachlncB, lart winter. 60 chaff hires with 7-in. cap, 100 honey-racks, 600 brood -frame*. 2,000 honey-boxes, and a great deal of other work. ThiBwlnt*r we hava double the amount of b««-blTe8,eto^ to Diake.andwe expect to do Itwlt^ this Saw. It will do aU you say U wUl." Catalog: and piice-Ust Craa. Addrat, W. r. ft JOHR B ARHSS. M6 Knky St.. &a«kfer4, IlL Please mention Am. Bee Joamal when writinc. Danzenbaker Victor Bee-Smoker 3MX6 INCHES. Shown above in a standing and reclining position. In the latter the grate is under. that it may have a full head of smoke ready on the job at a touch of bellows. The perpendicular Fire-Draft GratCi forc- ing air both ways, makes and cools the smoke, forming a Double Fire-Wall for se- curely riveting: the double-braced brackets to the cup, that is firmly bolted to the valve- less bellows by Locked Nuts. The One-Piece cap can not clog. It is the coolest, cleanest, strongest, best, and larg- est net capacity of all smokers, selling at onedollar ^$i.oo). We guarantee satisfaction. Price, postpaid. Si. oo; or with the Ameri- can Bee Journal one year — both for $1.70. Address. GEORGE W. YORK & CO., Ill N. Jefferson St.. CHICAGO. ILL. Pleafif mention Am. R«« ToumaJ whea wriiiafl. WANTED white HONEY Both COMB and EXTRACTED Write us before dispos- ing of your Honey Crop. Beeswax -W.'\ NT ED- HILDRETH & SEGELKEN, 265-267 Greenwich SL, NEW YORK, N. Y. PleaM mentioii Am. Bee Journal whcm March, iptS. American Hee Joarnal LEWIS BEEWARE Shipped Promptly ARND HONEY & BEE-SUPPLY CO. ^nc^ Successors to tlie York Honey & Bee-Supply Co. Send for Catalog. 148 West Superior St., CHICAGO, ILL. Enough said ! Kleasf mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. THE SECRET OF Success in Bee- Keeping Is to Keep Your Colonies Strong ; to do This You Must Have GOOD LAYING QUEENS Wliich We Guarantee at tlie Following Prices: Golden 3-Band Italian Carniolan Untested — I for $i.oo; 6 for S5-4o; 12 for $0 60; 25 for $17.50 Tested — I for Si-so; hforSfiao; 12 for S15.60; 2S for S30.00 Nuclei with Untested Queen— i-frame, $2.50; six i-frame, $15.00 " " " " —2 frame. Si. 50; six 2-frame. S20.40 *' *' Tested * — i frame, $i.oo; six i-frame. $17.40 " " " " —2-frame. $4.00; six 2-frame. $23.40 The Drones used in our Apiary for Matins purpose are reared from the very best selected Queens, which is as necessary as tlie selecting of a good Queen for Queen-Rearing. For good Queens and quick service you can not do better than place your order with us. We guarantee safe arrival and satisfaction. Directions for building up weak Colonies will be mailed to you for 10 cents. The above Queens are all reared in Separate Yards. 2 Atf W. J. LITTLEFIELD, R. F. D. No. 3, LITTLE ROCK, ARK. Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. >C APONS briHA,' the largest protltfl — liHi^ii more thim otlit-r iioiiltry. Ca- l>oinziiigi8 sy audsoon IfarritHl. Capons sell for 30c. a pound, while ordinary poul- try Itrings only 15e. a pound. Prot:re98ive poiiltrymen know these things and use PILLING ING SETS Sent postpaid, S2. 50 persftwitll ** Easy-to-use " instructioue. . _ . _ . We also make i*"'MWr« .If^rA'cr, 25c. Qape. i^orm L'xtractor,'25c French Kiililig Knife, 500. Bwklet, "Ouido for Caponlilng," FKSS, G. p. PILLING & SON CO.. 23d & ArchSta., PhOadelphia, Pa. STRAW^BERRIES 1 grow Strawberry, Kaspberry. Blackberry and other small fruit Plants. Grape Vinen, Shrubb.-ry.eti'. My FKKP: ciLtalit^,' ti'Us ihe trnlh and ami Ii:N, 31gr. (.Jeffrey Building) Tel. 1484 North. Marcli, 191 2. American Vae Jonrnal You will be a busy bee if you locate in the Fertile Northwest Bee-Culture in the Northwest should prove sur- prisingly attractive to the workers with Bees in other parts of the country. Climate Bee-Food Orchards — The great diversity of climate due to the varied altitudes and topographic features, atTords a wide range of selection in locations, in this dry, mild, and equable region. — The wonderfully fertile soil produces the finest of clovers, alfalfa, peas, etc., so important in the production of a good and pure article of honey. Even the common sage-brush is noted for its value in honey-production. — The vast acreage in orchards in the Northwest should prove a strong argument to an experienced bee-worker to move to this very fertile country. Orchards and hives have been most profitably com- bined already, in many instances. The superiority of Northwestern fruit-blooms aids to produce a superior quality of honey, and the bees perform a reciprocal service in fruit-pollenization. Nowhere are there more stable and remunerative markets for good honey. The many large cities, the rich mining carnps, and Alaska, provide the best of markets right at home, at top prices. I ■lAy4llirA — ^°'' ^^^^ literature relating to the Northwest, and LlieraiUrC particulars of Low Colonist, Homeseeker, and ^— ^^^^— — Summer Excursion Fares, write to Markets L. J. BRICKER, General Immigration .'\gent. 123 Northern Pacific BIdg., SAINT PAUL, IMINN. A. M. CLELAND, OR General Passenger Agent. 123 Northern Pacific BIdg., SAINT PAUL, MINN. NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILWAY We Make a Specialty of Manufacturing SECTIONS They are the Finest tn the Land- None Better. Our Prices will make you smile We want 10 mail OUR BEK. SUPPLY CATALOG to every beekeeper in the land. It isrKtt,. Ask for it. .... • t n H. S. Duby. St. Anne, III., carries a full line of Our Goods, ond sells them at our regular catalog prices. AUG. LOTZ & CO. Boyd, Wis. MAKE YOUR HENS PA^ Our two l;ir, FKEH BOOKS cU V' 'U how. QUK Wew 1913 H.-i:chtr .An 1 lirv>.>lrrrs w.U give y u stronzer chicken* andwill savff h.ill the cost. Write lor FREE BUOKS KxUy &ndwe will tell you _^/^i how to MAKI- a^ J-» l^^-^ Cyele HaUher your poultry V^Y f^^L^-- ~t=7I*1 .^i t'o"P*'>J^' Elmira, K. 1. P-O-R-T-E-R SAVES TIME HONEY At All Dealers better tlian the re: I ol thcfann. \ MONEY Each, 15c.; Dozen, $1.65, postpaid. If your Dealer does not keep them, order from Factory, with Complete In- structions. R. & E. C. Porter, Mfrs. Lewistown, IIL Please mention Am. Bee JoumjJ when writimt. Anderson's Famous TexasQuesns Italians Carniorns Banats The best to be found of each. Will be ready as soon as you can use them. Let me book your orders now. My Queen.s are Guaranteed Pure, Vigorous & Healthy PKICES : Untested, each. 75 cents; per dozen. $8.00. Tested, each. Si.2S; per dozen. {12.00. Circular Free. GRANT ANDERSON, San Benito, - Texas Ptra«e meation Am. Bee Journal wtken QUEENS! QUEENS! Italians AND Carniolans Tlio Ksifh Quetom of Breeding insures ine Aeiin system the best Queens that can be produced. My Strain is the result of 20 years of careful breeding and selection. I feel confident that few. if any. can surpass them. Color has not been my special object; but to produce bees that will bring in honey, and store it in supers where it is wanted. I am also paying a great deal of attention to Gentleness among my bees, so that almost any one can handle them. Annual importations of Queens has kept my stock absolutely pure. Prices as follows; Virgins $ .65 $3.W ..) 6.00 Untested i.oo 400 . . 7.00 Warranted .. . 1.25 5.50 .. 11.00 Tested i.so 7.S0 .. 13.00 Select Tested. $2.00 each. Breeder. $3.00 and up. Nuclei and Full Colonies. Bees dy the Pound. Write for Circular. .Apiaries inspected for brood-diseases. FRANK M. KEITH, 83>i Florence St. Worcester, Mass. Pkase mention Am. Be« Journal when writing. Special Prices on Bee Goods For 60 Days. Dovetailed Hives iS story. Si 35 each. Hoffman Krames. $2 25 per 100. Just make us a Bill of the Goods you might need for 1912. and we will quote Lowest Prices. We make all kinds of Bee Goods. FINE QUEENS at all times to be had. Untested. 75 cts. ; Tested. Sr.ou. CHESTNUT HILL MFG. CO. lAtf BIglerville, Pa. Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. March, 1912. American ~Bae Journal ■— Or Berkeley, Cal. Pkase mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. COST SALE Of BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES for th*' next 4 months. Too big Stock to carry over. Write your wants: I will make price- to suit. Sept. 26. I9II. W.D. Soper, J?^rk"Ave Jackson, Mich.. Pfeue mention Am. Bee Journal when writinc. SUPERIOR BEE-SUPPLIES Specially made for Western bee-keepers by G. B. Lewis Co. Sold by Colorado Honey-Producers' Association, Dknvkr. Coi.o. Please mention Am. Bee Journai wben writing. For Sale— 15 Eggs $1.00 Indian Runner Uucks — Wliitr and F.iwn.. 2 < J. F. Michaal, Rt. 1, Winchester, Ind. Pkase mention Am. Bee Journal when wtittng.. March, 1912. American V^e Journal I ■|iiCAGO. Feb, 27 — The demand for honey tiuringlhe month of February hardly met expectations, yet fancy comb honey was scarce and sells at I7@i8c per lb., witli the off grades at from i(?;5c per lb. less Extract- ed is steady, but not movint; in quantities. White brings tll*oc per lb.; amber, 7@3c per lb. Beeswax is steady and sells at from 3o@32c, R. A. Burnett & Co. Indianapolis. Feb. 26.— White comb honey sells ai I3c per pound in lo-case tots. Amber grades in slow demand and at lower figures. Best extracted sells at ii@i2C per pound in 5'gallon cans. Jobbint; houses are well sup- plied, but producers are not now offering any honey. Beeswax is in good demand, and produces are being paid 31c per pound, Walter S, Pouder. Cincinnati, Feb. 10.— The market on comb honey has fallen off somewhat, only demand for fancy white selling in retail way at $4 00 per case; and jobbers at S3 6o@$i. 75. accord- ing to quality. Extra white extracted in 60-lb. cans at loc; light amber in 60-lb. cans at B''ic: amber in barrels. 7@7J4c. Beeswax in fair demand at $33 per 100 lbs. The above are our selling prices, not what we are paying. C. H. W. Weber & Co. Kansas City. Mo.. Feb. 20.— We are hav- ing a belter demand for comb honey, but no change in prices. Receips light. We quote: No. I white comb. 24-section cases. Si 25; No, 2.$!. 00; No. I amber. $300; No. 2. $275. Ex- tracted, white, per pound. 8!i@qc; amber. S@i'Ac: darlt, '.%c. Beeswax, per lb , 2=;@28c. C.C. Clemons Produce Co, San Francisco, Feb. 28.— The demand for honey the past month has been more marked, and there is still a lot unsold. Comb honey. I5@'i«c; water-white extracted. ij@ioc; light amber. SS'Sjic; lower grades. 5@6^c, Bees- wax. 27 ;.-laiwc per pound for light in color, and 23C"'320c for dark. J. C. Frohliger. Denver. Feb. 20.— Supply of strictly white comb honey is about exhausted, and prices as a consequence are higher than they otherwise would be, as the demand is light, W^e quote No, i white comb honey, per case of 24 sections. S3. 60; No. i light amber. $3,35; No. 2. S3 IS. White extracted, per pound, gc; light amber, 8c; strained, 6J4@7!'ic. For clean yellow beeswax we pay 26c cash, or 28c in trade, delivered here. The Colo. Honey-Producers' Ass'n. F. Rauchfuss, Mer. Boston, Feb. 28.— Fancy whitecomb.i7@i8c; light amber. I5c; amber, 14c. Fancy white extracted. loOiic; light amber. q@ioc; am- ber, Qc. Beeswax. 30c. Blake. -Lee Co. New York. Feb. 28.— We have practically nothing new to report as to the condition of the market. Very little comb honey is ar- riving, and what little lots do come in find ready sale at prices ranging all the way from I4@I7C for the white, and from ii@, 3c for dark and amber, according to quality and style of package. As to extracted honey, the mar- ket is decidedly quiet. I£ver since the first of December the demand has been gradu- ally decreasing, and with large stocks on hand prices have shown a downward ten- dency, and are likely to decline still further. We quote nominally : California white sage atgc; Western white alfalfa at He; Western light amber alfalfa at from 7@7/^c; in quan- tity lots even these prices would have to be shaded in order to effect sale. Beeswax steady at from 30&31C per lb. Hildreth & Segelken. Cincinnati. Feb. 27.— We see nothing ex- citing in the demand for honey; there seems to be plenty of honey of all kinds. We are selling fancy comb honey in 24 sections, glass front cases, at S3 75 to $4.00 a case. It is an imposition on the consumer to sell lower grades, and hereafter we shall abso- lutely refuse to buy it. for on each transac- tion we not only lose money, but spoil the trade for good honey. For strictly fancy water-white extracted table honey we are getting from g&'ioc a pound, in crates or boxes of two 60 pound cans each; for amber honey in barrels from 7@8c. For strictly choice, bright yellow beeswax we are paying from 3o@3ic a pound deliveredhere. and for lower grades from i®2c a pound less. The Fred W. Muth Co. Engravings for Sale. We are accumulatinti^ Quite a Iart;e stock of bee-y;ird eti^ravinxs and oilier pictures used from time to time in the American Bee Journal. No doubt many of them could be used by bee-keepers in their local newspa- pers, on their letterheads, on souvenir cards, or in other profitable or interesting ways. If we can sell them it will help us to pay for others that we are constantly having made and using in these columns. We do not have a catalog or printed list of the engravings, but if you will let us know iust which you want we will be pleased to quote you a very low price, postpaid. Just look through the copies of the Bee Journal and make your selection. Then write to us. GEORGE W. YORK & CO. • CHICAGO, ILL What You Get at CINCINNATI Some things in addition to service, prompt and satisfactory shipments, and a real desire to please you, that come from the central point of distribution. Root's Supplies— new and clean, and of the finest quality. New hives, new foundation, new sections — every- thing fresh from the factory in carload shipments. Early-Order Discounts for Cash :— Three percent for January: two percent for February— a worth-while saving to which you are entitled. Don't fail to get in your order at once. Saving on Freight or Express— By buying here, part of the cost of shipment is borne by us. You pay only from Cincinnati. This is quite an item on large orders, and our patrons are coming to appreciate it more and more. Just bear these facts in mind, and begin the New Year right by ordering your season's supplies from C. H. W. Weber & Co. 2146 Central Ave. CINCINNATI, OHIO H B N N N N N N N N H ■ ■ N N M N N N N N N N H falcon" FOUNDATION PROCESS OF MANUFACTURE. — The very best grades of beeswax, clarified without that acid taste or odor which is so obectionable in some makes, sheeted by our heavy pressure process, reduced and polislied by smoothrolls, allowed ample time to cure, is finally passed through embossed power mills, resulting in that cear, absolutely pure product, FAMOUS THE WORLD OVER, " FALCON " FOUNDATION. No detail, from the buying of the beeswax to the packing of the product, is slighted. The care and skill n cleansing, the absolute purity from all foreign matter, the enormous pressure in sheeting into continuous belt-like sheets, the transparency and perfectness of the finished product, with the appearance and smell of the hive itself (for it is indeed the product of the bees, purified, embossed and returned for their use), has made a product, " FALCON " FOUNDATION, which has been chosen by the bees themselves as the acme of foundations. The " FALCON " WAY is OUR WAY developed in thirty years of foundation manufacture. QUALITY ' FALCON " FOUNDATION made by our sepecial methods has won a reputation on account of its perfect cell formation, non-stretching qualities, and the readiness with which bees begin work upon it. Our section foundation is perfectly clear, and with it is produced those pearly white sections of honey so much admired. Our brood foundation is particularly adapted for full sheets in brood or extracting frames Its strength eliminates all stretched cells in which drone-brood is reared or elongated cells in which no eggs at all are laid. Use " FALCON " FOUNDATION and satisfy your bees. WE GUARANTEE every sheet equal to samples in every particular. Drop us a card for samples and they will be sent postpaid. SAMPLES imples in every particii Get "FALCON " FOUNDATION of our nearest dealers. If you don't know the names drop us a'postal. W. T. Falconer Mfg. Company Where the good bec-hh'es come from C. C. demons Bee-Supply Co. W. T. Falconer Mfg. Co. 130 Grand Ave., Kansas City, Mo. 117 North Jefferson Street, Chicago, Illinois. N N N N N N N M N N H N N N N N N N M N N N N H N N H N >YX ¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥( ^ ^ E E E ^ E ^ E ^ E ^ ^ You Want a Home WHERE pure water is plentiful, comes when you wish, and stays when you will; WHERE cyclones are unknown, and blizzards impossible ; WHERE crops never fail from drouth, and the unhoused harvest is never damaged by storms; WHERE your stock can feed and fatten on pas- tures that are always green ; and you can work in your fields with profit and pleasure every day in the year — except Sunday ; WHERE you can grow to perfection all the pleas- ant fruits, and all else that can contribute to make your home a paradise ; WHERE you can raise two crops of some things (on the same ground the same season), and continu- ous crops of other things, giving you "a money har- vest" to sell every week in the year; WHERE "sunny days " cover two-thirds the time, and yet sunstroke or "death or damage from heat" are unknown; WHERE bees banquet in fields of never-fading flowers, securing rich stores of honey — which they do not consume " in wintry hours ;" WHERE you can grow practically all the nuts and fruits of commerce to perfection and in enormous quantities. Remember that Apricots, Almonds, Rai- sins, Figs. Olives and Washington Navel Oranges can not be grown in commercial quantities anywhere in the United States outside of California. Hence, a good price is assured, and over-production impossible. YOU WANT A FAIRY FARM WHERE you can (with the help of your boys) take the best care of it — thus forever ending the tor- turing ghost of "hired help;" WHERE "your boys" will get rich on berry- patches, and "the women-folks " with poultry — as a by-product ; WHERE you can get more net cash every year from ten acres than can be wrested from a quarter section of the best farm land in the Mississippi Valley, and all this while escaping the lonesome isolation and dreary drudgery inseparable from the larger farming. You want to know all about this wonderful land. You can secure full and accurate information bv writ- ing to Col. E. S. WEEDEN, OROVILLE, CALIF. Stating you saw this advertisement in the American Bee Journal. Reference— Editor American'Bee Journal. ^ ^ ^ S April, 1912 Volume Lll. No. 4 ad DEE Journal The Oldest Bee-Paper in America The Ivy Bee-Kaneb, located near Phoenix, Ariz — Salt Kiver Project — (See page 103.] American lim Journal April, 1912. )>=^^#> I ^,^M^3^«3e mentioo Am. Bee Journal when writing. The Bee-Keeper's Novelty Pocket-Knife HOWARD M. MELBEE, HONEYVILLE, O. Your Name and Address will be put on one side of the handle as shown in the cut, and on the other side a picture of a Queen-Bee, a Worker-Bee, and a Drone-Bee. The handle is celluloid, and so transparent, through which is seen your name. If you lose this Knife it can be returned to you, or it serves to iden- tify you if you happen to be injured fatally, or rendered unconscious. The cut is the exact size ; it is made of best steel. When ordering be sure to write exact name and address. Knife delivered within two weeks after we receive order. Price, postpaid, $Ll)0; or with a year's subscription to the .American Bee Journal — both for $1.80; or given Free as a premium for sending us 8 New sub- scriptions at $L0O each. George W. York & Co., 117 N. Jefferson St., Chicago, 111. Nr. New Beeman : "Well, well, nailing up your bee-hives al- ready ? Aren't you rather early? " Mr. Successful Beeman : " Now, then, that is where so many make their mistake — they wait until the last moment and then rush and buy anything- they can get. You have often asked me the secret of my successful bee- keeping. Well, listen ! I order early, buy the best bee hives and supplies on the market, nail them up, and then I am ready for the bees. All my Supplies come from THE FRED W. MUTH CO. "The Busy Bee Men" r>l Walnut Street, CINCINNATI, OHIO SEND FOR CATALOG April, 1912. 16 CENT SEED SALE 10,000 iir,:,i^\^^ FERTILE SEEDS for "VU 17S0 Leiluce 750 Onion 1000 K:?TTTTTTTTTTTT»TTf»TTy' If you are not using " Dadant's Foundation" drop us a card and we will give you prices, or tell you where you can get it near you — Agents Everywhere. (Entered as second-olass matter Jnly 30, 1907, at the POBt-Offlce at Chicago, 111., under Act of llarcli 3, 187S.; ■ Published Monthly at $1.00 a Year, by George W. York & Company, 117 North JeKerson Street, GEORGE W. YORK, Editor. DR. C. C. MILLER. Associate Editor. CHICAGO, ILL, APRIL, 1912 VoL LII-No. 4 Editorial Comments Size of Hives and Frame's In an article in the Canadian Bee Journal, Samuel Simmins, a prominent bee-keeper of England, begins by ask- ing, "What is wrong with American and Canadian bee-keeping ?" He la- ments a falling off in the yield per colony (which falling off does not seem to have been prominently mentioned in this country), and attributes it to the small size of the frames and hives in use. He has little respect for such "diminutive hives " as the 8 or 10 frame Langstroth, and advocates a hive con- taining 11 or 12 frames measuring 16 by 10 inches. " The trouble first to be considered," he says, "is that the Langstroth frame is too small ; certainly it is too shal- low." In a subsequent number of the same Journal, J. E. Hand says : " The dimensions of the Langstroth frame are oisxn^s. and it contains 157.70 square inches of surface: while tiie Simmins frame is 16x10 inches, and contains ibo square inches of surface, making a difference of 2.30 square inches in favor of the Simmins frame Now, I am not a little surprised that Mr. Simmins should think even for a moment that a mere matter of 2.30 inches per frame can make all the difference be- tween success and failure in honey-produc- tion." If Mr. Hand will pardon the sugges- tion to revise his figures, he will find that instead of 157.70, the Langstroth frame contains exactly 160 03-6-1 square inches, while the Simmins frame con- tains 160 inches. So if the Langstroth frame is too small, the Simmins frame is still smaller! There is still left, however, the fact that the Simmins frame is deeper than the Langstroth by }x of an inch. Can that make such a great difference ? Even if the difference be not great, it is just so much in favor of better win- tering. But Mr. Simmins says the Langstroth frame is too small /or /Ac lioiicy sciisoii in any locality. There can be no denying that the nearer the spherical form a hive allows the bees to cluster the better it suits them, and even Ys of an inch difference in the depth of a hive may make quite a differ- ence in allowing the bees to assume that form. But will this hold good in the honey season/ Whether Mr. Sim- mins may have fallen into that error or not, it is an error only too common to speak as if the brood-chamber alone were to be considered as the domain of the bees during the honey season. Suppose one hive has frames 6 inches deep with brood to the top-bars, and over this a story with frames 4 inches filled with honey. Suppose another hive has frames 10 inches deep, the lower 6 inches filled with brood and the upper 4 inches filled with honey. So far as the bees are concerned, what is the great difference ? In each there is the same depth of brood and the same depth of honey. What great difference does it make to the bees whether that 4 inches of honey above them is in the same frame or in a separate frame ? So whatever may be the case in winter, in the honey sea- son, with supers piled on the brood- chamber, the bees have just as much chance to form a sphere with the Lang- stroth frame as with one % of an inch deeper. Bees Resistant to Foul Brood The man who browses among other bee-papers to find something in them to dish up for the readers of the Cana- dian Bee Journal — making an excel- lent job of said browsing — quotes from the .•\merican Bee Journal a passage ending with these words : " Italians re- sist disease not because they are yel- low, but because they are vigorous." He then makes this comment: "It would be well for the bee-keeping fraternity if this were true. But is it ? Most probably not. Immunity is said to be ac- quired only after a long and severe process of elimination of the strains that are least able to withstand the attacks of noxious microbes. We know that the people of Asia have developed an ability to resist dis- ease to an astounding degree. A recent article in a scientific contemporary tells us that the Chinese can use contaminated water from canals without incurring dysen- tery, that very little typhoid is found amongst them, and that small-pox is a mild disease, to be likened to the mumps. And so on. For the conditions in China are such that individuals susceptible to these evils in- evitably succumb, and as the result of a terrible selective process a specialized type of vitality, distinct from mere physical strength is evolved. It needs no explana- tion to show that such a characteristic is peculiar to races rather than individuals, and we should not be surprised if adequate and carefully conducted experiment should prove that the same should likewise be true in the case of the bee." These words are well worth consid- ering. It may as well be conceded tliat immunity to any given disease is something separate and apart from vigor. A man who has been vacci- nated is immune to small-pox no mat- ter how much of a weakling he may be, while a man of giant strength succumbs to it because not vaccinated. And so it may be that a particular race of bees, or a particular strain of bees, may be immune to a given disease, while a stronger race or strain may yield to it. It may as well be confessed that this sort of immunity was not in mind when the article was written which our cotemporary discusses. The thought, rather, was that one set of bees would actively clean out the dead brood, while another would allow it to remain. At any rate, it is a fact that a strong colony with a mild attack of European foul brood will often clean up the dis- ease entirely, while a weak colony in the same condition will grow worse and worse. So it is hard to believe that the strength of the colony is not an important factor in the premises; and it may not be far out of the way to believe that the vigor of the individual members of the colony is of still more importance than the mere strength of numbers. Possibly this is hardly the view that should have been taken, instead of the view of immunity our cotemporary has in mind. An excuse, if. an excuse is needed, lies in the fact that those who urge that Italians are better than other bees for those who want to be rid of foul brood not uncommonly use the expression, " Italians are better at cleaning up the disease." Others, however, and our cotempor- I02 Amc»rican 'Rqq Journal April, 1912. ary among the number, may say, "We are not considering which bees will do the best at cleaning up the disease, we are considering which are least likely to f(i/c/i it." And the right to that view must be cheerfully admitted. The question then comes, " .^re Italians more nearly immune to European foul brood than others ?" As a subsidiary question, it may be asked whether Ital- ians have had a better chance than blacks to become immune. In other words, have Italians been longer af- flicted with the disease than blacks, and so had a longer time in which to become immune ? Certainly. American foul brood is no novelty to either Ital- ians or blacks. Possibly our cotem- porary can enlighten us as to European in this regard. A more important question, perhaps, relates to actual experience, .'\meri- cans and Australians in general say that Italians are the bees for tliose who fear foul brood. In Europe it stands the other way, especially in Switzer- land. Is one wrong and the other right, or is there a difference between Swiss blacks and American blacks ? Frankly, there is a fair chance for dif- ference of opinion, and more light is really needed on the question. An open mind will be found in this locality. As to the practical part, however, there need be little difference of opin- ion. If any one happens to have a strain of hybrids or blacks that are above the average, that does not alter the fact that the general experience in this country is that Italians are more vigorous than blacks or hybrids, and so in 99 cases out of a hundred it is good advice to urge the introduction of pure Italians. Divisible Brood-Chamber Hive.s Samuel Simmins, one of the British authorities, laments the decadence of bee-keeping in this country, and lays it chiefly to tlie fact that we use a frame so shallow as the Langstroth. Louis H. Scholl thinks great gain is to be made by giving up the Langstroth for a shallower frame. The one tells us to make our frames "-s of an inch deeper; the other tells us to make them 3'4 inches shallower. What is the begin- ner to think .■' It does one good to see a man thor- oughly filled with enthusiasm when he thinks he has gotten hold of a good thing. And Mr. Scholl's enthusiasm about divisible brood-chamber hives is something worthy of admiration. Re- minds one of old times when the Hed- don hive with its divisible brood-cham- ber was to make an utter revolution in bee-keeping. Certainly there seems little room to doubt that Mr. Scholl has had better success with shallow frames than with deeper ones. Still, there is some room to raise the ques- tion whether Mr. Scholl may not have been to some e.xtent unfortunate in his use of the deeper frames, and is more successful with shallow frames, not be- cause they are inherently better, but because he has thrown his wliole en- ergy into using them. Is it entirely fair to compare the inexperienced young Scholl with the Scholl of mature years and brilliant energy? On page 47 Mr. Scholl gives some of the advantages of the divisible brood- chamber with its shallow frames, but does not th-is zeal in their behalf some- times lead him too far — even to claim- ing advantages for the divisible brood- chamber with shallow frames that be- long equally to hives with Langstroth frames ? " One of the main advan- tages is the interchangeableness of the various shallow stories, or the frames from one part of the hive to another." But why does not this advantage apply equally to deeper frames and hives ? He replies that "this is impracticable in this day and time of shallow supers, for not only comb honey but extracted honey as well." If that argument is to have weight, it is equivalent to saying: "Nowadays every one uses shallow su- pers for surplus, so there can be no ex- changing between the two departments of brood and surplus." For if any one uses the same frames in his supers that he does in his brood-chamber, he surely has the advantage of e.xchanging, no matter whether the frames be deep or shallow. As a matter of fact, however many may use shallow supers with deeper hive-bodies, there are still thou- sands who use Langstroth brood- frames in the brood-chamber and in the extracting supers as well, and who use them interchangeably. This is not saying that it is not better to use shal- low e-xtracting-frames. But it is say- ing that the advantage of interchange- ableness is an advantage of having the satne frames above as below, and >wt an advantage of shallow over deeper frames. The second advantage claimed is the chief one, and "is //it- mi To his Hon. Public Ser- Z'ant.^^ Now as to the way to write these letters, I would suggest that they be written as any other business letter is written, brief, gentlemanly, and to the point. "But where can I get the names of these men ?" You can get them from your local editor, no doubt, or some lawyer who is in politics — from almost any well-informed citizen. The officers of local political organizations are very well able to furnish the information. Our County, State and National Gov- ernments are carrying on our public business. Public business affects our private welfare, and if we do not take a hand in controlling the forces that affect our private welfare we have no one to blame but ourselves, if we do not get what we think are our rights. The Inter-State Commerce Commis- sion could be well included in the list of public servants, and but a little study of rates on honey and bees would reveal gross discrepancies, that if brought to the Commission's notice, and pushed, would bring relief. I have said it, I am done, and I feel better. This has been on my mind for sometime; I hope it is on yours in such a way that it will bring action. We can all pull together and get what is right — in time. " Advanced Bee-Culture." — A new edition of this book, by the late W. Z. Hutchinson, of Michigan, is one of the practical and up-to-date books for the specialist bee-keeper ever writ- ten. Its 200 pages touch on nearly .500 subjects pertinent to modern bee-keep- ing.and all are discussed authoritatively. It has many fine illustrations. It is bound in attractive and substantial cloth, with a clover design in natural colors on its cover. All together it is a volume whose appearance and un- questionable worth justly entitles it to a place in the library of every bee- keeper. No more important work on the subject has appeared. It is mailed for only $1.00, or with the American Bee Journal one year — both for $1.80. Send all orders to the office of the .American Bee Journal, 117 North Jef- ferson Street, Chicago, 111. American l&e^ Journal Conducted by J. L. Byer, Mt. Joy. Ontario. Difference Between Ontario and North Carolina In a letter just to hand from my father, who is spending the winter in North Carolina, he tells me that they are planting cabbages, onions, etc., where he is staying. The cabbage they plant so early is very hardy and will stand quite hard freezing with no ill results, and he asks how soon he can mail me a few plants to see how they will do in our climate. As I look out of the window in the direction of our garden, and see that there is two feet of snow all over the ground, his question seems quite amus- ing, and I guess the change of climate he has experienced this winter has made him forget what our Canadian weather can be -ike even on March loth, when we happen to have what the old settlers call an "old-fashioned" winter. March up to the date mentioned was very fine so far as sunshine and ab- sence of storms are concerned, but it has been unusually cold, in keeping with the former two months. As a re- sult our roads are still deep with snow, and there is still a covering of "the beautiful" all over our fields. Bees have not had a flight as yet, and it is really surprising how they can stand such a long, cold spell of weather like we have had since early in January. As already stated, our garden has 2 feet of snow all over it, so needless to say I am directing father not to trouble shipping cabbage-plants to us until further notice. Facing of Hives in Winter Editor Root, in summarizing winter- ing conditions in their own apiaries, says that the bees in hives facing north have not wintered quite as well as those facing other directions. A num- ber of our best men here in Ontario claim they see no difference in this matter, while I have no posiliiu- evi- dence to refute their claims, yet I con- fess to being prejudiced againt a north entrance in our climate for wintering, and always give the other points of the compass the preference. In the early spring, a north entrance is some- times a great advantage, while, on the other hand, should the bees be in ur- gent need of cleansing flight, some- times hives facing south will allow of such a flight, when those in hives fac- ing north would have no such chance. Bee-Keeping and the " Better Farming Special " The " Better Farming Special" fitted up by the Department of .'\griculture for Ontario, and run over the Canadian Pacific railroad, passed through our section a few days ago. On this train bee-keeping was represented, and we had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Pettit and listening to a lecture by him dur- ing the stay of a few hours made at the station. Lack of space forbids saying more at present, but in the next issue I hope to give a few items. Suffice to say that we had a joke on Mr. Pettit, when we reminded him that there was a stap/e on the frame he was passing a capping-knife over. More anon. European or American Foul Brood Mr. Greiner, in telling about treating foul brood in his apiary last summer, does not state which variety of the dis- ease he is "up against." By reading the article I would judge that it is Eu- ropean foul brood — what we commonly called black brood a year or so ago. I merely mention this matter to point out how easy it is to have confusion with two names so nearly alike for two diseases that act so very differently. I was never in love with the term " Eu- ropean foul brood," and my affection for it is not increasing with age. " Virulent " or " Malignant " Foul Brood What do we understand by the terms "virulent " and "malignant " as applied to cases of foul brood ? I confess to having used the terms both in print and in sending in reports of inspection when engaged in that work, and after all I just wonder if the terms are not misnomers so far as our understand- ing of the matter amounts to. We know so little about black brood (Eu- ropean foul brood) that I would not discuss the terms in relation to that disease, but so far as our old-time friend Foul Brood (American foul brood) is concerned, I have yet to see one case more "virulent" or "malig- nant" than another, and, in using either of those terms, we generally mean rather to designate how bad a colony is affected than to intimate that the disease is more virulent or malig- nant than any ordinary type. I have been led to think over this matter of nomenclature bv reading in the British Bee Journal for Feb. 20, how D. M. Macdonald is "rubbing it into " advocates of non-disinfection of hives and other fixtures." He quotes from the Foul Brood Act of Ontario the following clause : "Whenever the Inspector is satisfied of the existence of font brood in its virulent or tnaliun.int type, it shall be tlie duty of said Inspector to order all colonies, etc.. to be immediately destroyed by fire." Now, I admit that the words of that quotation certainly imply different types of the disease, yet, in common practise, I'll wager dollars to dough- nuts that all the inspectors would con- demn colonies that have the disease so far advanced as to make them prac- tically useless and not worth saving. As intimated, I am yet to be con- vinced that there is any dift'erence in the types of the old-time foul brood — it is simply a matter of how long a colony has been affected, or as to the conditions that have prevailed after the infection was conveyed to the hive. Let me whisper to Mr. McDonald, that although the quotation about dis- infecting hives, etc., as embodied in the Ontario Act, is stringent enough, yet, as a matter of fact, very few Cana- dian bee-keepers believe in disinfec- tion to the same degree as seems to prevail on the other side of the pond; and as to using drugs for the treat- ment of the disease, not one man in a liundred would for a moment think there is any efficacy in such lines of treatment. A peculiar thing in connection with this latter matter, is that while drugs seem to be very popular for foul brood treatment in the British Isles, Ihave yet to meet the first man from the " old sod " who professes to have any use for them since in this country. We have a number of very smart men en- gaged in the craft who come under the heading referred to, and if there are any of a different view from what I have represented, I have yet to meet them. Some Failures in Bee-Keeping On the same page where Mr. Mac- donald speaks of the disinfection ques- tion, he has a word to say about the common mistakes made by beginners in bee-culture. He summarizes them under two heads — failure to bring the colony into the right condition by the time the main honey-flow begins, and failure to have the colony in the right condition for winter. He says that under the first head a loss of crop will result, and under the second a loss of the bees themselves. I am not sure but what we could, on the most cases, put the two causes under one head — the second one given by Mr. Macdonald. If bees are put in proper condition for winter, the first cause he gives will be headed off already. And the bees need not die to render invalid all the work that can be given in the spring, as many colonies survive the winter that are of no use for a crop of honey the next season, no matter what kind of attention may be given them in the spring. The longer I keep bees this fact is more forcibly impressed on me each year, that the bulk of the preparation for getting the bees ready for the next year's crop nuist be done in the fall. Given abundance of good stores, and proper packing for outdoor wintering, or a good place for inside wintering, there need be little worry about getting the bees ready for the honey-flow when it comes, be it early or late in the sea- son. This present hard winter I have a few colonies outside with no packing around the hive, but having lots of dry material over the tops. VVhile this has answered in some seasons, this winter will tell a different tale, and you may rest assured that any spriiii; attention that I may give the survivors, will not make up for what could have been done last October. 1 April, T.ii::. American ^ee Journal 107 Contributed Articles^ Artificial Swarming or Divid- ing of Colonies BY C;. M. DOOLITTI.E. A correspondent living in the middle Southern States wishes me to give an article in the American Bee Journal telling how bees can be made to swarm at will, or increase be made artificially whenever the bee-keeper desires, this being applicable to the man who can not be at home during the hours of the day from !) in the morning to 4 in the afternoon, or to the one who has one or more out-apiaries. During the past, there have many plans of division of colonies been given, such as dividing the bees, brood and honey about equally, putting half in a new hive and giving the queenless part anew queen or queen-cells: or taking a frame with brood and honey from the old colony, together with the queen, and setting this with frames filled with comb foundation in a new hive, when the old hive was to be car- ried to a new stand and this new hive placed on the old stand, doing this changing and work at a time when many bees were flying, so that the larger part of the flying force of the hive would go into the new hive with the queen. The next day a ripe queen- cell was to be given to the old colony, so that in due time both colonies would be headed by good queens. For a quick, simple plan of artificial increase, prob- ably this last is as good as any in the hands of a beginner. But it is not quite equal to any plan which causes the bees to fill themselves with honey, when a good yield of honey, as well as of increase, is desired. Causing the bees to fill themselves with honey, similar to that done by the bees when swarming naturally, gives an artificially-made colony nearly as much energy as has the natural swarm. Before the introduction of the mov- able-frame hive, the late Elisha Gallup, then living in Iowa, told us through the columns of the American Bee Jour- nal, how to make " natural swarms arti- ficially," This wasdone (by "forcing" swarms) by drumming on the old box- hive after it was turned bottom side up, with a box put over it, into which the bees would crawl after they had taken all the honey their honey-sacs would hold, as they always will when they are thus driven from their old home. When in the box it was taken to a shady place and leaned against the body of a tree, the open side of the box facing out toward the light. If the queen went up into the box with the bees this forced swarm would stay clustered in the box the same'as any natural swarm would hang on a limb. This process of causing them to gorge themselves with honey, and then to re- main clustered as a swarm, causes the bees immediately to begin the process of necessary secretion of wax the same as does the natural swarm. It also causes them to adhere to a new loca- tion the same as will a clustered swarm when hiving it from the limb of a tree. The box of bees was left in the shade from 10 a,m, until 2 or 3 p,m,, when they were hived as a natural swarm, and to all intents and purposes were in every way equal to the same. In this way the man who could be at home only in the morning could make his swarms, get good results in honey, and not be worrying all the while when he was away from home, fearing the bees would swarm during his absence and fly away to the woods. With out-yards the apiarist is com- pelled to take this swarming matter into his own hands, and if he is a pro- gressive bee-keeper he will find that the nearer he can keep to Nature's methods, while at the same time he is accomplishing his desired purpose the better, or more successful he will be- come. lUit with the movable frames a our command, instead of driving the bees as was necessary with box-hives, it is much more convenient to shake the bees. And at times when the flow- ers are secreting nectar abundantly, or to such an extent that the thin nectar will shake out from the cells when the bees are shaken off the combs, so that the bees are more or less daubed with the same, they will be sufticiently gorged for our purposes without any further preparation than simplv shak- ing them into the hive which we wish them to occupy. But «here we do this without causing them to cluster, as is often done at the out-apiary so as to economize time, it is necessary to leave the hive into which they are shaken on the old stand, for, otherwise, the bees would mostly leave and go back to their old home, thus thwarting the pur- pose which we wished to accomplish. As to the wax-secretion necessary with a flow of nectar as above de- scribed, all the bees of suitable age for comb-building would already have wax- scales in their wax-pockets, so that it would not be necessary for them to be set aside to cluster .5 or 6 hours. But where swarms are to be made at times when nectar is not abundant, some pains must be taken to have the bees fill themselves with honey and allow them to cluster if the best results are to be secured. Then, where the old colony or hive is to be placed on a new stand there should always be enough bees left when shaking to protect the brood properly. When thus shaking the bees in a JO-frame hive I always leave 3 frames without shaking. What bees adhere to these 3, and those which will be all about the inside of the hive seem to be sufficient to care for the brood of the whole hive, when this is set on a new stand. When working thus at the out-apiary it is well to carry along a ripe queen- cel! in a queen-cell protector for each old hive from which two-thirds of the bees and the old queen have been shaken. In making new colonies in this way it is best to do this work before the bees have prepared for swarming, but not until the hives have become popu- lous with bees. If deferred until they No. I— .Apiarv in Maink— Averaf blending, but in this country we have tried to educate our- selves as much as possible in the direction of having our honey as thick as possible, and what we are trying to get out of is sell- ing thin honey. We find here our custo- mers want a well-ripened article, and the better ripened we can have it, as long as it is not at the sacrifice of flavor, and the thicker we can get it the better our custo- mers like it. Mr. McEvoy — Mr. Miller speaks of blend- ing honey, on the other side. On this side I would rather see each kind kept separate and sold according to its value. The mixing of honey does not go so well in this country. Mr, Timbers— Some gentleman has said that the tendency is drifting to darker honey. What I have had in the last three •years has been a little darker shade than what I have been used to. and I find the cry is, " Why don't you bring some of that light honey you used to bring years ago ?" Again. Mr. Miller said he did not think the average housekeeper knew the difference: it was sweet, and that was all. and they wanted something thin to pour out. I find that is not the case in Toronto. 1 hey want something good and thick, and if it is not thick they will very soon call your attention to it. If you take a dozen glasses of honey. 6 of which are nice and bright, and 6 of which are dark. Idon'fcareif the dark is a little the best flavor and is a little heavier, if you set them on the counter side by side. I am satisfied, in the Toronto market, that the 6 light glasses will go first, every time. That has been and is my experience today. Mr. Chrysler — I think we can safely blend clover and basswood honey together in this country, but as to other flavors. I think we would be doingsomething very much against our own interest to blend them. Mr. Nfiller has said something about the consumer re- garding honey as honey, and the uniformity of it is what we want to get at. We might find some honey in some locality of a supe- rior grade. Probably the product of a whole locality would not average 50.000 pounds If it is good white honey, a good flavor, and a little better than the average. I don't think it would be wise to blend that with our regular cloverand basswood honey, and make a uniform blend throughout. In regard to marketing in the Northwest. I think they are willing to pay a good price for a pood article. They want the best article there, and they have the money to pay for it. Mr, Couse— With reference to marketing I really believe that Mr. Miller has found the conditions here are different from what they are at his home, and I believe that condi- tions differ greatly in different districts. Mr. Chrysler has just made reference to the Northwest. I believe if Mr. Chrysler were to go West and produce honey such as they have, he might find that the honey they have produced in the West is what they want as badly as they do ours. I believe in the vicinity of Dauphin there is a great amount of honey produced. I know a grocer there who has bought all the honey he requires No. >— Comh-Car r wiru ICxtrai ting-Sipers .No. n— Swarm Setti-eii ox .VIum.ein-Heads. I lO April, 1912. AracE^ican ^ae Journal for a number of years to sell in the town of Dauphin, and it is ail local honoy. entirely different from what was gotten here, but the people there have been educated to the use of the honey produced there. I believe in Mr. Miller's \'icinity they have no iiarticu- lar honey that they do produce. We think that is where his trouble is; therefore, he can't get it, or does not get it. unless he brings it from some other source. If we were to go to California I don't doubt but that the California orange honey is just about as good as their sage honey; eitlicr of them is excellent: but wherever the sage honey is consumed, that is where they want sage honey; and where they send orange honey, orange honey has the preference. In reference to people wanting a change, and the different flavors. I really believe that people who are in the habit of getting clover honey do not want anything else. I have customers I have supplied for 25 years, and I know they don't want anything else. My idea is this: When you have once created a market for a thing, keep on giving them that one thing. I believe in the Old Country they fancy the darker honey, such as sage, because they are accustomed to it. I be- lieve in the city of NIontreal. where they have been in the habit of getting buckwheat honey, they can sell much darker honeys than in Toronto. Toronto has been edu- cated to use good honey. The matter of ex- hibiting honey here for ^u years has created a market in Toronto for good lioney. and the same with other products. Mr. Alpaugh— As to blending honey. I think that is one of the finest things that there is. if people practise it. For years I have blended my honey, and I have found splendid results from it. I never sell pure clover or pure basswood if lean get some- thing to blend with it; it is too bright or " suspicious looking." If you can put about 100 pounds of dandelion honey to a ton of clover, you have improved it immensely in every shape and form; you have given it a rich color, and it improves the taste of it. in my estimation. I have sold that sort of honey in different places here in Toronto, and in the Northern markets, always with satisfaction. If I can get my honey with a little bit of gold tinge to it. that is the best shape to get it in. Mr. Holtermann— There is a good deal of mustard in the vicinity of Brantford, and I f nd it a nasty thing to contend with under these circumstances. Where the nights and early mornings are cool, the clover does not yield, but the mustard does yield at that time, and it is in right where the clover is. and in seasons when we have that kind of weather the clover is sure to be spoiled by the mustard. 'The bees work on the mus- tard until the atmosphere is warmed up sufhciently for the blossoms of the clover to secrete nectar, and then the bees turn on to the clover. It is sharp tasting and somewhat amber in color, and it certainly does dete- riorate the quality of the honey. I never analyzed it as being bitter; that is a new thought to me. Mr. Byer— I believe it was my honor to be the one who had the argument with Mr. Miller in regard to the question of mustard. Mr. Chrysler suggests that we do not all taste alike. We liave Helds of mustard all round us every year, and the bees work on every year. Mr. Holtermann says they work on it in tlie morning. Never with us; it is right in the extreme heat of the day when the thermometer gets up to about 05 degrees. Our honey product is pretty good around here; the bulk of my crop was sold in Toronto this year; it is not as white as we get in the clover sections where they have no mustard, and I noticed a little of that sharpness, but don't think there is any discount on that account. This year 1 be- lieve I got the highest price that was going in a wholesale way. I regard mustard as be- ing all right; some years it yields when the clover doesn't. I have not noticed anything in the line of bitterness as suggested by Mr. Miller or Mr. Alpaugh. It must be all a question of locality, or else we don't taste alike. Mr. Dickenson — I am surprised to find we have so much mustard in this Province. I am fortunate in living in a township where we have no mustard at all. It would almost appear from the remarks of the gentlemen that know, that they have the pure stuff, that it is pretty rank. I don't think it would be advisable to blend that with good clover. Mr. Brown— In our section we try to keep the honey separate as much as possible, and sell it under its proper name— buckwheat, clover or basswood. as the case may be. Mr. Lowey— I think it is a difference in taste. In my neighbood the bees work on the clover, and on a neighbor's place there mustard, so-called, that the bees work on. and that honey has a sharp taste. I think, like Mr. Holtermann. in a cold, damp sea- son the bees work on it. As to the blending of honeys, circumstances and localities alter cases. I have had people from both West and East at home where I have had beautiful linden and clover honey, and I have had people declare they never tasted or saw anything like it, and I have had these parties write and say, "Whatever your price I want honey like that." I don't think we should let the idea go out. especially among begin- ners, to blend honey, when we can get the bees to blend it. Mr. Timbers— That is what Ontario's rep- utation is built upon— clover and linden honey. Mr. Pettit— I happened to have the most alsike honey this year I ever had. and ever so many who have sampled that honey have said it was the nicest honey they ever saw. because it was almost pure alsike honey, water-white, and with a peculiarly rich flavor and aroma which you do not get in anything else. Mr. Holmes— We had better adhere to the old plan and follow it. and keep our honeys separate and distinct, and sell them on their inerits. That is the plan we have been following. It is the best plan still unless we can be educated. We are open to convic- tion. We find instances that come to us as surprises. For instance, the individual who claims that West India molasses is much better and enjoyable than the finest maple syrup. This is. to some of us. per- haps a surprise, and yet we have a lot to learn. Mr. Storer— I had extracted a yard of very nice honey, and the season was fully half over, and I left the combs on just two days too long because I wasn't there to see to it. and I had to sell that honey at 2 cents a pound less than the other. That is my ex- perience with " blending. " Tlie above discussion is as it appears in the Annual Report of the Bee-Keep- ers' Association of the Province of On- tario, 19U8, published by the Depart- ment of Agriculture, Toronto. Only the discussions of the address having a bearing on the points of color, flavor and body, are quoted. The convention was almost a unit in its approval of the light-colored, de- licious-flavored clover and basswood honey without blending; and all who mentioned "body" wanted it thick. Some regretted that mustard was gath- ered at the same time as clover, and thus unavoidably injured the quality to a greater or less e.xtent. A few thought that intermixture of mustard, such as obtained in a clover flow not detrimen- tal, but none expressed a preference for the mustard intermixture. Those who were so fortunate as to secure crops of clover and basswood unmixed with other honeys spoke in highest terms of the quality. Air. Alpaugh was the only Canadian speaker who favored blending, and he blends very mildly — only 100 pounds of dandelion honey to 2000 pounds of clover. Although Mr. Alpaugh mentioned obtaining about 2000 pounds of almost pure mustard honey one year, which was " bitter, strong, and sharp," he did not mention that he tried blending that. The "audible silence" following Mr. Alpaugh's remarks was interrupted by the 9 speakers who followed him, all of whom either endorsed fancy honey un- blended, or openly protested against the blending of dark honeys with the light and fancy grade. The question of the wisdom of blend- ing the dark with light and fancy grades of honey therefore seems to be well settled so far as Ontario is con- cerned, by a representative declaration of 13 to 1, which looks good to me. As to blending honey to be sold in the United States, one further point may be mentioned : If we sell honey under the name of some flower, as for instance "clover honey," that variety of honey must be delivered, and not that kind of honey blended with some other kind, otherwise we violate the National pure food laws. If the honey is " blended," that fact must be stated if any statement is made, to come with- in the legal requirement. No. 7— HONKV-KXTKACTOR ANIJ UNCAI'IMNGCAN. No. 8-.'\NOTHKK 'VlKW OF No. 7. April, 1912. American ^ee Journal III "Improvement of the Honey- Bee" BY E. S. MILES. I wonder, Mr. Editor, when, if ever, we will get this much-used-of late title worn out ? There seem to be many and learned reasons ic/ty the honey-bee can not be improved: then, again, some of our learned friends take a hitch in their sails and tacking toward another quar- ter, go on to show that it has not been done, anyway! In short, their state- ment is about like this: The honey-bee is " sot " in her ways — you can't " improve '■ her; you can't improve her much : she won't stay im- proved after you get her improved ; and, finally, you can't improve her suddenly and permanently. And a knowing one here and there adds, " And when she is 'improved' it will be by a scholar who has studied Mendelism. Partheno- genesis, Darwinism, and all the other /. bt-LS did nut do wi-ll for the past 3 .years, on account of the severe drouth we have had. I am hoping 1012 will be a good season, as we have had plenty of rain which promises success to the farmer. Now. for my report: InigoSmybees did real well. I sold over ISoo worth of honey at ii^6 cents per pound, and up to 20 cents. In iqoq the bees did vcrv poorly, only gathering 500 pounds, which I S9ld at 12'= cents per pound. In isio they did poorly, gathering only 500 pounds of honey, for which I got 12'A cents per pound. In I5II they did poorly, again gathering ."loo Health and Profit in Bee-Keeping Periodicals galore are published for the farmer, but not every farmer's wife knows tliat there is an interesting monthly published for her with the ex- pressive title. The Farmer's Wife. It is now in its 14th year, and is published at St. Paul, Minn. The Farmer, an ag- ricultural publication, is justly proud of having been the means of first start- ing beeward a woman who has made a real success as a bee-keeper. Mrs. W. S. Wingate, of Minnesota, is the woman, and her story is given in The Farmer's Wife, preceded by an editorial note which says in part : To know her personally would be to con- vince one that she would work with method and faith to a resultfulfinisli. A woman of warm hearted cordiHiity. her home, her church, and her ueikdiborhood feel her in- fluence. Her husband is a business man in a near-by city, and is in entire sympathy with her in the matter of working out her own problems from a woman's standpoint. They are also in hearty sympathy with each other in all social work, both being active workers in the church and in the temper- ance cause. With two daughters married with whom her motherly interests keep in close touch, a son and two young daughters at home, and two small motherless boys whom she has taken into her home to care for, she is a busy woman. Finding herself a nervous wreck scarcely a dozen years ago. and striking out into this work which brought her strength and its ac- companiment— happiness— she says one de- sire of her heart is to "preach from the housetops" what a blessing the outdoor work of bees is. and if by this " preaching" she can help even one overworked sister to more outdoor life and better health, then she will feel that her life has availed much. Here is Mrs. Wingate's story as told by herself; Eleven years ago. while living in a suburb of Minneapolis, my interest in bee-keeping was aroused byaseriesof articles published in The Farmer. It appealed strongly to me as an outdoor recreation which would be a pleasant change from poultry-raising, and so 1 sent for a copy of " A B C of Bee Culture," and also subscribed for Gleanings in Bee Culture. Every spare moment was spent in studying these, but I finally realized that I must have the bees themselves. In .April I invested a birthday present of $10 in a colony of pure-bred Italian bees, veil and smoker, and an extra hive. On their ar- rival the bees were placed at some distance from the house, and for a month they were left to their own devices, as I was afraid to go near them. In the meantime I talked bees with every one I knew who had ever kept any, gained much information, and at last mustered up courage to e.xamine my own and put on a comb-honey super. That season the white clover was a failure, and being out of reach of the basswood I did not have a pound of surplus honey. In July a strong swarm issued and was suc- cessfully hived. I then had 2 colonies with ample stores to winter in our cellar. The next spring the fever ran higher than be- fore, and I eagerly embraced an opportunity to exchange a pair of fancy geese and an in- cubator for 4 colonies of hybrids. I felt well repaid for both time and money invested, when, in July. I could treat both the family and friends to cakes of beautiful snow white clover honey. The following season I bought an extractor and ran one colony for extracted honey, and a later crop of 2000 pounds did not look as large to me as that one super of 60 pounds. In the meantime my interest and experi- ence increased, and I occasionally bought a few colonies when a good opportunity of- fered I soon found that customers were waiting for all the honey I could produce. When the sun went down on Aug. i. 1004. our family of 7 was standing around the burning ruins of our pleasant home with practically nothing left but our courage and the bees. It was deemed wise to move into the city, where we located in a new home on ^ lots. For several years I kept 35 colo- nies there, and it proved to be a good loca- tion, as white clover and basswood were within easy flight of the bees. Three years ago it was necessary to make another move, and as 1 felt that I coidd not give up my bees, we located in our present home, an hour's trolley ride from Minne- apolis. Located on the shore of a small lake; our 5 acres give ample room for all the bees I can care for. while our garden, or- chard, berries, a flock of pure-bred Rhode Island Reds, and a good cow furnish a meal that our friends may well envy. .■Miout the first of April the bees are re- moved from the cellar, the hives well pro- tected with tar-paper, and unless feeding is necessary, they are not disturbed until fruit- bloom. During that time every colony is examined, and the queens' wings clipped if it has not been done the previous year. This one act of clipping the queens' wings greatly simplifies the hiving of swarms, and is the only way in which a woman can really man- age without a man's help during the swarm- ing season. June 1st, or when the white clover first appears, supers having pre- viously been filled either with sections for comb honey or empty extracting combs fpr extracted honey, are placed on the hives. About this time the real fun of beekeep- ing begins, for now it is swarming-time. and not for one moment must one lose sight of the bees. \'eil. smoker, and an extra hive are kept in readiness Ito use at a moment's April, l'.n2. American ^oe Journal notice, and tlie two little boys arc bribed to wdtcli for the swarms which may cotnc out it any time from 7 a.m. to b p. m. Beginning with willows and dandelions, and followed hy fruit-bloom, closer, and raspberry we rome to our main lioney-fiow in this vicitiit>" — basswood— which comes early in .Inly and lasts about 10 days, occasionally followed by alfalfa if the weather is hot and dry This year we had a very heavy flow of fall lioney from boneset. asters and goldenrod. An unusual occurrence was that of almost continual swarming during August. As soon as the basswood is over the su- pers are removed and all capped honey taken care of. while the uncapped is put back to be finished up with the fall honey. Comb-honey sections are scraped, graded. and neatly packed either in 12-pound cases or in single paper cartons. The highest grade sells readily at 25 cents per section, and the others according to the Quality. The extracted honey is put up in pails holding 10 pounds, labeled, and sells for Si.so per pail. Customers, who year after year order 5 or 6 pails upon receipt of a postal card notifying them that the honey is ready, are plenty, and I have never yet been able to supply the demand for what they know is a strictly pure article. The cappings are melted into beeswax, for which we have a standing order at from S to 7 cents above the price paid by the sup- ply-dealers. A most delicious honey-vinegar is made from the washings of the cappings, and is unexcelled for salad and table use. A cough medicine made of extracted honey, flaxseed, and lemon-juice is pronounced by physicians to be superior to anything we can buy. Up to this time the bees have been win- tered in the fi uit-cellar under the kitchen, and last winter the 70 colonies wintered there came out in good condition. With the large increase thisfall.it was thought best to build a bee-cellar, and so one was built in a clay bank at a cost of $130. and in it are over 120 colonies, only waiting for the first breath of spring to call both bees and owner to a happy summer. Two years ago a good honey-house was built in which the ex- tracting is done, supplies are stored, and hives made. The latter are bought in the flat and made up and painted in the early spring so that all may be in readiness when needed. My experience has proved that there is far more profit with less work in bee-keep- ing than in poultry-raising, although the two make a good combination, especially in con- nection with fruit-growing. For the tired, over-worked Iiouse-wife who needs the rest for body and mind, nothing equals a colony or two of bees, whose care calls forth into tbe sunshine and fresh air where God meant his children to live and breathe. Not only will it give an abundant supply of delicious honey for the table and an extra cake for a neighbor, but when Christmas comes it is convenient to have the " honey-money " for an " extra." Believing in co-operation in the home as well as in business. I have given to each daughter and our one son a colony of bees, from which they have the honey and in- crease, and in return they give freely of their help when I need it during the swarm- ing or extracting season. One valuable thing about the bee and honey business is that all — even the youngest — may help in making up supplies, and in preparing the honey for market, and in that way gain an interest in the bees themselves. Not only is there good demand for all the honey I can produce, but I can also sell from Sioo to S200 worth of bees during each season. Nothing could induce me to give up bee- keeping for. aside from the profit, the larger returns of health and happiness, the pure joy of living In the sunshine and watching the tireless workers as they come in with loads of pollen and nectar outweigh any financial consideration. To sum it all up, bee-keeping is pre-emi- nently a ■* woman's job," whether for pleas- ure or profit, or for a combination of both. The financial returns compare favorably with anything else from farm or garden, while to those who love outdoor life bee- keeping is the most fascinating of all avoca- tions. In watching a colony of bees at work the lines of an old. familiar hymn are brought most forcibly to mind : '■ God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform." Bee-Keeping In Dixie^ Conducted by J. J. Wilder. Cordele, Ga. Swarms and Frames of Old Honey Mr. Wilder:— I have on hand enough brood-frames entirely filled with old honey to give each new swarm for this season about 4 frames. I can not market this profit- ably at my local market, and my idea is to give each swarm two full frames of honey next to each wall, and use '> full sheets of foundation in the center for brood-rearing. My idea is that this would leave sufficient room for brood in the 4 frames filled with foundation, and that I would get the benefit of the old honey because it would enable them to go right into the second super with tiie new crop. I would appreciate very much any sugges- tion that you may make. Nashville. Ga. W. E. Morris, Jr. I don't like the idea of using full combs of honey only where they are actually needed, for they are space killers when they are placed where they are not needed. Especially is this true in the spring of the year when our queens need all the room possible to keep up bee-production, and a solid frame of honey on either side of the brood-nest would most likely do more harm than good. It might be said that the queen will not occupy these out- side combs but little any way, and the bees will naturally fill them with honey. I will admit that this is true, and will say that right here is where most of the comb-honey producers make a mistake. They should keep these out- side combs extracted and insert them in the middle of the brood-nest. This will keep brood-rearing at the highest possible pitch, and best results will be obtained. The best way I see to dispose of these heavy combs of honey would be to give them, as you suggest, but give them to the small swarms or the last swarms hived. They won't have time, perhaps, to build all the combs and store enough honey to tide them on, and they will need these combs of honey, and will serve the best purpose here. Transferring Bees Dear Mr. Wilder;— I have 4 colonies of bees in old box-hives, and I want to transfer them into mo.1ern ones. When would you do this ? How would you drive them out of the box-hives ? I don't fully understand what the division- board is used for. Would you advise using 8 or lu frame hives ? Would you stock with better queens now. or later in the season ^ Lawrenceville. Ga. K. A. Di:nagan. Now (March 18) or within 30 days will be a good time to transfer bees, I would smoke the bees well in the old box-hive, and place it on the ground on its side about 2 feet from its stand, and place the new hive on the old stand with entrance turned in the same direction the old one was, so the re- turning bees can find it easily. Then with ax or hatchet split the old hive open, and with the hands spread it out on the ground, and you will have easy access to all the comb as well as the bees, and as the coirib is removed the bees can be brushed in front of the new hive and will march in. Two or 3 pieces of the best brood should be fit in the frames of the new hives and set l)ack in it to serve as a starter for them in the new quarters. The honey can be marketed, or left out for the bees to carry back into their new hive, and the cotnbs rendered into wax. If you will rob the old bo.x-hives close, a day or so before transferring, you will not have a messy job trans- ferring. The division-board is used only on the outside of the frames, and should be wedged up against them, whether a part or all the frames are in the hive. Then when it is removed the frames can be easily removed and the colony of bees examined at any time. For the average location the 8-frame hive is large enough, but in localities where the honey-flow is heavy, and of short duration, the 10-frame hive might be best in the production of section- comb honey, or extracted honey; but for chunk honey the 8-frame body and a super of shallow extracting combs is the best, and the storing room added as it is needed. I find it best to look after my stock and introduce queens later in the sea- son, when queens are cheaper and more easily obtained. Pacl(ing Bulk-Comb Honey Mr. J. J. Wilder;— I 'notice that you are an extensive producer of bulk-comb honey, and I want to ask you how you pack it for the local trade, and what style and size packages you use. S. A. Hall. Lisbon. Fla. If the honey is light in color I pack it in pint and quart Mason fruit-jars, which are easily obtained at almost any grocery store, and at very reasonable prices. The Mason fruit-jars are com- mon utensils for holding liquids, in every household, and to obtain the jars for future use with the honey, is no small inducement to the purchaser. The comb honey is prepared by cut- ting it in strips as long as the jars are deep, and about 1 or 1 '4 inches wide, which are then placed in the jars care- fully endwise, then enough extracted honey poured over the comb to fill the jars. This makes a very attractive package when the honey is very fancy. Dark honey I put up in the same manner, using 'Z and 3 pound large- mouth friction-top cans, and 5, 10 and 20 pound large-mouth pails. Bee-Keeping as a Business Mr. Wilder: — I know you must be a busy man, but may be you can answer a few questions which will help me so much, and I will greatly appreciate it. I have been a poultryman for 7 years, and during the last few years I have kept a few bees also, and find that bee-keeping pays me much better than poultry, and I am going to "keep more bees." I thought when 1 started bee-keeping that I would not like it much, but the longer I keep bees the better 1 like it. It is indeed very interesting, and. April, 1912. American ^ec Joarnall Mr. Wilder, from what I know of it. it is a very good business; but as you have had years of experience. I want your opinion of it as a business. How many pounds of surplus honey will a colony of bees store in a season if they are properly cared for ? About how many colo- nies should be kept in one location ? Mr. Wilder. I know if any one can give me the above information you can. and what you say about it will be true. Runtyn, Tenn. Charles Wesi.ev. M)' opinion of bee-keeping as a busi- ness for an energetic man is all such a man could e.xpect. When bee-keeping as a business is not satisfactory, the man is usually more at fault than the business. To us who are going at it in a business way, giving it our best en- ergy and thought, it is indeed a lovely and pleasant pursuit, and we like it bet- ter and better as the seasons come and go, and there is no reason why others should not find it the same. As to the amount of surplus, this is a question of season and location, and ■ every bee-keeper will have to solve the question for himself, by keeping a rec- ord of the amount of surplus honey ob- tained, for two or more seasons. But if I were called on to make a rough guess from what I know of the ques- tion from correspondence and experi- ence I would say, one super from each normal colony in the spring, and an- other during the summer and fall flows, or about 50 or (iO pounds. For the average locations, from 40 to 60 colo- nies are enough bees to stock it. A Successful Bee-Business Mr. Wilder:— I am making a success at bee-keeping. My bees are all in good condi- tion, and the past season was a good one. as well as the previous seasons. My success from the start has been largely due to your advice and correct methods, for which I am grateful to you. W. H. Henderson. Cireenville. Fla. I believe any one who has the ability and will take up and carefully carry out the methods of any successful bee- keeper, will succeed at bee-keeping. But, alas ! Only every now and then one will do it. No wonder we have failures, and will have right on, so long as successful men's methods are ignored. But if they were studied and put in force, we would not lose another member from our ranks, and our in- dustry would soon be what it ought to be, and should be. When I have studied out another bee-keeper's methods who has been successful, it's all plain to me how he has succeeded; and when another man has carefully carried out my methods, I can't see how he can fail. He's bound to succeed. But only a few will do it, and others never will, so there is no use to grieve when one " faints by the way." Let's be encouraged so long as a few will follow us up in our methods, and continue to bring them plainly be- fore others. near your bees, swing up burnt chunks of wood or sticks several feet from the ground, and they will surely settle on them, and all you will have to do to hive them will be to untie the cord holding the burnt knot or chunk, and carry it to the prepared hive, and shake the bees off into it. Or, you might place something over the entrances of other hives when a swarm issues, for a few minutes, until Having Troubles With Swarming Dear Mr. Wilder ;--It is swarming time with my bees here now. and I am liavini; no end of trouble by swarms issuing and enter- ing other hives and getting killed. How can I prevent this great loss and get my bees to enter the supers and store honey there,' Your advice will be greatly appreciated. Rock Hill. S. C. ,) K. Comer. There probably are no suitable trees near your apiary for the bees to settle on. If you ha'-eu't anv tre?': or bushes they settle on some object, then remove whatever is laid or spread over the eii- trances, and you will overcome ^this trouble. You should always keep over from the previous season a few sections in which the bees have partly built the comb, and these should be inserted about the middle of the newly prepared supers, and the bees will enter them if they are in a condition to do so. Southern Beedom^ Conducted by Louis H. Scholl. New Braunfels. Tex. Texas Bee-Keeping and the Census The 11)10 census does not seem fair in its figures concerning Texas bee- keeping. Although we knew, and pre- dicted before hand, that Texas would not make a very good showing in the 1910 census, on account of the unfavor- ableness of the last two years, we ex- pected a better report. The census figures show a decrease of 39 percent from 1900 to 1910 in the number of colonies— greater than any other State — while we have believed, and believe yet, that there has been a considerable increase during the last 10 years. We believe that there are more bees kept in Texas at the present time than 10 years ago, although the figures do not show it. We know of large numbers of colonies personally that were not enumerated in the census report aside from our own large num- ber. We are sure many others can say the same. The trouble lies with the census enumerations, including only the bees kept on farms and not those kept by the extensive bee-keepers, who, for the most part, reside in the cities and towns, and operate their out-apiaries. If such is the case, it can be seen at a glimpse that Texas does not show up fairly on tliis account. And that is un- doubtedly true. That there is a decrease in farms re- porting bees kept on them together with a decrease in the number of colo- nies kept, is due mainly to the two dry seasons following each other, of which the census year was the worst of the two. Since the 1910 honey season was far below the average, which atTects the farmer bee-keeper much more than the experienced extensive bee-keeper who knows how to care for his bees during an off year, the reports must necessarily be very unfavorable. The census figures do not do justice to the State of Texas, in our opinion, at least we believe there are more than 238,107 colonies of bees kept in this State. A great number of colonies were not enumerated because they were not reported by the bee-keepers who live in the towiis and cities. As there are a large number of such bee-keepers in Texas who own many apiaries, the number of colonies reported would necessarily be greater if enumerated. In spite of the above Texas can still he proud of the distinction of having the largest number of colonies of bees even under the 1910 census. With a fair enumeration its number of colonies would be larger, especially if taken during a more favorable year than that of 1910. We are now already anxious to know what the next census will show. Bees and Poultry Although we believe absolutely in " specialism " in bee-keeping as well as in other lines of work and industry, and practise this in our own bee-keeping, we have mixed poultry-raising with it to a considerable extent. We began many years ago keeping only a small flock of pure-bred fowls with the only end in view of producing eggs and chickens for our own table. Since our pure-bred poultry attracted attention, and others desired such stock, we soon found ourselves engaged in producing hatching eggs to fill orders for sittings. This proved remunerative, and in- creased our already possessed national love for pure-bred poultry. The result was that we improved our flock from year to year, and also enlarged upon the number kept, caused by the increas- ing demand for eggs and young stock. Of late years we have added room to our quarters, and also added several other varieties of poultry, due to the demand for stock and eggs of the va- rious kinds added. By being able to supply just what was wanted, according to the different views and ideas of many people, just that many more " shekels " could be added to the poul- try-business income. And now we have come to a point where it is neces- sary to enlarge further, and a 25-acre poiiltry farm 2 miles west of our city residence is the outcome. This is looked after by a special assistant, who will help us to produce eggs and young stock by the hundreds instead of doz- ens, as we used to do. But why do we mention all this about the poultry business, which has noth- ing pertaining to bee-keeping in it ? There is a reason. We have found out as we went along gradually, that there was money in poultry properly kept, and by keeping the right kind of stock. We found, further, that poultry-raising can be combined so well with bee- keeping that it is a wonder so few bee- keepers are combining it witli tlie pro- fession. As practically all of the work ^.pril, 1912. American Hee Journal with the poultry can be done early in the morning, before the bee-work be- gins, and later in the evening when the work with the bees is ended, the two harmonize nicely. We related our poultry experience step by step to show that it can be fol- lowed either on the smallest scale or very extensively, according to the sit- uation or the ability of the bee-keeper to take care of the two lines of work. This depends much upon the time that may be spent in this direction without interfering with the bees, as neglect of the main bread-bringing business should not be tolerated. At this point the argument to keep more bees and devote your entire time to them instead of mixing in the chick- ens, would be a good one. And the writer is a strong advocate of not only keeping more bees, but "keeping more better bees better." However, it must be borne in mind that not every bee- keeper is so situated that more bees can be kept, or more apiaries estab- lished. Of course, these may adopt the motto in part, and " keep better bees better," but beyond this it is impossible for them to go. It is in such instances that poultry will mix well with " better bees kept better," and poultry can be added with- out being required to look for more and new pasturage as becomes neces- sary if more bees are added. Thus the bee-keeper who can not spread out more in bee-keeping can add to his in- come with poultry. But there is another side to this sub- ject of combining bees with poultry, and that is keeping poultry as a " hob- by," to take one's mind from extensive business. The fact that poultry combines so well with bee-keeping is but one of the strongest reasons why it should be chosen as a "hobby" to "ride "for a change when a change from business cares is needed. And since it is one hobby that can be made to pay at the same time, as it affords recreation and pleastire to the "rider," the reason for adopting it is only strengthened. From our own experience we have learned to love and enjoy our " hobby " — our poultry — and although we are "keeping more better bees better" in extending our apiaries from year to year, we find time for our poultry busi- ness as well. The change from one to the other does us good. Send Questions either to the office of the .American Bee Journal or direct to Dr. C. C. Miller. Marengo, III. He does not answer bee-keeping questions by mail. Drones in Woker-Cells, and Vice Versa We bee-keepers sometimes get together and talk about bees. Some funny ques- tions arise. Some one asked if we could transfer a worker-larva under 3 days, placing it in a drone-cell, and rear a drone ; or a drone-egg in a worker-cell and get a worker-bee. I said I never tried, but would inquire of you. Iow.\. -Answer. — The matter is very easily tried by any one. I have never trans- ferred a worker-larva into a drone-cell, nor a drone-larva into a worker-cell, but with hundeds of others I have often transferred larvae from worker-cells into queen-cells. They have invariably turned out queens, and if I should transfer a larva from a queen-cell into a worker-cell, I should confidently expect it to turn out a worker. That looks as if the kind of cell determines the kind of bee, doesn't it? But to ar- gue from that that a worker-larva put into a drone-cell would produce a drone, or vice versa, would be carrj-ing the ar- gument too far. There are two kinds of eggs laid by the queen — fertilized, or fe- male, and imfertilized, or male. The female egg may produce a queen or a worker. It is a matter of development, the kind of food deciding the develop- ment, and the kind of cell in which a larva. is found seems to decide how the larva shall be fed. But to change the sex is another matter, and the bees "have no power to produce such a change. I said I had never tried changing a lar\-a of one sex into a cell belonging to the other sex. But I have known of many cases in which, without any inter- ference on my part, male eggs were placed in male cells. The likelihood is that you have known of them, too, when you come to think of it. In the case of laying workers or played-out queens, I have known of thousands of male eggs being placed in worker-cells. I have known such eggs also to be placed in queen-cells. In either case only drones resulted. Where a drone-egg is put in a queen- cell, it is reasonable to believe that the bees are verj' anxious to have it turned out a queen, and would use every effort in their power to have it so turn out. But it is beyond their power to change the sex. On the other hand, I have known a good many female eggs to be placed in drone-cells. It happens perhaps oftener than you would think, that when a prosperous colony with a vigorous queen has a bit of drone-comb in its brood-nest at a time when drones are desired, the bees contract the mouth of each drone- cell, the queen lays a worker-egg in it, and there results a worker reared in a drone-cell. So you see that a female egg produces only a female, either a worker or a queen, and a male egg produces only a drone, and no changing from one cell to another can change the sex. Using Combs Where Bees Died — Getting Increase — Building Up Weak Colonies — Feeding Combs of Granulated Honey I. Last autumn I had a colony of bees suffering from bee-paralysis. They were in an odd-sized hive, and I wished to transfer them to a Langstroth hive. An old bee-keeper advised me to fill the Langstroth hive with combs, shake the bees from the old hive into this, place a queen-excluder over it, and put the old hive full of stores on top, and the bees would carry the honey down into the new Iiive and it would cure the disease. Shortly after this I was called away from home for some time, and on my return I found that the bees had carried none of the stores down, but had starved to death in the lower hive. There are many dead bees in the cells of these combs. Will it be safe to use these combs this spring, and, if so, will the bees clean the combs from the dead bees, or should I take them out of the cells before giving them to the bees? 2, What is the easiest and quickest method of increasing the number of my colonies? ,1. How can weak colonies be built up quickly in the spring? 4. Can combs containing granulated honey be fed to the bees in the spring? If not, what can I do with them? Idaho. Answer. — i. I think it will be safe to use the combs. The bees will clean out the dead bees. But you may be able to help them. Let the combs be left for a few days where it is dry and warm, so the dead bees will dry and shrink; then if you hold the comb flatwise you may be able to shake some of the dead bees from the underside. 2. I don't know. Quite possibly it may be by natural swarming. Possibly it may be by one of the plans of artificial in- crease. If I knew all about your experi- ence, ability, and locality, I might suggest which one. But I don't know that, if you will study up all that is given in the bee-books you may be better able than any one else to make the decision. The book "Fifty Years among the Bees" is probably fuller than any other book on the subject of artificial increase. 3. By giving them sealed brood or young bees from stronger colonies. But judgment must be used, or you will do more harm than good. Very early, when no colony has more than 3 or 4 frames of brood, if you take from one with 4 frames of brood to give to one with only I frame of brood, you will do more harm to the stronger than good to the weaker. Wait till the stronger has frames of 5 brood or more, and then it will stand to have one of its brood taken away. Be careful, however, not to give the weak- ling more brood than its bees can cover. One way is to take from the weakling a frame mostly filled with eggs and un- sealed brood, and exchange it for the ripest sealed brood you can find in the strong colony. 4. You can give them to the bees, but unless some precaution is taken they will throw out the granules and waste them. Sprinkle them with water, then give them to the bees, and as often as they lick them up dry sprinkle them again. Delicious But Deceptive Honey I am a bee-keeper of several years' experience. While I and my customers are very fond of our best and most deli- cious honey, yet there is an irreconcil- able hostility on the part of this high grade and delicious honey against my health and my customers' health, even though eaten in very small quantities. It invariably weakens the internal organs of urination so much, that I am contem- plating the idea of abandoning the bee- business owing to this honey. I wonder what advice you could give me, or what could be the matter with the honey that is so delicious, yet so deceptive? I 1913. American l^ee Journal thought I might possibly learn something from Dr. Miller's "Honey as a Health Food" that might explain the matter. California Answers. — The first thought is that there must be some mistake, and that the honey is blamed for a trouble that is due to something else. But if a num- ber of you have found the trouble arising every time you eat the honey, and only then, it is possible the honey is at fault. You do not say what kind of honey it is, and it is possible that you do not know, for it isn't always easy to know the source of honey. Very likely, however, I couldn't tell any more about it if I knew from what flowers it was gathered. I'll tell you what you do. Send a sample of the honey to Dr. E. F. Phillips, De- partment of Agriculture, Washington, D. C and he may be able to tell you some- thing about it. It will cost you nothing Some Queen Questions .■\t what age will a young queen begin to lay eggs? Some one told me that she will first lay eggs when she is 2 or 3 months old. Is he right ? 2. Will a queen's wings grow again after they are clipped? I suspect that turkeys' wings can grow again the same as queens'. Bee-books do not say queens' wings would grow again. 4. If queens' wings were clipped would swarming be heard ? I would not be ab- sent from the apiary. 5. Can a young queen be kept in a small cage in a room of the house for .■I or 4 weeks with sweets, before giving her to a queenles nucleus? How long can she be kept in it? Indiana. .\nswers. — I. I doubt if he is very sure. If a queen does not lay before she is 2 weeks old she is a rather slow coach, and she oftener lays when she is 8 or 10 days old. 2. A queen's wing that is clipped will not grow again; never, never; no, not the least little bit. 3. Yes, a swarm will be heard to make exactly the same noise, whether the queen be clipped or not. But of course a clipped queen can not go with the swarm, and when the swarm finds out the queen is not with them they will return to their old home, unless you set a new hive on the old stand for them. 4. She can be thus kept, sometimes a week, sometimes 3 or 4 weeks, or possi- bly longer. Much depends upon having the right temperature for her. Likely somewhere about 80 or 90 degrees would suit her best. Miscellaneous Questions 1. In stapling on queen-cells, do you ever have the bees tear them down? 2. Don't you think l^-inch too thin for outer walls of chaff-hives? 3. How long will they last, if you have ever seen them used? 4. Which is better, H^nch outer and inner walls with 2 inches of packing be- tween, or ^-inch outer with 'Ji-inch in- ner, with an inch space packed or dead- air ? 5. On page 254 of "Forty Years Among the Bees" you give a plan of increase of I) to 56 colonics. Have you any comment to make on this plan? I am going to try it this year. 6. Is a block of wood just as good as grass for an entrance-closer for a nu- cleus, removing same in 4 or 5 days? 7. Is there any trouble witli robber- bees bothering new nuclei? 8. Is it best to set nuclei quite a dis- tance from strong colonies? 9. Feeding g parts water to one of su- gar outdoors — don't you think this would cause robbing? 10. Where foundation in sections has been partly drawn by the bees last year, will it do to use those sections and foundation this year, or would I better cut it out and put in ne\V foundation? Missouri. .Answers. — i. No, if the cell is torn open at any point, no matter how little, the bees will destroy it : if the cell is entire it will remain so. This refers, of course, to a time when the bees de- sire a queen-cell ; if they do not desire it they will tear it down at any time, no matter how sound. 2. In case of a double wall there is likely but little difference between ^ and a full inch. 3. I have not had any. 4. I don't know ; with close joints 1 believe I would chance the first. 5. The plan is a good one if you do not care for any honey ; but the danger with many would be that they would overdo the thing and try to go too fast. There is danger, too, of keeping up the division too late, and going into winter with some colonies too weak to winter. 6. Perhaps in some cases ; generally not. The grass allows a trifle more ventila- tion ; and if you forget to open it at the right time the bees will do so. Besides, it is just possible that the bees will be less likely to return to their old home if they can just squeeze through one at a time than they will with a full open- ing. 7. I came pretty near saying always. I'll modify that by saying always if honey is not yielding, and care should be takeii even when it is yielding. 8. I don't believe it makes much dif- ference. 9. Not unless some blundering work is done about it. If the feeding be done a few rods from the hive there may be no more danger than when bees are gath- ering nectar from the flowers. For re- member that when bees are gathering from buckwheat in the forenoon with nothing to do in the afternoon, there is danger of some dishonest work in the after part of the day. to. If it is clean, with no remains of candied honey, use it again. Honey-Dew Questions 1. Does honey-dew ever appear before July 1st? 2. Will bees work on honey-dew dur- ing a flow from clover or basswood " 3. Are we liable to have a flow of honey-dew any time during the summer? 4. How often in the last 10 years has honey-dew damaged your white honey ? 5. What weather conditions are agree- able to the plant-louse? Onto. Answers.— i. I think it does. 2. Not to any great etxent. They pre- fer the better article of food. 3. I suppose we are. 4. Never once : nor, I think, in 2'j years. I think I have never been seri- ously troubled with honey-dew mor^^ than twice in 50 years. So you see I'm not the best authority on that subject, and it may be well for you not to place too much dependence on my answer. 5. I don't know. I suppose that like other folks they like pleasant weather. Dikely, however, your question has ref- erence to the kind of weather most likely ,to make trouble for the bee-keeper on account of honey-dew. As to that, one would not expect much trouble from jilant-lice during a rainy time when the honey-dew is washed away. On the other hand, hot, dry weather causing the liquid to condense on the leaves, would have a tendency to make it more attractive to the bees. But, as already intimated, it is likely that the presence or absence 01 honey from good sources has more to do with the case than weather conditions. Please remember that a plant-louse is a plant-louse ; it must keep at work to live, and it can not make too much conces sion to weather conditions. Do Bees Carry Disease to Fruit- Trees? Do bees carry any diseases? The other day Mr. John J. Myles visited my bee- yard. He is quite an intelligent youns man, and resides in Washington on a farm. He also wants to start in the bee business. He raises alfalfa and fruit, and bis neighbors do the same. He came to me to get information about bees. Of course, I recommended the literature first, such as bee-papers, bee-books, etc.. and showed him all I could about my bee-hives. He said the fruit-growers are complaining that the bees carry black rot on apple-trees from one to the other, and that he is afraid they would prohibit him from keeping bees on his own place. He also said that the fruit-growers have the same complaint about the black rot on apple-trees, where they really do nr>\ keep bees, and they want to destroy all the bees to save their apple-trees from black rot. I was astonished when I heard such a report. I have been raising trees myself over 30 years, and I planted over 80.000 trees the last 4 years, and most of the time 1 am among the fruit-trees. I have kept bees all the time among the fruit-trees. I never saw that the bees did any damage to apple-trees or any other trees, blos- oms or vegetation of any kind. They do no harm to any fruit or grapes. But il there is any harm done, the orchard man or some scientific man sits in an office somewhere in town and writes articles for the papers for which they get paid, and, as a rule, some of them can't tell a peach;tree from an apple-tree : and with re.gard to the growers, if they would in^ vestigate what they spray the trees with, and when they spray the fruit-trees, they probably would find out that it is not the bees. Init some other cause of the black rot on apple-trees. It may be the shallow planting, and may be spray of arsenate of lead, or some other ca'ise But I know one thing is sure, that 1 lost my best apple-trees by spraying with arsenate of lead for the coddling-moth. r quit the arsenate of lead and have no trouble in my orchard. I use a dift'erent kind of spray which will do no harm to the trees. The arsenate of lead will not only poison the tree, but it will do no good to the fruit and to the bees. There is a chance to poison all. If the fruit-growers want to destroy bees, then they may start destroying flies, ants, yellow jackets, bumble-bees, wild bees, and all the singing birds, and then they will see that they will have no dis- ease on the trees — and no fruit at all, either. Oregon. Answer. — That's a new one on me. Didn't know that bees were ever ac- cused of carrying black rot, although ( have .heard them accused by ignorant people of doing very bad things. How can they carry black rot ? Is there any- thing about it to attract bees in the least? Even if there were, how would they or could they be induced to carry it to a sound fruit? There is nothing about a sound apple to make a bee want to visit \pril, I'Jia. American l^ee Journal •.:. for bees are not in llic lialiit of going ulicre there is nothing for them to get I In the other hand, where there are no 'lees there is pretty certain to be more r less a failure of the crop. In the .ist number of Gleanings one of the Ca- nadian officials is reported as saying that he believes the benefit obtained from bees U in the way of fertilizing blossoms amounts to live times as much as the honey they gather. Glad you have struck upon a spray that does not injure bees. Perhaps it is the new dilute lime and sulphur solution, which, it is claimed, does no harm to bees, because the smell of the sulphur is so disagreeable that the bees will not touch it. Bahlia Flowers and Bees In his Hharrnaceutishc Praxis. Dr. Hager states that " dahlia flowers are poisonous to bees." .Vol. i. page 718). Kindly tell me if his statement is true. Soith America. Answer.— I don't know. It's the first time I've ever seen such a statement. Can any of our readers tell anything about it? The fact is that I have never noticed bees work- ing on the flowers of the dahlia. But nearly all that I have seen are double flowers, and botanically such flowers are a sort of mons- trosity, on which bees do not work as they do on the single varieties. Curing European Foul Brood Last tall I found European foul brood in my ar iary. I destroyed 4 colonies, but I am afraid I will find plenty of it in the spring, so I ask you to put me on the right track to get rid of it. I have about 45 colonies. Kentucky. Answer.— 'You have made the mistake made by so many, of skipping in your read ing the things written about foul brood until the enemy is upon you. It's ever so much better to be prepared in advance for the at- tack. The first question is whether the dis- ease is. as you say. European foul brood, or whether it is something else. Fortunately vou have a good friend at 'Washington. Write to Dr. E. F. Phillips. Agricultural De- partment, Washington. D. C. and he will send you fuller information than I can give you in this department, and he will also send you a box in which you can mail to him a sample of the diseased brood, which he will have analyzed, and then he will tell you what is the disease, and what to do. Not only will all this cost you nothing, but he will also send you a frank, so that the pos- tage on your sample will cost you nothing. Baldridge Treatment for European Foul Brood I see by a report in the .American Bee Journal that your bees swarmed out when treated by the McEvoy treatment for Euro- pean foul brood. So did mine— 15 out of 20 when using that treatment for American foul brood. The Baldridge treatment is a success every time when used correctly. Have you the Baldridge treatment for Eu- ropean foul brood ? We have not the Euro- pean variety yet. I hope to be ready when it does come. There is plenty of the Ameri- can variety, however. When you have an opportunity try the Baldridge treatment and report, if not too much trouble. California. Answer.— No. I have not tried the Bald- ridge treatment, and I hope I may not have American foul brood enter my locality so as to give me a chance to try it. Neither do I expect ever to have the European variety so severe as not to yield readily to the de- queening method without having to remove the combs either by the McEvoy or the Baldridge treatment. Sylviac Method of Bee-Keeping I have some notion of oncaKing in bee-keep- ing, and would like to know all about the best methods, profitableness, etc. 1 would like best the Sylviac method, as giving least trouble. It is to be tioped that more than 12 to 21 cents a pound can be obtained for honey. Maryland. Answer.— To tell all about the best meth- ods of bee-keeping would be going outside tlie scope of this department, but it is never- theless within its scope to advise you as to your course. Your first move is to get one of the excellent books of instruction upon bee-keeping. As you are a German, perhaps you might like best the German edition of Root's "ABCandXYZ of Bee Culture." (Send order to the American Bee Journal oftice. The price is S2 00.) The Sylviac method is not, to my knowl- edge, used by any one in this country. In Germany you are accustomed to high prices, and 12 to 24 cents seems a low price for honey. I am afraid you will be disap- pointed in expecting more. But the differ- ence in results in other respects is such that in spite of lower prices here I think you will find bee-keeping more profitable than in Germany. Bees Wintered Nicely My bees have wintered nicely in spite of the hard w-inter. The prospects are good for a fine honey stason. Morgan, Ky.. Mar. 8. J. P. Moore. Bees Seem to be Wintering Well My bees are wintering well, to all ap- pearances, although they may require careful attention and feeding when re- moved from the cellar. If I find that sweet clover makes de- sirable cattle pasturage, I shall sow a good deal of it, and thus ward off such conditions as we had last season, due to a scarcity of bee-pasturage. Geo. F. Webster. Sioux Falls, S. D., March 11. Long Winter for Bees I came home the Saturday after the Wisconsin convention (Feb. 24), and the thermometer has been below zero every night since then. I hardly know as yet how my bees w'ill come out. There are more dead bees than I ever had before, and then, again, I have a good many colonies that hang below the bottom- bars. I winter with the bottom-boards off. The temperature in the cellar has not been below 42 degrees, or above 49 degrees, this winter. AH the stores the bees have are from fall flowers. There are very little signs of dysentery, as yet. Robbins, Wis., Mar. 4. G. C. Chase. Valued Rainfall in California We have just had one of the most valued rainfalls in the history of the State; that is to say, it saved the coun- try from destruction for lack of rain. Everything was just on the edge, and could not stand much longer, especially grain crops which were yellow in many places. Sage began to grow rapidly dur- ing the dry spell, and no doubt there would not be enough honey for the bees for next winter had no change come so suddenly for the better. A good crop of honey is fairly certain now. W. F. H.\CKM.\NN. Salinas, Calif,., Mar. 6. Paint for Painting Hives (May I be permitted to supplement Dr. Miller's recent answer to an inquiry about painting hives by saying, use no turpentine in any paint for bee-hives. Use "raw" Unseed oil only, and as little of liquid drier as will cause the surface to dry in 4 to 6 hours on a warm, dry day. The best way is to purchase the ma- terials and mix the paint in quantity as needed. There is no economy in buying small quantities, or cheap quality. I have no respect for ready-mixed paints. White lead can be preserved after the keg is opened, by covering with the raw oil and a close-fitting top. .Also hang (not stand) the brush in the raw oil to cover the bristles — that is, if we don't wash it right away. I have found it best to leave the alight- ing-board bare of paint. If painted, the rain and the dew collect in drops and puddles, which either keeps the bees in the house when they might otherwise go out safely, or if they attempt to pass they get on their backs in the water and many perish. If the wood is unpainted no pud- dles form, the water runs off, and the bees are not affected. New Jersey. Bee-Keeper. Slight Rainfall So Far The rainfall has been so slight that the bee-keepers are very doubtful of securing any honey at all. This applies to the State in general, but the southern por- tion has had less rain than the central or upper part, but we are promised plenty by the weather-man. so we .ire all hoping and praying for the much-needed and ever-refreshing rains. The snow on some of the mountains so far this season has been only 24 inches, and other years they have had as much as 100 inches. J. C. Frohliger. Berkeley. Calif., March i. Some Bee-Keeping Experience We had the heaviest honey-flow I ever experienced, last spring. In the middle of July the long, hot drouth set in, and during Spanish-needle time it rained so much I had to do a little feeding. I se- cured 1000 pounds of section honey, and sold it at laj-a cents a pound: I extracted 200 pounds which sells here at 10 cents a pound. The finest white clover honey I ever saw — went like hot cakes to my home trade. I winter my 31 colonies on the summer stands in 8-frame dove-tailed hives, with shavings on top. It is hard in this local- ity to keep the Italian bees as all the neighborhood has black bees. Quite a number of bees are still kept in bo.x-hives here. I have handled bees for nearly 20 years. I started with nail-kegs and cracker-boxes, and got the bees out of trees. The more I handle them the bet- ter I like them. Experience does the business, and the American Bee Journal I would not do without. I hope to have a big honey crop next summer. By the way, a good friend of mine from Sedalia, Mo., Dick Lankenaw, a bee-keeper who has nearly 50 colonies of Italians, and takes the American Bee Journal, visited me the last day of the old year. He has quite an experience with bees, and made himself a 4-frame extractor as he is a good blacksmith. He secured 1000 pounds of honey in all, ex- tracted and section, in 191 1. He told me of an experience he would not soon forget, and is worth reporting. He and 120 April, 1913. a Mr. Sullivan had bought 1,5 colonies of black bees, 3 miles out in the coun- try at 50 cents per colony, in the old- fashioned hives, with 3 or 4 supers on each hive, all plump full of honey. The hives were rotten and not in a condition to transport. One day in .August, dur- ing a drouth, they went in the evening with a one-horse spring wagon with the intention of loading everything on the wagon. When they lifted the hives they all fell apart, and robber-bees had a feast, as all might know. In canvas and cov- ers they were wrapped up, and they had a full load. The next day the horse was unhitched from the spring-wagon and tied with a good halter 100 yards from where the hives were left, and the spring wagon pulled up by the men. A large amount of bees had stayed there from the day before, and they were mad as tigers. Smokers, veils and gloves were used. Soon a big swarm of bees stung the horse Mr. Sullivan ran to the horse, while Mr Lankenaw kept on smoking. A thick swarm followed Mr. Sullivan. The lat- ter tried to kill the rascals on the horse. Quick as lightning they made for the barn. Those mad bees all followed them, and the whole barn was full of bees. They still stung the horse. The next jump was to the thick brush near the creek till it got dark. Mr. Lanke- naw still kept on smoking the bees, and had a time to call and find his partner. Covers were tied around hives when loaded, and the wagon was pulled by hand till eveo'thing was safe. A good friend of Mr. Lankenaw, Charles Dale, had some nice honey in deep frames, American IBee Journal Mr. Lankenaw intended to extract for him. The latter had his arms full of boxes, and Mr. Dale wheeled the honey on the wheel-barrow. It was very dry, and the bees were mad and stung Mr. Dale on his head. While shaking his head from one side to the other he up- set his wheelbarrow and honey, some combs breaking out of the frames ; still a big success was made in extracting the honey. Wm. Sass. Concordia, Mo., Jan. 25. Concrete Hive-Parts Mr. Someone writes recently about concrete hive-boxes, bottoms and slabs to go in front of the hives. While in this climate such parts would be mighty cold in the spring, it may be possible that a sawdust concrete might help keep the alighting-board, or bottom, warm. The following clipping was sent to me, so I do not know to whom to credit it : Sawdust Concrete for Indoor Uses. "When sawdust or wood pulp is used as part of the aggregate in mixing, the resulting concrete is of light weight and low tensible strength, but has some special properties that commend it for certain indoor uses, states a writer in The Ce- ment World. On account of its elasticity, combined with its practically non-absorb ent character, it is said to be especially adapted as a floor veneering for markets, butcher shops, saloons, etc. "It may be laid without joints in a continuous layer one and a half inches deep, upon paper spread over the floor that is being treated. In these cases the customary proportions for mixing are one part cement, two of sand and two and a half sawdust. A greater proportion of sawdust would make it too absorbent. "A novel application of sawdust con- crete has recently been made in the New Public Library building in Springfield, Mass. It was employed there as a base on which to lay the cork carpet covering the floors. The object was to obtain a layer into which nails could be driven and which at the same time would hold the nails. "The company that laid it states that it accomplished both purposes. After sev- eral experiments with different mixtures it was found that a 1:2:*^ mix — three- fourths of a part of sawdust — gave the desired results ; and 5,000 square feet of this mixture was laid. The thickness of the layer was one inch, and after four months of service indications are that the material is a success." If one must make such pieces of con- crete, I might tell the inexperienced tha< a wood form is not really necessary, but is desirable, on account of the smooth- ness of the resulting piece. A mould is best made of J^-inch lum- ber nailed to 2 x 4's laid flat, open at one end for pouring. This will do for cover and block for the front of the hive, and can be made as much thinner as one wishes. The bottom-board can just as well as not have a raised edge on the sides and back, a thin piece of lumber being nailed on the bottom of a form. This must be nailed, and the nails clinched, but the cover must be fastened ASPINWALL NON-SWARMING BEE-HIVE ! A Practical Success after 22 years of Experimentation. Another season has added to its success. Evenly filled sections of Honey Pro- duced without separators. Will double the yield of Comb Honey Every Bee-Keeper should satisfy him- self as to our claims by ordering, at least, one sample Hive and testing Descriptive Circular, with prices, mail- ed Free. ASPINWALL MFG. CO., 602 Sabin St.Jackson,Mich Canadian Factory: GUELPH, Ontario. World's Oldest and Largest Makers of Potato Machinery Cutters Planters Sprayers Diggers Sorters April, 1912. 121 with screws, and all must be soaked with water before the cement is poured in. Dr. a. F. Bonney. Buck Grove, Iowa Following Many Advisers — Swarming How long would it take a beginner to get rich if he read and undertook to fol- low all the writers that contribute their ways of managing bees? I think some of them would come out about as I would if I undertook to send a twenty-dollar by one of our northeasterners. The re- sult would be about the same. For in- stance, destroying brood to stop swarming. There is lots written on that. Now, I would like to know how to viake them swarm, as I think in this section I could get just as much money and more in- crease, as a rule. I have about 120 colonies, spring count. I run one-half for comb-honey ; from them I get 5 to 8 new swarms ; from those I extract. For the last 13 years I have had 2 — one came out with a vir- gin queen, the other in September after the honey-tlow was over. I never extract until August, after the white honey sea- son is over. I have tried not putting sections on some of my best colonies until I saw I was losing the best of the honey season, they hanging out all over 3 sides of the hives, and it made no difference — the re- sult was the same. Now, I don't think it is the location, for when I used to have black bees, almost every strong col- ony, if a good year, would send from one to seven swarms — as a rule, one to three. The first queens I ever got were 20 from New York. They swarmed them- selves to death the first season after putting them in. They had no honey in the fall, while the black bees did well. I wrote to the party and he told me what kind they were, and thought I would be well pleased with them. I think he called them Holy Land queens. My bees are quite darkj as they get older. I sent for the lighter colored queens. C. M. Lincoln. West Rupert, Vt., Feb. 24. Asphalt Felt for Wrapping Hives The following conclusions on the sub- ject of winter hive-wrapping may be of use to some one open to suggestion : I regard tar-paper of any kind and every kind as objectionable when ex- posed to the weather, by reason of shrinking, hardening, cracking, dribbling, too, in hot weather, and brittleness when cold. The tar odor is very disagreeable while it lasts. Tar-roofing felt is too stiff and heavy for hive-wrapping, and the tar-sheathing paper is too flimsy and unsubstantial. Three-ply tar-roofing is very effective for damp-proofing a cement floor or cellar wall applied while building, but as a roof- ing material it is far surpassed by ready roofings which are composed of asphalt compounds without a trace of tar. I am using a roofing felt of this character for hive-wrapping, and a heavier grade (otherwise the same) for the roof of the honey-house, with great satisfaction. Also my hive-roofs are coveted with the same lighter grade, which has stood the weather and handling without damage. It is not brittle in cold, nor mussy in hot weather. This material is 32 inches wide. My method is to slit it lengthwise, making 2 strips 16 inches wide, then cut off lengths American Hee Joarnal sufficient to go around the hive and top 3 or 4 indies. Place around the hives, tie with a couple of turns of strong twine, slit down at the covers to the top of th§ hive, then fold the free edges in over the hive, lay a piece of the felt on the turned-in ed^es, and put on the cover with the weight on top. The lap should be placed at the front of the hive. These wrappings can be worked out, cut and creased over an empty hive in the shop, rolled up with the right length of string around each, all ready for use. Flat sheets of paper are not an effective insulation unless a considerable thickness is used, say one-half inch or more. A single sheet of paper will stop the pas- sage of air, but cold will strike through many sheets almost instantly. This question of insulation deserves consideration separately. Old carpet, or burlap (which is not so good) can be made into jackets to pull down over the hive, the wrapping being put on over it, with care, to cover the jacket effectively to keep it dry and snug. A few tacks can be used to advantage around the bot- tom. I use a super-cover on each hive the year around, tacking it down with Ji-inch wire nails in the fall. In the spring these wrappings are carefully taken off. rolled up, the string tied around each roll, and then put away on end until fall ; the top pieces are laid flat ; the jackets are folded tightly and wrapped in paper to keep out moths. I would consider this sort of winter protection practicable up to say 20 hives ; beyond that number, double-walled hives or cellar-wintering might be more convenient. This asphalt felt, under various trade names, is not as cheap in the beginning as tar-paper, but there is more satisfac- tion with it, and I expect it to outlast the paper many times over. I have had 2 years' experience with it. I piece the jackets together over an empty hive-body in the shop at odd times, using a bag needle and grocer's twine. When made in this way there is no difficulty, and the jackets fit any similar hive. New Jersey. M. Spacer. More Rain Needed in California We had a splendid rain here 8 days ago, and tonight it is raining again, ac- companied with the worst windstorm of the season, which is doing considerable damage. It will take much more rain to give us honey. Bad north and east winds have taken all of the moisture previous to 8 days ago. It is hard tell- ing what the season will be. March 2d there was over 3 inches of rain at the Coast, and 4 to 5 and 6 inches in the in- terior; tonight will add another or more, but this will still not give us a honey crop. It will take much more rainfall. M. H. Mendleson. Ventura, Calif., Mar. 9. Bees Wintered Well Our bees have wintered well, as far as I can hear from all around me. My own have come through the winter in good shape, though they have consumed more stores than they did up to the same time last year. I think they will need close watching to keep up their strength. They are out almost every clear day now. I could not think of getting along with- out the -American Bee Journal. I can- not see how any one interested in bees could get along without so valuable a helper which it certainly is to all, novice and veteran alike. E. V.\nderwerken. Stamford, Conn., Mar. 13. A Gold-Nib Fountain Pen This is really a euod Kounlain fl|\ Pen. As far as true usefulness is concerned, it is equal to the higher - priced, much • advertised pens. If you pay more it's the NAME you are charged for. The Gold Nib is guaranteed 14 Karat cold. Iridium pointed. The liolder or ink-barrel is hard rubber, well finished. The cover fits snugly, and cant slip off because it slight- ly wedges over tlie barrel at each end. This I'en is non • leakable. It is very easily cleaned, the pen- point and feeder being quickly re- moved. The simple feeder gives a uniform supply of ink to the pen-point without dropping, blot- ting or spotting. Every bee-keep- er should carry one of these Pens in his vest-pocket right along. It is mailed in a neat box with plain directions and a filler. Each Pen is guaranteed. Price, postpaid. Si.oo ; or with the American Bee Journal for one year— both for $1.70; or given FREE [or Two New yearly subscriptions at $1.00 each. m mi £%'< £%>'' Queen-Clipping Device This OueenClipping Device was invented by Mr. C. Monette. a big. practical bee-keeper in Minneso- ta. It is a fine to use in catching queens for the clipping of their wings. No need of touching queens with the fingers at all. Fine thing for all nervous beekeepers or those who fear to injure queens when clipping them. It is used by many bee- keepers. Plain and full printed direc- tions for use accompany every Device. Price, postpaid. 25 cts.: or with the American Bee Journal for one year— both for Si. 10. GEORGE W. YORK & CO. 117 N. Jefferson St., CHICAGO, ILL Pkise mention Am. Bee Journal when writinc. Bee-Keepers' Supplies, Berry Baskets, Crates, Etc. Sold at Rock Bottom prices. From Factory to Consumer. Send for prices. W. D. SOPER,tJackson, Mich. 323 to 325 Park Ave., on L. S,.^; M. S. R. R. ^i^aA^ mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. =' The Honey-Money Stories " This is a H4-page and cover booklet, 534 by 8J4 inches in size, and printed on enameled paper. It contains a va- riety of short, bright stories, mixed with facts and interesting items about honey and its use. It has 31 half- tone pictures, mostly of apiaries or apiarian scenes ; also .3 bee-songs, namely: "The Hum of the Bees in the Apple-Tree Bloom," and " Buck- wheat Cakes and Honey," and "The Bee-Keeper's Lullaby." It ought to be in the hands of every one not familiar with the food-value of honey. Its ob- ject is to create a larger demand for honey. It is sent postpaid for 25 cents, but we will mail a single copy as a sample for 1-5 cents, 5 copies for 60 cents, or 10 copies by express for $1.00. A copy with the American Bee Journal one year— both for $1.10. Send all or- ders to the American Bee Journal. 122 American Hee Journal April, 1912. ^^^^^D Wants, Exchanges, Etc. [Advertisements in this department will be inserted at 15 cents per line, with no dis- counts of any kind Notices here cannot be less than two lines. If wanted in this de- partment, j'OLi must say so when ordering.] Wanted— Carload of bees for cash. 4Atf ,]ohn C. Bull, Gen. Del.. Hammond, Ind, Redwood Hive-Bodies, 25c each. Voeeler Process Comb Fdn. Poultry Supplies. J. Stansfield. 3301 E. 14th St.. Oakland, Calif. For Sale.— Bees, honey, and bee-supplies. We arein the market for beeswaxand honey. SAtf Ogden Bee & Honey Co., Ogden Utah. KOR Sale — High-grade bees, aueens. and supplies. Pure-blooded poultry and eggs. 4A2t A. M. .■\pplegate. Reynoldsville, Pa. Make Pure, delicious fruit acids from honey. Cures all diseases, man or beast, l^atent allowed. Mailed, 25 cents. lAiy C. W. Dayton, Chatsworth. Calif, Indian Runner Duck Culture Book. In- formation that beginners are looking for. (Special price, 50 cents.) George W. York & Co.. 117 N. Jefferson St., Chicago. 111. Cook's Barred Rocks— Eggs for hatch- ing. Two grand pens. Write for prices, and list of winnings. Fred M. Cook. 3A2t Box los. Mechanicsville. Iowa. Penna. Bee-Keepers— Having bought sup- ply business of Geo. H. Rea. I can furnish complete line of Root's goods. Full car just in. Catalog free. Thos. H. Litz. 4A2t Osceola Mills, Pa. Queens, Nuclei, and Halt-Pound Packages —a strain of 3-banded Italians developed for honey-gathering ability. My entire time has been given to them for 12 years. 4A2t W. D. Achord. Fitzpatrick, Bullock Co.. Ala Queens — Mott's Strain of Italians and Carniolans. Ten-page list free. Plans of Increase for 15 cts.; also. How to Introduce Queens, 15c; or copy of both for 25 cts. Bees by Pound and Nuclei. 3A2t E. E. Mott, Glenwood. Mich. My System — Union bee-hive and Queen. Will increase both your colonies and honey crop, and improve your stock, making bee- keeping a real pleasure. Cash orders $10.00. sAtf Joe Egner. Box 552, Lavergne, 111. Queens — Italians and Carniolans. Will exchange choice aueens for bees by the pound, frame, or hive. Write, slating what you have. Frank M. Keith. 3Atf Si'A Florence St.. Worcester. Mass. Three Months' Trial for 15 cts. for the bee-journal that "Grandpa"can read. Large type. New cover design. Eight extra pages. The Bee-Keepers' Review, 230 Woodland Ave., Detroit. Mich. Wanted— All Southern Idaho bee-keepers to know they can get all kinds of Bee-Keep- ers'Supplies at home. Write for catalog. I have my own factory. C. E. Shriver. 2A4t 162^ Bannock St.. Boise, Idaho. Wanted — Choice extracted white and amber honey in barrels or cans. Send sam- ple, and price delivered f. o. b. Preston. IlAtf M. V. Facey. Preston, Minn. Quirin's famous improved Italian queens, nuclei, colonies. and bees by the lb,, ready in May. Our stock is northern-bred and har- dy; five yards wintered on summer stands in 1008 and iqoq without a single loss. For prices, send for circular. sAst Quirin-the-Queen-Brceder. Bellevue, Ohio. Golden and 3-band Italian Queens (strict- ly free from disease). Tested Queens. Si. 00 each; 3 for $2.75; 6 or more, Hs cts. each. Un- tested. 75C each; 3 Queens $2.00; from b to 50, 05 cts. each. Bees by the pound, $1.00. Nu- clei, per frame. $1.25. Safe arrival and satis- faction guaranteed. C. B Bankston, 2Atf Buffalo, Leon Co.. Texas. For Sale— 131 acres of extra fine farming land in the famous Sail Saba Valley. All tillable, enclosd with Kwire fence; good tank of water, 20 acres fenced off; 10 acres in cul- tivation. Plenty of oak and mesquite tim- ber; good bee-location, and will grow pecans —near largest pecan orchard in Tex. If sold at once, $3.5 an acre. L. B. Smith. Rescue, Tex. For Sale— An apiary of 240 colonies with all appliances for managing this number of bees in an up-to-date manner for extracted honey. In the far-famed Hudson River Val- ley, on a location which has not failed in 32 years to give a paying crop of honey. The encroachment of the city, which necessi- tates the removal of the bees, the cause of selling. Correspondence solicited from those only who mean business. James McNeill. Hudson, N. Y. Connecticut Convention. — The annual meeting of the Connecticut Bee-Keep- ers' Association for the election of officers, etc., will be held Saturday, April 13, 1912, at the Y. M. C. A. Build- ing, Hartford, beginning at 10:30 a.m. The matter of forming a branch of the National Association will be discussed. Good speaking assured. James A. Smith, Sec. Hartford, Conn. The Opfer Hive-Entrance Bee-Feeder.- In the spring we must feed the bees to have them strong for clover-bloom. With all the present feeders this is a troublesome job— either the hive-bottom or covers have to be taken off every time we feed. With the Entrance Feeder shown herewith, all you have to do is to push it in at the hive- entrance and leave it there until there is no more need of feeding. It contracts the en- trance, and that is what you want in spring. The size of this feeder is 7X« inches, and ^ inch deep, and holds 5 ounces of feed. You can feed 100 colonies in about 25 minutes. In case of foul brood you can feed medi- cated syrup and your bees will build up strong and healthy, and be in good shape when clover starts, ready to shake on foun- dation. I have used 75 of these feeders about 8 years, and today they are as good as ever. With proper care they will last a life-time. In spring or in fall most bee-keepers neg- lect to stimulate brood-rearing— one of the most important things in having strong colo- nies and good wintering. It does not de- pend so much upon the amount of feed as it does upon regularity every night (unless the weather is too cold), and you will won- der where your strong colonies come from. Some of the many good points of this En- trance Feeder are these; 1. It is made of heavy galvanized iron and will last a life-time, 2. It reduces the hive-entrance. 3. It reaches where the bees can get at the feed even in cool weather. 4. It feeds the right amount. 5. It will not cause robbing. 6. It will not disturb the colony while feed- Ine. , , , 7. It permits quick work. 8. TJie bees will not drown in it. I am in position to furnish all demands for these feeders at the following prices, f. o b. Chicago: One for 20c; .■; tor 18c each; 10 for I6c each. If ordered by mail, add loc each for packing and postage. Address all orders to-A. H. Ol'FER, 117 N. efferson St.. Chicago, 111. WANTED white HONEY Both COMB and EXTRACTED Write us before dispos- ing of your Honey Crop. Beeswax -WANTED— ^ ^ HILDRETH & SEGELKEN, 265-267 Greenwich SL, NEW YORK, N. Y. Kleaae mention Am. Bee loumal when To The New Century Queen-Rearing Co. FOR Goldens, Caucasians, Carniolans, 3-b'd Italians Untested, $1.00 ; Tested, $1.-W. Write for prices in large quantities. "Right Treatment and Quick Service" is our motto. Address as above, or JOHN W. PHARR, Propr. BERCLAIR, TEXAS. Pltase mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. Crotvn Bone Cutter -^ Best Made Lowest in Price FEED Toiir hiMiii-iii crtH-n Imiip »ii.i Kit nioret-tigs. \\"\\\\ :i Crown Bone i'utter you ciin cut up all Bcrny bont'5 easily »iid quickly, aud wltdoiu any troiiblp. and have out binir fresh overv flay Tor your i«>villry. ■ lid III once for fne catiil" WILSON BROS.. BonSU , Easton. Pa. i'UNiac mention Am. Bee Journal when writing, English Honey-Spoon. This fine goc Honey-Spoon and the Ameri- can Bee Journal for one year-botli for onlr $1.75. Send all orders to to George W. York & Co.. 117 N. Jefferson St., Chicauo. III. Phase mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. April, 1912. American l^ee Journal Muth Ideal Bee-Veil Free as Premium. The Muth Veil is made of liglit-weight indestructible wire and strong cambric, and will last a lifetime. I'its nicely around either a straw hat or a derby, and is easily put on or off in a jiflfy. It is comfortable, and there is no chance for a bee to crawl up under it when properly adjusted, The Muth Ideal Veil cannot be blown in- to your eyes, nor stick to your face, and does not obstruct your view in the least. When catching a swarm in a tree or bush, it cannot hang on the twigs to be torn to shreds as some other Veils do. Price, postpaid. 75 cents; or with the American Bee Journal a year — both for $1.60 or Free as a premium for sending us 2 new subscribers at $1.IK) each. George W. York & Co., yj^^": Chicago, III. Celluloid Queen-Buttons These are very pretty tlunt,'S for bee-keep- ers or honcy-seilers to wear on their cniir. lapels. They often serve to introduce the subject of Iioney, wliicii miglit frequently lead to a sale. Note. — One beekeeper writes: "I have every reason to believe tliat it would be a very good idea for every bee- keeper to wear one [of these buttons], as it will cause peo- ple to ask questions about the busy bee. and many a I conversation thus started wind up with the sale of more or less honey; at any rate it would give the bee- keeper a superior opportu- nity to enlighten many a person in regard to honey and bees." The picture shown above is a reproduc- tion of a motto Queen-button that we offer to bee-keepers. It has a pin on the under- side to fasten it. Prices— by mail— I for 6 cts.; 2 for 10 cts.; or 0 for 25 cts. Address. GEORGE W. YORK & CO. • CHICAGO, ILL CARNIOLANS SUPERIOR WINTERERS How have your bees wintered ? Have they wintered satisfactorily? Are they some- what weak ? Would you like your colonies to winter in better condition? Carniolans stand the long-, cold winters of our Northern States the best. Write for " Superiority of the Carniolan Bee." telline you about their wintering qualities. It's Free. Albert 6. Hann, Scientific Qpwp Brwjer. Pittstown, N. J. Pka*e mration Am. Bee Jouma] when writing. GOLDEN QUEENS and 3-Band Italians. Mated in separate yards five miles distant. Bred from Improved Long- tongued and Red Clover stock— the best honey- gatherers that money can buy. Reared by Doo- little or Miller plan. Untested Queens, to be ready May ist. one 75 cents. ; 12 for $7.50; so for $25.00; in lots 100 to 500. $45-00 per loo. Tested Quhens, ready May 15th — one for $1.50; six. S8.50, No bee-disease in this country. Safe arrival guaranteed. jAtf J. B. Alexander, Cato, Ark. Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. -' The Amateur Bee-Keeper " This is a booklet of 86 pages, written by Mr. J. W. Rouse, of Missouri. It is mainly for beginners — amateur bee- keepers— as its name indicates. It is a valuable little work, revised this year, and contains the methods of a practical, up-to-date bee-keeper of many years' experience. It is fully illustrated. Price, postpaid, 25 cents; or with the Ameri- can Bee Journal one year — both for $1.10. Send all orders to the office of the American Bee Journal. Please mention Am. Bee Journal when wiftiag. Buggies, farm wagons, farming tools, barns, outbuildings and houses often need painting. "Everybody's Paint Book," written by a thorough- ly practical painter, will be found a complete guide to the art of outdoor and indoor painting. It is designed for the special use of those who wish todo their own painting. It gives practical lessons in plain painting, vamishing, poHshiug, staining, paper hang- ing, kalsomining, etc. It also tells how to renovate furniture and gives many hints on artistic work for decorating a home. Precise directions are given for mi.\ing paints for all purposes. If farming tools and farm vehicles are kept painted, they will last twice as long, and anybody can do the work with the aid of this book. It is handsomely and substantially bound in clotb. A copy will be sent postage prepaid on receipt of price, 01. OO We club the book with the American Bee Journal for one year— both for $1.70; or mailed free as a premium for sending us 2 New subscriptions for one year at $1.00 each. .-Xddress. George W. York & Co., 117 N. Jefferson St., Chicago, Ills. P-O-R-T-E-R SAVES TIME HONEY MONEY At All Dealers Each, 15c.; Dozen, $1.65, postpaid. If your Dealer does not keep them, order from Factory, with Complete In- structions. R. & E. C. Porter, Mfrs. Lewistown, III. t'lease mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. We Make a Specialty of Manufacturing SECTION[S They are the Finest tn the Land — None Better. Our Prices will make you smile. We want lo mail OUR BEE-SUPPLY CATALOG to every bee-keeper in the land. It is FREE. Ask for it. H. S. Duby. St. Anne, III., carries a full line of Our Goods, ond sells them at our regular calaloe prices. . AUG. LOT Z & CO. Boyd, Wis. Pk«se mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. Italian Bees, Queens and Nuclei Choice Home-Bred and Imported Stock. All Queens reared in full colonies. Prices for April One Tested Queen $i.8s '■ Select Tested — 2.40 " Breeding Queen.. 3.65 " Comb Nucleus(no queen) I.So " !4 Pound Bees 75 Safe arrival guaranteed. For prices on larger quan- tities and description of each grade of Queens, send for Free Catalog. Send for sample Comb Foundation. J. L. STRONG, 204 E. Logan St., Clarinda, Iowa. Pkaae mention Am. Bee Jonnul when writing. Easier Frame Manipulation u FOR THOSE WHO I SK THE DANDY HIVE-TOOL »» Tempered Tool-Steel. Light and Strong. HENRY BENKE, Pleasantville Sta., N. Y. Price. 20c.. postpaid (silver prnferred.) PkMc meatlMi Am. Bee Tovaal whea wriMM. April, 1912. American Hee Jonrnal LEWIS BEEWARE Shipped Promptly ARND HONEY & BEE-SUPPLY CO. Tnc^ Successors to the York Honey & Bee-Supply Co.) Send for Catalog. 148 West Superior St., CHICAGO, ILL. Enough said ! Please mention Am. Bee Joamal when writing. THE SECRET OF Success in Bee- Keeping Is to Keep Your Colonies Strong ; to do This You Must Have GOOD LAYING QUEENS Whicti We Guarantee at the Following Prices : Golden 3-Band Italian Carniolan Untested — I for {i.oo: 6 for 85.40; 12 for $0 60; 25 for $17.50 Tested— I for $1.50; h for $8. 40; 12 for $15.60; 25 for $30.00 Nuclei with Untested Queen— i-frame, $2.50; six iframe, $15.00 " " " " —2 frame. $3.50; six 2-frame. $20.40 " " Tested " —i frame. $3.00; six i-frame. $17.40 « " " " " — 2frame. $4.00; six 2-frame. $23.40 The Drones used in our Apiary for Mating purpose are reared from the very best selected Queens, which is as necessary as the selecting of a good Queen for Queen-Rearing. For good Queens and quick service you can not do better than place your order with us. We guarantee safe arrival and satisfaction. Directions for building up weak Colonies will be mailed to you for 10 cents. The above Queens are all reared in Separate Yards. 2 Atf W. J. LITTLEFIELD, R. F. D. No. 3, LITTLE ROCK, ARK. Please mention Am. Bee Jonmal when writing. V)rinjj tin? largest proflta — 1(H»>^ more thnn other poullry. Ca- l)Oinzingi8 easy and soon It'arned. Capons sell for 30e. a pound, while ordinary poul- try brings only 15c. a pound. Progressive poultrymen know these thluirs and use PILLING ING SETS Sent postpaid, $-2.50 persist with " Easy-to-use ** instructions. . We also make P"n/(r« VnrkeVy^'bQ,. Gape y'v or w Extractor, 'Ihc French KiUittg Kniftf 50c. Booklet, ■■Guide for CopotOilng," FREE. G.P.PILLING&SONC0..23d&ArchSts.,PhiUdelphm,Pa. STRAVrB£RRIES J prow Strawberry, Raspberry. lilackborry and other small fruit Plants, Grape Vines, Shrubbery, etc. IVIy FKEK fuialoK Tells the truth and Hhil (luotes fair prices for Kood ptofk true to name. If iiitefMBted, write today. 17 asrLct Street. Sallshurr. Sid. Bee-Supplies We are Western Agents for lAtf « FALCONER" Write for Fall Discounts— we can save you money. C. C. demons Bee-Supply Co. 128 Grand Ave., Kansas City, Mo. I : FIGURE THIS OUT FOR YOURSELF : If you buy Bee-Supplies NOW that you will need in April, you save money at the rate of 12 percent on the $. THREE PERCENT is the amount of our early order discount on cash purchases in January. January to April is just three months — % of a year. Now 3 percent for 3 months is interest at the rate of 12 percent per year — so you see why we urge early orders accompanied by cash tills month. ANOTHER reason is that we can serve you better now than three months hence. In a few weeks we will be putting up carload shipments for our dealers and distributing centers, and every effort in our big plant — the largest establishment in the world devoted to the manufacture of bee-supplies — will be directed to filling rush orders. You will be just as anxious for your goods as our other patrons, and will deserve and receive the same attention — no matter what the amount of your order may be, but We can Serve you Better Now • and we want to make it worth your while to place an early order. Try this on a part of your list anyway. Saving at the rate of 12 percent per year ought to interest everybody." We Manufacture Everything in Bee-Supplies Get our li)12 catalog which gives descriptions, illustrations and prices on everything from bee-hives to bee- books, from frames to comb foundation. Get tilis Catalog NOW. THE A. I. ROOT COMPANY, 213 Institute Place, Chicago, Illinois K. W. BOYOEN, Mgr. (.Teffiey Building) Tel. 1484 North. April, 1912. American Vae Journal Griggs Saves You Freight. Toledo U tlie only city located on both Watei and kul. Siiippine can be done to cU the North Shores by either, but all those on boat lines cm save freight by boat, especially those in \Mith Michigan. Send us list of Goods needed, and let us uuote you our Special Prices on quantity orders. Special Club Bargain C'n Bee. Fruit, l*oultrv. and Kami Papers. .Ask for it Our Stock of Root Bee-Suppiies is the most Complete of any. SPECIAL PRICES on Poultry, Feed.s, Shells, Grit, Cliarooal, etc. BEESWAX WANTED. Send for Our 1912 Catalog. S. J. Griggs & Co. Erie St. near Monroe, TOLEDO, 0. Please mention Am. Bee Joamal when writing W.H.Laws \V ill be ready to take care of your Oueen Orders, whether large or small the coming -reason. Twenty-five years of careful breeding brings L.4WS' QUEENS above the usual standard. Better let us book your orders now. Tested Queeds in March and after; Untested, after April ist. About 50 tirst-class Breeding Queens ready at any date. Prices; Tested. $1.25; five for $5. 00. Breeders, each. $5.00. Address. W. H. Laws, Beevllle, Texas. Please mention Am. Bee Journal wbea writlBg "IJee-Keepliig by 20th Century Method.s ; or J. E. Hand's Method of Controlling Swarms," is the title of a new booklet just issued from the press of Gleanings in Bee Culture. While it is written particularly to describe Mr. Hand's methods of controlling swarms by means of his new patented bottom- board, the booklet contains a great deal of other valuable matter, among which is the following: The hive to adopt; re-queening; American foul brood; wintering bees; out-apiaries; feeding and feeders; section honey; pure comb honey; conveniences in the apiary; producing a fancy article of extracted honey; swarm prevention by re-queening; increasing colonies, etc. The price of this booklet is 50 cents postpaid, but we club it with the Ameri- can Bee Journal for a year— both for $1.30. Address all orders to the Ameri- can Bee Journal, 117 North Jeflferson St., Chicago, 111. BOOKS for BEE-KEEPERS KUK SAI.K i;V GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 117 N. Jefferson St.. Chicago. III. First Lessons in Bee-Keeping, by Thos. G. Newman. revlHcd by C. I*. Dadanl.— Intended mainly for begrtnners. Nearly 200 pagrcfii. and over ir>U pictures. Bound In atrong paper cover, showing bee-bruod In all stages of development from the newly-laid egg. This book contains the foundation principles of bee-keeping, as Us name Indicates. Price, postpaid. 50 cts.; or free with the American Bee Journal one full year If paid strictly in advance— by either new or re- newal subscription at f 1. 00. Fifty Years Among the Bees, by Dr. C. C Miller — :^4U pages, bound In cloth, and illustra- ted with 112 half-tone pictures taken by Dr. Mil- ler himself. It Is a good, live story of success- ful bee-keeping by a master of the subject, and shows with clearness just how Dr. Miller works with bees and produces tons of honey. Price, $1.00. postpaid: or with the American Bee Jour- nal a year. $1.80: or given Fkkk as a premium for sending S New subscriptions at $1.00 each. Scientific Queen-Rearing, as Practically Applied, by G. M. Doollltle.— It tells how the very best Queen-Bees are reared In Nature's Way. A good authoiity says: " It is practically the only comprehensive book on queen-rearing now in print. It Is looked upon by many as the fo\indation of the modem methods of rearing queens wholesale." Price, bound in cloth, 75 cts., postpaid: or with the American Bee Jour- nal a year— both for $1.50. The same book bound in leatherette. 50 cts.. postpaid ; or free with the American Bee Journal one full year if paid in advance strictly, by either new or renewal sub- scription at $1.00. Langstroth on the Honey-Bee, revised by Dadant.— This classic on bee-cvilture has been entirely rewritten. Fully Illustrated. No apia- rian library is complete without this standard work by the " Father of American Apiculture." Over 500 pages, bound In cloth. Price. $1.20: or with the American Bee Journal a year. $2.00; or given Frek as a promlum for sending 4 New .subscriptions at $1.00 each. Bee-Keeper's Guide, or Manual of the Apiary, by Prof. A. J. Cook.— This book Is very Instructive, interesting, helpful, and thoroughly practical and scientific. It is perhaps the most complete of any bee-book on the Anatomy and Physiology of bees, and also the Botany of bee- keeping. Bound in cloth. 544 pages. 295 Illustra- tions. Price, postpaid. $1.20: or with the Ameri- can Bee Journal a year— both for $1,90; or given Fkek as a premium for sendiftgS New subscrip- tions at $1.00 each. ABC&XYZof Bee Culture, by A. I. & E. R. Root.— Over 500 large pages describing ev- erything pertaining to the care and manage- ment of honey-bees. II is a veritable encyclo- pedia on bees. 400 engravings. Bound in cloth. Price, postpaid, $1.50: or with the American Bee Journal a year— both for $2.25: or given Fuee as a premium for sending 5 New subscriptions at $1.00 each. Advanced Bee Culture, by ttie lateW. Z. Hutchinson.— The author was an extensive bee- keeper, and a practical, helpful writer on bees and bee-keeping. Over 200 pages, cloth bound. Price, postpaid. $1.00: or with the American Bee Journal for a year— both for $1.80: or given Fkee for sending 3 New subscriptions at $1.00 each. Southern Bee Culture, by J. J. Wilder, of Georgia, perhaps the most extensive hee-keep- er in the State. It is a real hand-book of South- em bee-keeping. Bound in paper. 145 pages. Price, postpaid, 50 cts.; or with the American Bee Journal a year— both for $1.30. Amerikanische Bienenzucht, by Hans Buschbauer.— A bee-keeper's hand-book of 1.S8 pages, which Is just what German bee-keepers need. It is fully Illustrated and bound In cloth. Price, postpaid. $1.00: or with the American Bee Journal a year— both for $1.70. The Honey-Money Stories.— 64-page book- let of short, bright items about honey. Has 23 fine Illustrations, and 3 bee-songs. Its main object is to interest people in honey as a daily table food. Price, postpaid, 25 cents; or with a year's subscription to the American Bee Jour- nal—both for $1.10. Two copies for 25 cts. The Emerson Binder.— It has a stiff board outside like a book-cover, with cloth back. Will hold easily 3 volumes (36 copies) of the Ameri- can Bee Journal. Makes reference easy, and preserves copies from loss. dust, and mutila- tion. Price, postpaid. 75 cts. : or with the Amer- ican Bee Journal a year— both fortl.60; or given Free as a premmm for sending 2 New subscrip- tions attl.OOcach. Anderson's Famous TexasQueens Italians Carniorns Banats The best to be found of each. Will be ready as soon as you can use them. Let me book your orders now. My Queens are Guaranteed Pure, Vigorous & Healthy PRICES : Untested, each. 75 cents, per dozen, $8.00. Tested, each, $1.25; per dozen. I12.00. Circular Free. GRANT ANDERSON, San Benito, - Texas PWaw mention Am. Btt Journal when writiac. QUEENS! QUEENS! Italians AND Carniolans The Keith System ^LlllfA'iV.fVuTt can be produced. My .Strain is the result of 20 years of careful braeding and selection. I feel confident that few. if any. can surpass them. Color has not been my special object; but to produce bees that will brin? in honey, and store it in supers where it is wanted. I am also paying a great deal of attention to Gentleness among my bees, so that almost any one can handle them. Annual importations of Queens has kept my stock absolutely pure. Prices as follows ; I 6 12 Virgins $ .65 $3. so $ 6.00 Untested i.oo 4.00 7,00 Warranted... 1.25 5.50 11.00 Tested 1.50 7.50 13.00 Select Tested. J2.00 each. Breeder. $3,00 and up. Nuclei and Full Colonie.s. Bees dy the Pound. Write for Circular. Apiaries inspected for brood-diseases. FRANK M. KEITH, 83K Florence St. Worcester, Mass. Please mention Am. Bee Jounuil when writing. Special Prices on Bee-Goods For 60 Days. Dovetailed Hives ijistory. Si 35 each. Hcffman Frames, J2 25 per 100. Just make us a Bill of the Goods you might need for 1012. and we will quote Lowest Prices. We make all kinds of Bee Goods. FINE QUEENS at all times to be had. Untested. 75 cts.; Tested. $1.00. CHESTNUT HILL MFC. CO. lAtf Biglervllle, Pa. Pkaae mention Am. Bee Jounul wken writinf. April, 1912. American Vae Journal DOOLITTLE'S "Scientific Queen-Rearing" This is G. M. Doolittle's master-piece on rearing the best of queens in perfect accord with Nature's way. It is for the amateur and the veteran in bee-lieeping. The A. I. Root Co., who ought to ijnow.say this about Doolit- tle S Queen-rearing: book ; It is practically the only comprehensive book on queen-rearing now in print. It is looked upon by many as the foundation of mod- ern methods of rearing queens wholesale." Mr. Doolittle's book also gives his method of producing comb honey, and the care of same : his management of swarming, weak colonies, etc. It is a book of 12fi pages, and is mailed at the following prices : Bound in cloth. $1.00 : bound in leatherette,.75.cents. Special Clubbing Offer We offer a cloth-bound copy of this book with the American Bee Journal one year— both for ii.=;o; cr a copy of the leatherette-bound edition, with the American Bee Journal one year— both for $1.25. The cloth-bound book given free for getting 3 new subscribers at $1. each ; or the leatherette-bound copy given for 2 new subscribers. Every bee-keeper should have a copy of Mr. Doolittle's book, as he is one of the stan- dard authorities of the world on the subject of queen-rearing and everything else connected with bee-keeping and honey-production, ^ George W. York © Co., Chicago, 111. Satisfactory Results Will be obtained by using, Manufactured Comb Foundation, which embodies Purity,Toughness, Transparency, Color and the Pure Beeswax Odor of the Natural Comb as made by the Hon- ey-bee. SUCH IS THE Dittmer's Process Comb Foundation Send for Samples. All other Bee-Supplies at prices you will appreciate. We will be pleased to send you our 1912 Catalog, for the asking. Gus Dittmer Company, - Augusta, Wisconsin. The Ideal Hive-Tool Free as a Premium Exactly half actual size. Price, postpaid. 35 cents, or witli the American Bee Journal " ' '-"REE as a premium for 'rice, postpaid. 35 cents, or with the A one year— both for J1.15; or mailed Vr senaine us one new subscription at $1 'Ihis is a special tool invented by a Minnesota bee-keeper, adapted for pry- ing up supers, and for general hive and otlier work around the apiary. Made of malleable iron, 8>^ inches long. The middle part is 1 1-lG inches wide, and 7-32 thick. The smaller end is 1% inches long, J2 inch wide, and 7-,T2 thick, ending like a screwdriver. The larger end is wedge-shaped, having a fairly sharp, semi- circular edge, making it almost perfect for prying up hive-covers, supers, etc., as it does not mar the wood. Dr. C. C. Miller, who has used this tool since 1003, says: "I think as much of the tool as ever." Address all orders to, George W. York & Co., 117 N. Jefferson St., Cliicago, III. The Campbell System INSURES your crop against DROUTH Our experience in 1!U0 and 1911 has proved that good crops can be grown witli less than eighteen inches of rain- fall. Those who fullowed the Camp- bell System in lIMn had a crop in 1911. Don't Take Any Risks for 1912 Campbell's publications explain the'system. Campbell's Sclentfic Farmer - $1.00 Campbell's Soil Culture Manual - $2.50 Combination Price ■ - - $3.00 Address. Campbell's Soil Culture Co., Lincoln, Neb. When you write ask about the Campbell Correspondence School. 8Atf TEXAS HEADQUARTERS Root's Supplies for Bee-Keepers. Makers of Weed New Process Comb Foundation. Buy Honey and Beeswax. Catalogs Free. Toepperwein & Mayfield Co. Cor. Nolan & Cherry Sts., 4Atf San Antonio, Texas. Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. Mexico as a Bee-Country B. A. Hadsell. one of the most experienced and largest bee-keepers in the world— has made six trips to Mexico, investigating: that place as a bee - country, and is so infat- uated with it that he is closing out his bees in Arizona. He has been to great expense in getting up a finely illustrated?2-pa£e book- let, describing the tropics of Mexico as a Bee-Man's Paradise, which is also superior as a farming, stock-raising and fruit country. Where mercury ranges between 55 and g8 Frost and sun-stroke is unknown. Also a great health resort. He will mail this book Free by addressing. 7Ai2t B. A. Hadsell, Lititz, Pa. Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. Early (FRO FALCON) Queens "ITALIANS" February and March deliveries— for Untes- ted, $1.50 each; April. Si-25- Tested Queens. 50 cts. additional; Select Tested. $1.00 extra. Breeders, prices on application. JOHN C. FROHLIGER, 257-« Market St.. San Francisco, Cal. Or Berkeley, Cal Pkaae mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. COST SALE Of BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES for tha next 4 months. Too big .stock to carry over. Write your wants; 1 will make price to suit. Sept. ;6. lOii. W.D. Soper, l^'J^ifl Jackson, Mich. PlciUe mention Am. Bee Journal when writiii«. SUPERIOR BEE-SUPPLIES Specially made for Western bee-keepers by G. B. Lewis Co. Sold by Colorado Honey-Producers' Association, Denver. Coi.o. Pkaae mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. For Sale-15 Eggs $1.00 Indian Runner Ducks — White and I-awn. 2 1 J. F. Michael, Rt. 1, Winchester, Ind. April, 1912. American Hee JonrnaTj ' liiCAGO. Marcli 22. ~ Despite the cold \\ . Mthor honey has not sold as freely during Much as has been its wont, and all grades o! comb honey other tlian A No. i to fancy are dirticult to sell. For the best grades the market is firm at I7@i8c per lb., and the off grades are from ife'sc per lb. less. Extracted honey is steady in price, but the movement is not large, and with stocks now on hand the prices are not likely to be any higher. White extracted ranges from 8@ijc per lb., with amber from 7@8c. all according to kind, body and flavor. Beeswax is in good de- mand at 30g'32c per lb. R. A. Burnett cS: Co. Indianapolis. Mar. 2;. —White comb honey sells ai i8c per pound in locase lots. .Amber grades in slow demand and at lower figures. Best extracted sells at i!@'i2c per pound in 5-gallon cans. Jobbing houses are well sup- plied, but producers are not now offering any honey. Beeswax is in good demand, and produces are being paid 31c per pound. Walter S. Pouder. Kansas City, Mo.. March 22.— Our market is cleaning up fast on both comb and ex- tracted honey. No change in prices. We quote: No. I white comb, 24-section cases, $3.25; No. 2. $3.00; No. I amber, $3. 00; No. 2. $2.75. Extracted, white, per pound, 855®gc; amber. S@B'Ac: dark, 5H@7c. Beeswax, per lb., 25@28c. C. C. Clemons Produce Co. Cincinnati. March 23.— There is a fair de- mand for both comb and extracted honey. We are selling the very finest grade of comb honey at $3. 75 to $4.00 a case, while for fancy extracted honey we are gettinggC'iic a lb., according to the quality and quantity pur- chased; amber honey, in barrels, is selling for 6^7!2C. For strictly choice, bright yellow beeswax, we are paying 30c a lb. delivered here, and i@2c a pound less for darker grades. The Fred W, Muth Co. Denver, March 23.— We have no comb honey to quote; our market is entirely cleaned up. Our jobbing quotations on white extracted are gc; light amber. Be; strained, 6?'4(!!'7Kc. We pay 26c in cash, and 28c in trade for clean, yellow beeswax de- livered here. The Colo, Honey-Producers' Ass'n. F. Rauchfuss, M^rr, San Francisco, Mar. 22.— The demand for honey the past month has been more marked, and there is still a lot unsold. Comb honey. iS@i8c; water-white extracted, o^ioc; light amber, 8@8J2C; lower grades, s'sbjic. Bees- wax, 27!'2@3oc per pound for light in color, and 23@26c for dark. J. C. Frohi.iger. Cincinnati, Mar. 22.— The market on comb honey is about cleaned up. No. i white is selling in jobbing way at $3.65 per case; re- tail $4. 00. Light amber extracted in barrels 70; in cans, 7j4@8c. White extracted in 60- pound cans. IOC Beeswax in fair demand at $33 per hundred lbs. The above are our selling prices, not what we are paying. C. H. W. Weber & Co. New York. Mar. 23.— We have practically nothing new to report. The market remains in about the same condition. Comb honey is well cleaned up, and what few little lots arrive find ready sale at former prices. Extracted is not moving very fast, plenty of supply of all grades excepting California water-white and white-sage, which is pretty well cleaned up. r*rices remain about the same as in our former I'cport. but in quan- tity lots even these prices have to be shaded in order to affect sale. Beeswax steady at from 3o6'3ic per lb. Hildreth & Segelken, Boston. Mar. 25. —Fancy white comb, I7@i8c; light amber, i<;c; amber, 14c. Fancy white extracted, io@iic; light amber. gC2ioc; am- ber, gc. Beeswax, 30c. Blake, -Lee Co. Names of Bee-Keepers Wanted We desire very much to have the names and addresses of all the bee-keepers who are in your locality who do not now take the American Bee Journal. We would like to get every one of them on our list of regular readers. If you will send to this office the names and ad- dresses of such bee-keepers, we will be pleased to mail each a sample copy of the American Bee Journal. Perhaps you could send in their subscriptions, and thus earn some of the various pre- miums that we offer from time to time for getting new subscriptions. We feel that every bee-keeper ought to read the American Bee Journal regularly. He would not only be more successful, but would be less of a competitor of his neiglibor bee-keepers, if he were more enlightened on the subject of bees and honey. We would appreciate it very much if all who can do so will send us the names and addresses of their bee-keeping neighbors who do not at present receive the American Bee Journal, I Are You Ready? The season is advancing ; the long, cold winter is about over. Bees will be breeding up soon for the early honey-flow, and Supplies should be on hand ready for instant service when the time comes. We have a Large and Complete Stock of Root's Goods, and cars are coming in regularly. There is nothing in the Line we can't furnish promptly, and we can save you time and money. Our New Catalog is ready for you. Get your Supplies from us at factory prices, and save on transportation charges. We can reach any point in this locality very promptly, and can get the Goods started to you the day your order is received. You know that you can't get better goods than Root's, and we want the chance to show you that our SERVICE is worthy of your consideration. Let us know vour needs and we will do the rest. C. H. W. Weber & Co. 2146 Central Ave. CINCINNATI, OHIO H N N N N N N N ■ N M N N M ■ N ■ N M N M M M N N N N >¥¥WWW^MWWWWWMWWWWWMMW^W^X^yyXWXXXXX XITYY 4^ falcon' FOUNDATION PROCESS OF MANUFACTURE.— The very best grades of beeswax, clarified without that acid taste or odor which is so obectionable in some makes, sheeted by our heavy pressure process, reduced and polished by smoothrolls, allowed ample time to cure, is finally passed through embossed power mills, resulting in that cear, absolutely pure product, FAMOUS THE WORLD OVER, " FALCON " FOUNDATION. No detail, from the buying of the beeswax to the packing of the product, is slighted. The care and skill n cleansing, the absolute purity from all foreign matter, the enormous pressure in sheeting into continuous belt-like sheets, the transparency and perfectness of the finished product, with the appearance and smell of the hive itself (for it is indeed the product of the bees, purified, embossed and returned for their use), has made a product, " FALCON " FOUNDATION, which has been chosen by the bees themselves as the acme of foundations. The " FALCON " WAY is OUR WAY developed in thirty years of foundation manufacture. QUALITY << FALCON " FOUNDATION made by our sepecial methods has won a reputation on account of its perfect cell formation, non-stretching qualities, and the readiness with which bees begin work upon it. Our section foundation is perfectly clear, and with it is produced those pearly white sections of honey so much admired. Our brood foundation is particularly adapted for full sheets in brood or extracting frames Its strength eliminates all stretched cells in which drone-brood is reared or elongated cells in which no eggs at all are laid. Use " FALCON " FOUNDATION and satisfy your bees. SAMPLES WE GUARANTEE every sheet equal to samples in every particular. Drop us a card for samples and they will be sent postpaid. Get "FALCON " FOUNDATION of our nearest dealers. If you don't know the names drop us a'postal. W. T. Falconer Mfg. Company ll'/icrc the good bee-hives come from C. C. demons Bee-Supply Co. 130 Grand Ave., Kansas City, Mo. W. T. Falconer Mfg. Co. 117 North Jefferson Street, Chicago, Illinois. N H « N N N M N N N N M N N N N N N N N M N N N M N WWWMMkMWWWMMMMWWWWWMMMMMMMMMWWWMMkW ^ YYYI Protection Hive Bingham Smokers The best and lowest-priced double • wall hive on the market. This hive has %in. mat e r i a 1 in the outer wall and it is not cheaply made of H material as are some other hives on the mark- et. Send for CIRCULAR s h o wi n i; 12 larite illu.stra- tions. It will pay to inves- titrate. Mannfactured only by Insist on ^ Old BINGHAM Reliable Bing- ham Smokers. '''■"'• for sale, by all BEE SMOKER dealers m Bee- keepers'supplies For over io years the standard in all countries. The smoker with a valve in the bel- lows, with direct draft, bent cap. inverted bellows and soot-burning device. Smoke Engine, a-inch. each. $1.25. mail. $1.50. Doctor. 3>i-inch. each. 85c: mail. Ji.io. Conqueror, j-inch. each. 7sc: mail. $i.oa Little Wonder. 2-in., ea..5<'c; mail. 65c. Honey-Knife, 60 cents; mail, 80 cents. A. G. WOODMAN CO., Grand Rapids, Mich. Famous Queens! From Improved Stock. The Best That Money Can Buy Not inclined to swarm, and as for Honey- Gathering they have few equals. Three - band. Golden, and Carniolans— bred in separate yards; ready March 20th. Untested. $1.00; 6 for Ss; 12 for $0. Tested. Si. 50: 6 for S8; 12 for $15.00. Breeders of either strain. $5.00. Nuclei, with Untested Queens — I-frame. $2.50; six i-frame. $15; 3-frame, $3.50; six 2-fr. $20.40. Nuclei with Tested Queens— i-frame. $3.00; six I-frame. $17.40; 2 frame, $4.00; six 2-fiame, $23.40. Our Queens and Drones are all reared from the Best Select Queens, which should be so with the Drones as well as the Queens. We guarantee safe arrival and satisfac- "°" D. E. BROTHERS, 2A0t Jacksonville, Ark. Please mention Am. Bee Joumsl when writinf. DAIiIiLO Machinery Road what J. L Paiue?i J-^^'^Y of Qoiiog© ^ I.^^«>^T .tw>ij;-.'»;i.rfiz.-. ^^g^'^'^ti^^t-^-r y-^ "^^jr-fc^**-- ,«;,jw.in wk .:. jL'M^Tjm*.* '^ •'""'^. r?' ^^ ^^-■'■^^*» THE LAKGEST ELECTRIC POWER DAM Df THE WORLD, NOW BEING BUILT ACROSS THE MISSISSIPPI RI\"ER, AT THE NEW HOME OF THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, AT HAMILTON, ILLINOIS— DAM BEING OVER HALF MILE LONG. This view was taken Apnl 4, 1912, from the outer edge of the cofferdam, on the Iowa side, 1000 feet from the Iowa shore, looking across towards the Illinois shore. The city of Hamilton is at the extreme right. There arc to be 119 arches, 82 of which now show in the ;jicture. The puwer-house, lock and dry dock are now being built on the Iowa shore. The immense power will be generated by 30 turbines of 10,000 horse-power each. The fall, caused by the Des Moines Rapids to be flooded, is from 20 to 36 feet, according to the stage of water. The cities of Keokuk and Hamilton, on either side of the big river, have become centers of activity, and have a bright future. A view of the entire works, taken from the Iowa bluffs, will be published later in the American Bee Journal. This immense undertaking, which is to cost over $25,000,000, : was planned, and is now being carried out, by Hugh L. Cooper, probably the most capable hydraulic engineer living. 13° May, 1912 American liee Journal ^,^M^^i©^. T5~- iiijraum I'lriMSIIKll MONTHLY HV (ieorye W. ^'ork A; I'oiiipaii.v, 1st Nat'l Bank Bldg. Hamilton, Illinois IMPORTANT NOTICE THK SUBSCkiri ION I'RICI': of this Journal is Si. 00 a year, in the United States of .America and Mexico: in Canada, Ji.io: and in all other countries in tlie I'ostal Union, 25 rents a year extra for postage. Sample copy free. THK WRAPPKR-LABEL DATE indi- cates the end of the month to which your subscription is paid. For instance, " deci2" on your label shows that it is paid to the end of December, 1012. SUBSCRIl'TION RECEIPTS. -We do not send a receipt for money sent us to pay sub- scription, but change the date on your ad- dress-label, which shows tfiat the money has been received and credited. AdTertising Rate, Per Agate Line, 15c. 14 lines make one inch. Nothing less than 4 lines accepted. DISCOUNTS: 3 times 14c a line 0 times iic a line 6 " I2C " 12 " (i yr.) IOC a line Reading Notices. 25 cents, count line. Goes to press the 6th of each month. (Organized 1870.) National Bee - Keepers' Association OIJJECTS The objects of this Association shall be to aid its members in the business of beekeep- ing: to help in the sale uf their honey and beeswax: and to promote the interests of beekeepers in any other direction decided upon by the Board of Directors. Ofiicer.s President— George W. York, Sandpoint, Ida. Vice-Pres.— Morley Petlit, Guelph, Onl. Can, Secretary— E. B. Tyrrell. Detroit. Mich. Treasurer— N. E. France. Plattcville, Wis. Director.s !•', 1). Townsend. Chm,. Remus, Mich. Wesley C. Foster, Boulder, Colo. Franklin Wilcox, Mansion. Wis. I- F,. (Jranc. Midueen J2.50 Tested Oueen 1.50 Untested Queen i.oo The colonies I offer consist of 8 frames of bees, honey and brood, in 10- frame Langstroth body. They will be securely packed and sent by Express at purchaser's expense. For larger quantities of Bees or Queens write for prices. Circular free. ISAAC F. TILLINGHAST, Stale .\piary Inspector. SAzt FACTORYVILLE. PA. Please mention Am. Bee Tournal when writing. FOR SALE Golden Untested Queens at 75 cents each; or $8.00 per doz. Tested Queens. Ji. 25 each, or six for $6.00. Select Tested. J2.00 each, or six for Jio.oo. Safe arrival and perfect satisfaction guar- anteed 4.\tf R. O. Cox, Box 8, Garland, Ala. iOQCOSOOOOSOOCOOOeOOOSiOOCO! 11 UEW REE- S 8 H ENGLAND D KEEPERS S X Everything in Supplies. v Q New Goods. Factory Prices. S Q Save Freight & Express Charges O S Cull & Williams (Jo. X O lAlf TKOVIDEXCF,. R. I S 3oosoGeoccoosoooooeoscGoo<:}^ Have You Bees for Sale? Owing to winter losses there is a considerable demand in the country for colonies of bees. Those having bees for sale should write at once to the American Bee Journal, Hamilton, Illinois. Untested Italian Queen-Bees Our Standard-Bred 6 Queens for $4.50 ; 3 for $2.50 ; 1 for 90 cents. For a number of years we have been sending out to bee-keepers exceptionally fine Untested Italian Queens, purely mated, and all right in every respect. Here is what a few of those who received our Queens have to say about them : Georoe W. York .t Co.:— The two riueens received of you some time aeo are fine They are eood hreeders. and the workers are showing- up tine I introduced them among- black bees, and ttic bees are nearly yellow now, and are doing: B:ood work. Nemaha Co , Kan , July 15. a. W. Swax. George W. York & Co :-After Importlner queens for 15 years you have sent me the l)e8t She keeps '.t 1-2 Langstroth frames fully oc cupied to date. and. although I kept the hive well contracted, to force them to swarm, they have never built a queen-cell, and will nut UD 100 pounds of honey If the flow lasts this week. Onlario. Canada July 22 Chas. Mitchell George W. York & Co. :-The queen I bought of you has proven a good one, and has given me some of the best colonies Washington Co., Va., July 22. n. P. Oglesbt. George W York & Co. .-The queen I received of you a few days ago came through O. K . and I want to say that she Is a beauty. I im- mediately introduced her Into a colony which had been rnieenless for 20 days^ She was accepted by them, and has gone to work nicely. 1 am highly pleased with her and your promptness In filling my order My father, who Is an old bee keeper, pronounced her very fine Yoii will hear from me again when I am In need of something in the bee ""Marlon CO.. 111., July 13. E. E. McColm. We usually begin mailing Queens in May, and con- tinue thereafter on the plan of " first come first served." The price of one of our Untested Queens alone is 90 cents, or with the old American Bee Journal for one year— both for $1.60. Three Queens (without Journal) would be $2..30. or 6 for $4.50. Full instructions for in- troducing are sent with each Queen, being printed on the underside of the address-card on the mailing-cage. You cannot do better than to get one or more of our fine Standard-Bred Queens. American Bee Journal, Hamilton, iilinols. r «»5«ceooooooooooeoeooccoGooo8oooG«oooosoBoooe©ooeo 1 I MARSHnELD GOODS BEE KEEPERS :— We manufacture Millions of Sections every year that are as good as the best. The CHEAPEST for the Quality ; BEST for the Price. If you buy them once, you will buy again. 1 I "We also manufacture Hives, Brood- Frames, Section-Holders and Ship- ping-Cases. Our Catalog is free for the asking. ? Marshfield Mfg. Co., Marshfieid, Wis. ^occceosccoecooooccosooecccosooecoooQcoeooctxvsoscoooool When You Buy Lewis Beeware You Get I ATATio Aimlii'ir Which means that all Lewis Hives are made out of clear LivWlS liUalliy white pine, and Lewis Sections made out of fine bright basswood. MateriaKin these goods is the best obtainable, selected by experts. T AlA7ic W^nrlrmancllin '^^^ Lewis Factory is equipped with the latest LiCWlS tY OrKIllalldllip improved machinery, constantly watched over by experts. The Lewis head mechanic has 35 years of bee-supply experience ; ^the superintendent of bee-hive department 29 years ; the superintendent of sec- tions 28 years. These and many other skilled men have a hand in all the Lewis goods you buy. I ATAMO PorlriiKf ^^^ Lewis Beeware is carefully and accurately packed — LivWlS r aCJiill^ a patent woven wood-and-wire package made only by the Lewis Company is employed largely in packing ; this makes the package light, compact and damage-proof. T A1A7-1C Conriro Y^^'"^ ^S^ ^^^ goods were shipped direct from the factory LivWlo iJCrVlLv with attending high freight-rates and delays during the llioney season ; now Lewis Beeware can be obtained almost at your own door. *pver 30 Distributing Houses carrying Lewis Beeware by the carload, are dotted all over the United States and foreign countries. Write for the name of the 'one nearest vou. It G. B. LEWIS CO., MANUFACTURERS OF BEEWARK WATERTOWN. WIS. If BEES could TALK THEY WOULD SAY : "GIVE US DADANT'S FOUNDATION It's Clean. It's Pure. It's Fragrant. it's just like the Comb we make ourselves." If you are not using '' Dadant's Foundation" drop us a card and we will give you prices, or tell you where you can get it near you — Agents Everywhere. Published Monthly at $1.00 a Year, by George W. York & Company, First National Bank Building C. p. DADAN 1'. Editor. DR. C. C. MILLER. Associate Editor. HAMILTON, ILL, MAY, 1912 Vol. LII -No. 5 Special Announcement Chic.\go, III., April 1, UH2. We have this day transferred to Mr. C. P. Dadant, of Hamilton, 111., the American Bee Journal, including its mailing lists and good-will, and also the future business of George W. York & Co., with good-will. All arrearages due on subscriptions should be remitted to the American Bee Journal, Hamilton, III. .Ml amounts on advertising that have been billed up to April 1, 1912, are due and payable to Georg( IV. ]or/.\ 117 N. Jefferson St., Chicago, 111. All advertising that has not been billed up to that date will be payable to the American Bee Journal, Hamilton. 111. Any correspondence that is intended for George W. York should be ad- dressed to him fersonalh; as above, till further notice. Mr. York, of course, will always be interested in the success of the Ameri- can Bee Journal, with which he has been connected 28 years, and which he has edited and published for 20 years. We bespeak for Mr. Dadant the hearty support and co-operation of bee-keepers everywhere. He is abun- dantly able to produce a bee-publica- tion second to none, and doubtless will in a very short time make the old American Bee Journal better than it has ever been before. Thanking all who have co-operated in any way with us during the past 20 years, and wishing all our friends and readers of the old American Bee Jour- nal a bright and happy future, we are, Yours very truly, George W. York & Co. Our Editorial Policy It is a pleasure for the writer to as- sume the control of a publication with which he has so long had friendly rela- tions. The American Bee Journal will aim to continue the independent course pur- sued by Mr. York. It will include C(.mr- teous discussions of useful subjects, hints to beginners, answers to questions of daily importance on apiary incidents, description of new implements, anatom- ical and physiological researches on the honey-bee, treatment of bee-diseases and their eradication, honey markets and prices. With the help of able cor- respondents, there is enough in all these subjects to make interesting reading. As far as we know, every one of the former contributors will remain with us; and new ones will come. The kind replies already received from the few who have been informed of the change indicate that the o/ii craft will have smooth sailing and will be in no danger of icebergs. Dr. C. C. Miller remains as associate editor, and Miss Godfrey as head of the composing room. C. P. D.\DANT. Timely Hiut.s for May This is the month for spraying fruit- trees. If you have neighbors who spray their trees while in bloom, you should urge them to desist and wait till the bloom has dropped. Not only would they destroy the bees, the best friends of fruit fertilization, but they also blight a part of the fruit by pois- oning the pollen. The proper time to spray is both before and after the period of blossoms. A number of States have passed laws upon this sub- ject, and more are needed. Colonies that are found queenless in May are worthless unless they are still quite strong in bees, and are given a a queen without much delay. It is at this time that queens reared in South- ern countries are most valuable to the Northern apiarist. However, little success is achieved in mailing queens before May 15th, owing to the irregu- larities of temperature. A swarm in May Is worth a load of hay- provided it is a bona-fide swarm, and not an absconding colony which has left its hive for want of food, or be- cause its quarters have been befouled by diarrhea during the cold days. Now is the time to overhaul all the empty combs in the apiary. Put into the wax-rendering boiler all drone- combs, or irregular combs. Melt up also all combs of colonies that have died of doubtful brood-diseases. According to nine-tenths of the bee- writers, two drones cost as much as three workers to rear, and eat more without ever producing anything. Therefore, it will well repay your time to remove all drone-comb. But be sure to replace it with worker-combs, as the bees would probably refill the same space with drone-comb again. Combs of colonies that have died in the early part of the winter, or during the coldest weather, have nothing to fear of the moth at present, as the eggs and larva: of the moth which they might have contained are lifeless also. But colonies which have died late in the winter, or from spring dwindling, may yet contain some live worms or chrysalis. Brimstone burnt in a stone or iron vessel within a closed box or closed room will kill the moths. Bi- sulphide of carbon, or carbon tetra- chloride, poured on a rag and enclosed with the combs will have the same effect. This is the month when bees should breed plentifully, if you expect a June crop of honey. It takes not less than a month to make an active field-worker from the time the egg is laid. Worker- bees hatch in 21 days, but they after- wards remain in the hive as nurses for a week or more. The most practical horticulturists know' that the honey-gathering insects are indispensable to the fertilization of fruit-bloom, and they either keep 134 American Vae Journal bees themselves or encourage bee-cul- ture in their immediate vicinity. Bee-keepers of America, sustain your National Association! A new depart- ure has been made. Give it a fair trial. No good ever came from secession or strife. You have it in your power to make a success, and success you will achieve sooner or later. Let it be sooner! Put a shoulder to the wheel. The little drops of honey make the car- loads. Bees often need feeding until the fields and pastures are white with bloom. If you feed in spring, let the feed be fairly warm and somewhat thinner than ordinary honey. The bees need water when feeding the brood, and thin feed will partly supply this need. Sugar syrup is better for this purpose than honey, because it attracts robber-bees much less than does sweet- smelling honey. Do not feed unknoivn honey to your bees. This should be inscribed in large capitals on the walls of every honey- house. Tainted honey is the main vehi- cle of foul brood. It will do no harm to human beings, and it is impossible to detect the tainted from the untainted. Do not fear foul brood. The writer kept bees for 40 years before he saw a sample of it. But if you meet foul brood destroy it as you would a rattle- snake. It is only upon that condition that you need not fear it. The careless bee-keeper's apiary will sooner or later be destroyed by it, if it happens to come to his neighborhood. should not be capable of considerable modi- fication throuKli experimental breeding. I believe, however, that mnch headway can not be made until it is possible accurately to control the matins of the queens and drones." ...,,, , Prof. Wilmon Newell says: I fully be- lieve that it is possible to get strains which will gather more honey than those we now have, and it seems within the realm of pos- sibility that a nonswarming bee might make its appearanceas a mutation." Prof. W. K. Castle says; "I am a strong believer in the efficacy of selection to mod- ify animals of all sorts." With all this by way of encourage- ment, there still stands in the way the great diificiilty that under ordinary cir- cumstances the mating of the queen and drone can not be controlled. But Dr. Bonney himself thinks that may be overcome, for he says: "In the Da- kotas, where I lately spent some time, there are millions of acres which never saw a bee, treeless, tlowerless plains, where mating can be controlled per- fectly, I think," and he thinks a mating station in one of the Dakotas might solve the problem. Can Honey-Bees Be Improved? Dr. A. F. Bonney has shown himself a man of open mind. With the desire to have the opinion of scientific men as to the question whether the bee could be improved by breeding, he ad- dressed a letter to several of them, at the same time candidly expressing his own belief in these words: " I have always been of the opinion that tlie bee is the most highly specialized animal alive, and that all progress, change, or im- provement ceased ages ago." The answers he received were not such as to endorse strongly his opinion. In such a case the average man would likely have dropped the matter; at least he would not have taken pains to give much publicity to the answers re- ceived. But it seems Dr. Bonney is not an average man. Instead of pigeon- holing the answers received, he has published them in the Hee-Keepers' Re- view, and frankly says: "Personally 1 have somewliat changed my mind aliout Ihe possibility of improving tht- hce or, ratlur. of bettering a yard filled with bei-s though at present I incline to the idea that it must be done by culling out the- uii- di-sirable colonies, and in conneclion with this work rearing avast number of dronus from excellent mothers, svhile we do not know bill what tin- worst drone in the bunch will mate with our new iniei-n." It may be well to quote some of the most encouraging words contained in the replies. It is not likely that so many will rush into the business of im- proving bees as to need any discourag- ing words. Prof W. M. Wheeler says: " My little ex- jerience with the hoiiry 1il-l- leads me to be- ieve that Iheru is no inherent reason why it Pi Spraying Solution Hepellent to Insects Benjamin W. Douglass says in Glean- ings in Bee Culture : During the last two seasons a new spray material has come into very general use over the country. This is the dilute lime and sul- phur solution as a substitute for the old Bor- deaux mixture. The Bordeaux was simply a mixture of copper sulphate and lime, and it was used in connection with the arsenate of lead or with Paris green. The new sulphur spray requires the addition of the arsenic, just as the Bordeaux did; but it pos- sesses the added advantage to the bee- keeper that it is repellent to all insects. The smell of the sulphur is so strong that trees sprayed with it are notably free from insects of all sorts during the period through which the smell lasts. In this way the bees are repelled along with certain injurious in- sects notably the plum curculiot. This re- pellent action of the lime and sulphur will no doubt go a long way toward easing the fear of the bee-keeper. For my own part I feel so sure of the repellent value of the sulphur that 1 will venture the assertion that no harm would result to the bees, even if the orchard should be sprayed while in blossom. Of course, it would be highly un- desirable to spray the trees when they are in full bloom; but I simply make the state- ment to show my confidence in the reiiellent value of the solution. That sounds hopeful, but one hesi- tates to be too hopeful in the matter until it be more fully established just how "general" is the use of this new spraying solution, and also asto whether it shall, in all cases, be sufficiently re- pellent to keep bees away from a fruit- tree in full bloom. However, a hope- ful view costs nothing, unless it should have the effect of causing a let-up in the effort to secure proper legislation on the subject. Gettini; Right Lf.(;isi,.\tion on Straying And to secure the right kind of legis- lation seems to be a matter exceedingly difhcult of accomplishment, at least in some States. One trouble is that fruit- growers too often stand squarely in the way, and there are morefruit-grow- ers than bee-keepers. A bill to protect bee-keepers against loss from spraying during fruit-bloom is likely to be re- ferred to a committee whose chairman is interested in the raising of fruits, and the bill dies in that committee. At least as our laws are generally at present. One would think that with a chair- man of sufficient intelligence there should be no trouble. Neither should there be if men were as unselfish as in- telligent. In one legislature a bill against spraying during fruit-bloom was introduced. The chairman of the committee to which it was referred was a man having thousands of fruit-trees, and he promptly decided there should be " nothing doing " with that bill. When asked why not, his reply was that every fruit-grower knew that it was harmful to the crop to spray dur- ing bloom, hence there was no need of any law. A little probing, however, will show that there is something further in the background. The fruit- grower knows that to spray when his trees are full in bloom results in loss to himself. But there are among them men who reason somewhat after this fashion : "I have a great many trees to spray, and unless I begin in good season I shall be too late about spraying some of them. To make sure of getting through in time, I must begin before all the blossoms have fallen. Even if some harm is done to the latest blos- soms, the loss accruing in that way will be more than counterbalanced by the good done to the earlier fruit. Too much fruit will set anyway, and the loss of those latest blooms will be really a gain." Whether his reasoning be good or not, it is easily seen that he takes no account whatever of the loss to the bees, which are killed just as much by poison on the latest as on the earliest blossoms. He practically says : "The bees have done their work in fertiliz- ing the earlier blossoms, and it is noth- ing to me if they are killed on the late bloom. I don't want the trouble of looking out for the interests of the bee-keeper, and so I don't want any law on the subject." So it seems likely that it will not be a good thing for bee-keepers to let up on their efforts for legislation until a proper law is obtained, unless it turns out that a spray comes into vogue that shall repel the bee, and which spray it shall be to the interest of the t'rnit- irroiver to use. Finding a Queen When a queen can not be found with the usual looking over the combs the first time, it is generally well to look over the combs the second time. If she is not found after carefully looking the second time, it is well to close the hive and not look again until at least half an hour has passed. To be sure, you may find her upon looking over the combs the third or fourth time, and again you may not find her if you keep looking for an hour. She is likely hid somewhere where you will not find her, and so long as you keep up the excite- ment she will not put in an appearance; while if you wait till a little later, or until the next day, you may find her in less than i! minutes after opening the hive. It seems a mystery where she can be bid so safely and for so long, but experience teaches that it is econ- omy of time to postpone the search. Sometimes, however, there may be some special reason why the delay of half an hour is very objectionable, and May, 1!)13. American Hee Joarnalj it may l)e wortli while to take some plan that may take more time, yet be more sure as to result. In that case here is a good plan given by H. Harley Selwyn, in Gleanings in Bee Culture: " Take two ordinary deep supers; and, after placing a queen-excluder between, fasten well together with shipping-staples. Place this before the hive lobe operated on. then remove one frame at a time, and, after a quick glance over each to sight thetjucen if possible before the bees become badly excited, shake into the empty super. Repeat tliis iierformatice with each frame, placing them either in an additional super designed for that purpose, ov leaning them against the hive. Now ply the smoker on the mass of bees lying on the excluder, and see them vanish through the perforations until none Ijut fraiuic drones remain; and, unless for- tune is against you, there you will find the tiueen trying with all her might to reach the heart of the uuderlianging cluster. A mo- ment's glance will decide the question; and if no queen shows up. transfer your atten- tion to the interior of the empty hive, and the chances are yon will find her somewhere on the walls or in the corner of the hive." Mr. York'.s Valedit-tory In another column of this number, the reader will find the announcement of a change in the management of the American Bee Journal. The writer of this article, tired of life in a large city, will now locate in Sandpoint, Idaho, In making my retiring bow, with most heartfelt thanks to my thousands of constant readers for the 20 years that have just passed, I wish to give the reasons which have prompted me to select Mr. C. P. Dadant as future edi- tor-in-chief of the oldest bee-paper in America. For this purpose I will for a few minutes take the reader back into the early history of the American Bee Journal. .•\s far back as 18(58, Mr, Chas. Dadant, a practical bee-keeper and a scholar, who had arrived from the Old World only a few years before, wrote a num- ber of articles entitled, " How I Be- came an Apiculturist." These contri- butions were published in this Journal. They were well liked, and he became a regular correspondent. In 1872, just 40 years ago, a very heated controversy took place, upon the invention of the movable-frame hive by Mr. Langstroth. This inven- tion, which revolutionized bee-keeping and placed Ainerica at the head of the list of honey-producing countries, was decried by opponents who infringed upon it. They held that Berlepsch, Munn, Debeauvoys, Propokovitsch,and other Europeans, had invented it long before our .American pioneer. In the American Bee Journal for March, 1872, Mr. Chas. Dadant came to the rescue, and averred (with proofs) that none of these inventions were practical, as none had the movable ceiling combined with the air-space all around the frames ; that the American invention was posi- tively novel and the most practical of all. He was speaking with absolute knowledge, since he had used those hives in 1-lurope, and was now using the Langstroth frame in America. Krom that time a strong bond of friendship was formed between the American champion of apiarian prog- ress and his foreign-born supporter. But Langstroth was not only a capa- ble in\entor, he was also a keen ob- server and a splendid writer, as all who have read his book, " The Hive and Honey-Bee," can testify. This work was christened " the classic in bee-cul- ture," and Langstroth himself, "the Father of American Hee-Keeping." When, after some iiO years, his book needed revising, and infirmities pre- vented him froin doing it, he turned to Chas. Dadant, and since 1888 "The Hive and Honey-Bee " has been the " Langstroth-Dadant " book. The Da- dants — Chas. and C. P., father and son- were active men. In addition to re- writing this book and translating it into French, they kept some 5fl0 colo- nies of bees, produced hundreds of tons of honey, imported Italian bees, manufactured comb foundation, and contributed to the bee-papers of differ- ent countries. Father Langstroth died in 1895, Chas. Dadant in 1902— both at the age of 85. Since they had been joint stars in the apiarian field, it was natural for the .'\merican Bee Journal to place their likenesses at its mast-head, where they are still. When leaving the field of bee-publishing, it seemed natural to turn for a successor to the son who had continued the work of the pioneers after their demise. Mr. C. P. Dadant is well-known to the readers of the American Bee Jour- nal as one of its oldest contributors. They know that he is president of the Illinois State Bee-Keepers' Associa- tion, and that he has served at dififerent times as secretary, director, and presi- dent, of the National .Association. But perhaps only a few know that his writ- ings are not confined to the English language. He has been for years a contributor to European bee-papers in foreign lands — in Paris, Lausanne, Milan, etc. He has again revised the "Hive and Honey-Bee," both English and French editions. This book has had four Russian editions, and is now translated and about to be published in Barcelona, Spain. At my request, he dismantled and rebuilt, with addi- tions and corrections, the " First Les- sons in Bee-Keeping," or " Bees and Honey," by Thomas G. Newman, a former editor of the American Bee Journal. Being retired from active apiary practice, Mr. Dadant has enough leisure to give the American Bee Jour- nal his undivided attention, and the benefit of his extetisive experience with bees. While I would like very much to mention all who have aided me in making the American Bee Journal what it has been the past 20 years, space forbids referring to more than two others. Miss Mattie C. Godfrey, who came to set type on the American Bee Journal in 1883, and who continues with it still, deserves praise for her faithfulness and excellent work during the nearly 30 years of her loyal service. No one could have rendered more efficient and devoted service than has she, and I am glad to make this acknowledgment. And Dr. C. C. Miller — how can I ever repay him for his fatherly counsel, his sincere and unselfish help to me during the past 20 years ? The American Bee Journal would not possibly have been so interesting and valuable in its con- tents had not Dr. Miller's half-century of bee-keeping and genial good-nature been back of it. He has been ever ready to render any and every assist- ance possible when called upon. To Dr. Miller I owe more than perhaps to any other man I ever knew, except it be my own father, who passed to his reward some 10 years ago. Bee-keep- ers do not value Dr. Miller now as they will some day. The present gen- eration is too near to him to get his apiarian proportions in exactness. But some future time will estimate him correctly, and then he will occupy the true position which he has achieved during the many years of his varied labors. He will be 81 years old — no, 81 years young! — next month (June 10) — may he live yet another score of years, to continue his beneficent services to all mankind, and especially to bee- keepers in this and other lands. Again I thank you, one and all, and wish you happiness and success. ^^ George W. York. Miscellaneous m) News Items Calitornia and the National. — .-As some inquiry has come from the East re- garding the action of the California bee-keepers in passing resolutions in different parts of the State, withdraw- ing from the National Bee-Keepers' Association as a body, I will try to give our reasons so that our friends in other parts of the country will under- stand that our action is not intended to be permanent or taken with a feeling of hostility. In the first place, the National de- serted us by changing the organization and raising the dues, thus forcing us to change our constitution. We can see no reason for joining the National in a body if by so doing we have no advantage over coming in singly; for that reason we decided to let each one judge for himself; but most of us feel that we need the money in California for this year, more than we do in the East, where we have less recompense and little to say as to the way it is used. When the Finance Committee re- ported to the State Association, recom- mending withdrawal from the .N'ational as a body, the action was not taken without opposition. L. L. Andrews, of Corona, and M. H. Mendleson, of Ven- tura, with some others, protested, but were voted down. The secretary then announced that he would still receive dues for the National and send them on at any time, and the offer still holds good. The bee-keepers of California are getting acquainted with each other as American Hee Journal May, 1912. -%^o>^^^: never before, and the spirit of a strong boost for the good of all is not con- fined to any one section. Northern, Central and Southern California are finding out that they have a common cause, and that by working together they will be a power for the good of their calling. If all other States would do the same, what could we not do when we joined forces in the National .'' Geo. L. Emerson, C/iairmaii Publication Commillec. Death of Rietsche Mr. Bernard Riet- sclie, inventiir and manufacturer of the Rietsche foundation press, much used in Europe, died January last, aged Sd vears, at his home in Biberach, Baden. Please " Boil it Down." — We like to insert news and information, as well as methods and opinions, from all parts of the country, but please make your communications short and to the point. It is only in this way that a bee-paper can contain matter of inter- est to all. ^ The History of Bee-Diseases. The De- partment of Agriculture has just pub- lished a very e.xhaustive " Bulletin of Historical Notes on the Causes of Bee-Diseases." It is a very instructive publication, compiled by Messrs. Phil- lips and White, who both have made a study of foul brood for several years. It concludes with a brief chronological summary. The Bulletin may be had from the Bureau of Entomology at Washington. It is designated as No. 98. Bee-Poison — Cure. — In L'Apicoltore for March. Dr. Giuseppe Cicogna gives interesting information on the effi- ciency of bee-poison for the cure of arthritis. In two very plain cases he effected a cure. The first time, with only two bee-stings, relief was secured within half an hour. In the second case, with a patient confined to his bed, where the slightest movement was painful, six api-fuiictures, repeated for three successive days, secured relief, and entire cure was consummated with- in .J days. Value of Bees as Pollinators Having occasion recently to deliver a talk on the relation of bees to horticulture, at the Ontario Agricultural College, Guelph, Canada, we made the stalenitn* that bees produce annually $',iii,(iOO,(iOU worth of honey; but that their econo- mic importance to the fruit-grower and the consumers of fruit in tliis country could be measured by live times thai in the production of more and belter fruit and better crops. After we had concluded our talk we asked the botan- ist who heard this talk if this statemcni, in his opinion, was too strong. He very promptly replied that it was not.— Gleiiniii,i;s in Hec Culture. TuE Ai'iARV OK Mr. Watcukoff, in Bulgaria. Short Course in Bee-Keeping. The annual sliort course in bee-keeping xk the Massachusetts Agricultur.il ColltSJ is offered from May 2i) to June i;i, 11)12, to be concluded by a convention and Eielil Day. The course and conven- tion are under the personal direction of Dr. Barton N. Gates, in charge of the apicultural service of the College and State. The course includes lecture, labora- tory, demonstrational, apiary and field work, as well as excursions to large apiaries and queen-rearing plants. The concluding convention should bring together a hundred or more represen- tative apiarists of the East, besides the noted authorities and commercial men who appear on the program. The features of this convention will be lectures and demonstrations by au- thorities of National reputation, as well as displays by inventors, manufacturers, supply merchants, and queen-rearers. A special invitation is extended to all bee-keepers to display and demonstrate inventions, implements or methods. If table space is desired, or special equip- ment is to be prepared, notice should be sent to Dr. Burton N. Gates (Am- herst, Mass.) at least 2 or 3 weeks be- fore the convention. The college will provide covered tables for the exhibit. It may be found necessary to limit the number of students in the course, yet applications are accepted in the or- der in which they are received. Xo reffislration fees Zfill be charged. Women are cordially invited to attend. Registration with the I-'xtension Ser- vice, Massachusetts Agricultural Col- lege, Amherst, Mass., is necessary for admission to classes. CONVENTION PROGRAM. June i2th— Wednesday. Morning. ij:oo.—Kntoinoloi,'.v Biiildint;. Dis- plays of manufacturers and tjrieon-rearers. g:i5.— Demonstrations: "Improved Hexi ble plate foundation fasteners." Mr. A. H. Byard. of West Cliesteilield. N. H. "Tfie Aspinwall liive." Demonstrator to l)e announced. I'lie remainder of the morninir will be de voted loan excursion conducted by Director Brooks, of the Experiniciil Station, for tlie " insi>ection of bee foraRe crops." Leave Entomology Buildinjr at lo. (If possible, the trip will include a visit lo a .North Amherst gasturo. where white clover has been roueht in by top dressing./ .Xfternoon. 2:00.— Entomology BuiUling. Ad dresses: " Bees in relation to fruit culture and plant life. ".Mr. A. W. Yates, Hartford. Conn. Subject to be announced, by Mr. R. M. Holmes, of Shoreham, Vt. Demonstrations: Electric foiuulation fast- ener and wire embedder. Mr. H. F. Davis, of Holyoke. Mass. Inventions: Mr. F. Danzenbaker, of .Nor- folk, Va. Adjourn to the apiary. The features of the newly erected Apiary Building will be explained, including the general work shop, honey-room, box-extractingroom. bee-cellar and equipment. Demonstrations at apiary: "Queen-rear- ing. Mr. F. M. Keith. Worcester. Mass. Dem- onstrational treatment of infectious bee- diseases, .State Inspector. livening. 7:10. — Clark Hall. Address of Welcome, Pres. K I., Butterlield. Address: Hon. J. Lewis Ellsworth, Secre- tary .State Board of Agriculture. Illustrated lecture on "The life, habits, and development of the honey-bee." by Dr. James P. Porter. Dean of Clark College. Worcester. June i3Th— Thursday. Morning. q:oo.— Entomology Building. Ad- dress: "The progress of apiculture in the last two years." by Mr. E. R. Root, editor of Gleanings in Bee Culture. Medina. Ohio. Subject and speaker to be announceil. A few homely facts— things worth knowing how to do. by Mr. Arthur C. .Miller, of Provi- dence, R. I. Demonstrations: "Electric honey-cutter for sectioning comb honey." by Mr. H. ¥. Davis, of Holyoke. Demonstrations yet unannounced. Afternoon. 2:00.— Apiary. Demonstrations: " Production of a swarm artificially," by Mr. E. R. Root. "l*"uller queen-rearing system with com- pleted outfit in operation." by Mr. O. V. Fuller, of Blackstone. " Shook swarming-a method for the busi- ness or professional man." by M. F. Gary, of Lyonsville. I ^nannoimced demonstrations. An Apiary in Bulgaria The emi- grants of South Central Europe, who come to our shores, are contemptu- ously called "dagos" by most of our people, and regarded with very little consideration, as if they were an in- ferior race. Originally the descend- ants of Spaniards in Louisiana were the sole beneficiaries of that elegant name, but now it is applied indiscrimi- nately to Italians, Roumanians, Slavo- nians, Bulgarians, etc. It will therefore not be out of place to show that there is progress in other lands than ours. The above picture shows the home and apiarv of Mr. WatchkotT, at Souhindol, Bulgaria. This cosy home, at the foot of a steep hill, would do honor to our most progres- sive States. Let us take the beam out of our eye, so we may see the mote in our neighbor's. May, 1913. American Hee Journal American Hedicinal Leaves and Herbs. .^This is tlie title of Bulletin No. '■il!), Bureau of I'lant Industry, United States Department of Agriculture, by Alice Henkel. Three dozen medicinal plants are described, with a beautiful picture of each, a full page being devoted to each plant. Bee-keepers will be spe- cially interested in the uses of 4 of these plants, which are also honey- plants. Their collection and uses are accordingly given : HoRF.HOUND. — Afarrubiiim Tulffcnc L. Other common names. Houndsbene. marvel, marrube. The leaves and tops are tiie parts used in medicine, and are official in the United States Hharinacopneia. These are gathered just lieforc the plant is in Hower. the coarse stalks being rejected. They should be care- Motherwort. — l.ionuritx cardiaca I.. Synonym. — Cardhnci i'u/_i,'aris Moarch. Other common names. — Throwwort, cowthwort, lion's-tail, lion's-ear. The leaves and flowering topsare collected during the flowering season. They have an aroniatic odor and a very bitter taste. At present they bring ai^out i to scents a pound. Motherwort has stimulant, slightly tonic properties, and is used also to promote per- spiration. BONESET. — Eufalurium f'eyfnliatum L. Synonym. — /uipatorinm cotinaittm Michx. Other common names. — Thor- oughwort, thorough-stem, thorough- wax, wood boneset, teasel, agueweed, feverwort, sweating-plant, crosswort, vegetable antimony, Indian sage, wild sage, tearal, wild isaac. The leaves and flowering tops, official in for bee-keeping, bulletin : As] stated in this HoREHOUND Mjrrubiumvulgiire). LEAVES. Flowers, and .Seed Cll'sters. fully dried in the shade. The odor is pleas- ant, rather aromatic, but diminishes in dry- ing. The taste is bitter and persistent. Horehound at present brings about i^i to 2 cents a pound. It is well known as a domestic remedy lor colds, and is also used in dyspepsia and for expelling worms. Catnip. — Xepeta cataria L. Other common names. — Cataria. catmint, cat- wort, catrup, field-mint. The leaves and flowering tops, which have a strong odor and a bitter taste. are taken when the plant is in flower, and are carefully dried. The coarser stems and branches are rejected. Cat- nip was official in the United States Pharmacopoeia from 1840 to 1880. The price ranges from 3 to .5 cents a pound. Catnip is used as a mild stimulant and tonic, and as an emmenagogue. It also has a quieting effect on the nerv- ous svstem. the United States Pharmacopaeia. are col lected when the plants are in flower, strip' ped from the stalk and carefully dried- They lose considerable of their weight in drying. The price per pound for boneset is about 2 cents. Boneset leaves and tops have a bitter, as- tringent taste and a slightly aromatic odor. They form an old and popular remedy in the treatment of fever and ague, as implied by some of the common names given to the plant. Boneset is also employed in colds, dyspepsia, jaundice, and as a tonic. In large doses it acts as an emetic and cathartic. Texas Bee-Keeping Bulletin Bulle- tin No. 142, of Texas .Agricultural Ex- periment Stations is received, entitled, "Practical Information for Beginners in Bee-Keeping," by Wilmon Newell, State Entomologist and Entomologist of the Experiment Stations. This bulletin ought to do well the work for which it is intended. Texas is doing more than the average State By law. the Professor of Entomology at the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas is made .State Kntomologist. and as such, is charged with enforcement of the law for control of diseases of bees, and with maintaining an experimental apiary in which experiments are conducted for the benefit of Texas bee-keepers. Several colo- nies of purebred bees are kept on the A. & M. College grounds for use in connection with a course in bee-keeping given to stu dents in the Agricultural Ctnirses of study, and for demonstration purposes. A more complete apiary, well-etjuipped with mod- ern tools and imi)lement5. is maintained by the present .State Entomologist on the Bra- zos River, about 7 miles from the College. This apiary contains at present 4u colonies, and is used for experimental work exclu- sively. The author shows a level head when he speaks thus of the money in bees : The profit from keeping bees on a commer- cial scale is easy to calculate "on paper." but is not always so easy to realize in prac- tice. It not infrequently happens that good colonies, properly cared for, in favorable seasons yield from 40 to 60 pounds of honey, selling at prices varying all the way from 7 to \s cents per pound. The cash revenue from an apiary under such conditions is of course considerable, but unfavorable sea- sons, disease, lack of skill or insufficient at- tention on the part of the bee-keeper may reduce the yield to much less than this amount, or even wipe it out entirely. Expe- rienced bee-keepers have learned that they can not count on handsome profits every season, but find that by judicious manage- ment and by caring for their bees in bad as well as in good seasons, they get a good aver- age return from their investments. It may be of interest to cull a few items here and there from this bulletin. The egg laid by a queen-bee, usually given as 1-16 of an inch long, is here given more exactly: 1.8 millimeters, or 7-100 of an inch. Rarely more than 200 or 300 drones are found in a normal colony, and as a usual thing not more than 7.5 to lOo during summer and autumn. (That 300 would require only about 3 inches square of drone-comb. This is only about one-tenth of the estimates given by nearly all other writers, ancient and modern. We are inclined to believe that the Texas estimate was based upon colonies which had been sup- plied with full sheets of comb founda- tion. If we are mistaken we would like to be corrected.) For Texas, the best hive is the 10- frame dovetailed. As a great amount of propolis is gathered by the bees in Central and East Texas, the metal-spaced frame is preferable to all others in these locali- ties. (/)n opening a hive, blow one or two puffs into the entrance. " Do this with a strong closing of the bellows, so as to drive the smoke thoroughly into every part of the hive. This does not mean that the bees should be deluged with smoke. .\ll that is required is that each bee in the hive should get a whiff, however li,t;ht it may be." As to the effect of smoke upon bees: The probable explanation is simple. All wild creatures are afraid of fire and the bees, not unlike other creatures, have learned bv generations of experience that fireisa force which they can not hope to combat successfully. As smoke is the fore- runner of the fire, they doubtless conclude that it is better to load up with their house- hold supplies of honey and prepare to va- cate than to attempt opposition to the smoker and its operator. (Didn't Prof. Newell accept that tra- dition without much studying over it? Mav, l'.M3. American Vee Journal Wlieii bees have any experience with fire, isn't that the end of the hees '. and how much wonld their descendants (?) remember about it ?) The cappings from IMio pounds of extracted honey yielded lo>2 pounds of choice yellow beeswax. "First Lessons in Bee-Keeping." — In a kindly notice of this work, the Irish Bee Journal says : "In many respects it apDroximates so closely to the teaching with wliich we are familiar in those countries that, making al- lowance ff>r llie difference in size and make of Amtrican liives and appliances, this handbook iTiight serve a useful purpose in the hands of beginners over here The book is lilierally illustrated, well turned out. and inexpensive. We should expect it to reacli a large circulation in the land of its birth." Colorado Convention. — The spring meeting of the Colorado State Bee- Keepers' Association will be held in Montrose, Colo., Friday and Saturday, May 10 and 11, 1912. The Montrose County Bee-Keepers' Association will be the host of the State Association. It is desired that every bee-keeper on the eastern side of the mountains take the trip to Montrose and see this country. Homeseekers' rates will ap- ply on the Denver & Rio Grande rail- road from Denver, Colorado Springs, and Pueblo. Tliese rates are good for 30 days. I would suggest that the way to go is via Marshall Pass, and return by way of Grand Junction over Ten- nessee Pass. More of the country can be seen this way. The Western Slope bee-keepers in Montezuma, La Plata, Montrose, Delta, Mesa and Garfield counties are urged to turn out in full force. This will be a live meeting, and you will regret it if you do not attend. Wesley Foster. Boulder, Colo. Bee-I^eping <^ For Women Commissioner Albert J. Cook. — The man who has been known so long and so lovingly atnong bee-keepers as Prof. Cook, is no longer to be known merely under that title. It seems that out in California they have for governor a man of discernment, who knows a good thing when he sees it, and when Gov. Johnson wanted to find a man to fill a position that he says is " one of the most imiiortant offices in the State," it is nothing strange that his glance should fall upon our old friend, and that he should say, " There's the very man to fill the ollice of Commissioner of Horticulture, with the responsibility of appointing capable men as assis- tants, and disposing each year of the serious amount of $10(),lli)(l in carrying out the work of his department." Safe to say, there will be no misappropria- tion of funds, but every cent of that line hundred thousand will be placed where it will do the most good, not to Prof. Cook — beg pardon, Commissioner Cook — but to the people of California. There is little danger that all interest in bees will die out of the heart of a man who had so great love for them, and in his new position it is entirely within the possibilities that opportuni- ties may arise to do many a good turn for California bee-keepers, if not for the bee-keepers of the world. Blessings on his liead ! Conducted bv Miss Emma M. Wilson, Marengo. 111. Trouble With Mice Alsike Clover We put our bees in winter quarters late in December Uhey kept flying around until that timei. and today they had their Hrst cleans- ing flight. We examined them all, and found 3 colonies out of 12 alive. We will have plenty of honey from the other hives to feed the 3. We found 2 large mice, which had their nest made from the packing in a super, (I wonder if Dr. Miller would answer " I don't know" if one should ask him how a giantmousecan pass through a regular open- ing in a Langstroth hive.) 'Finy cockroaches were in evidence, also. We have heard that white animals, and animals with white feet, become sick while on alsike clover pasture. I asked a farmer, who called here, how it happened to make white animals sick, and not those of other colors, and he said that bees work on alsike clover, and when the animals approach the bees they sting them, causing their flesh to swell, and they become very sick. He said lie had a nice colt get very sick, and he called in a veterinary surgeon, who asked what kind of pasture it was on. When he said alsike clover, he gave the above expla- nation. Perhaps you knew about it before now. It is much to be regretted, for the most beautiful honey I ever had was gath- ered from alsike clover, I think. One summer I took honey to town, and watched the clerk remove it from the crate — 10^3 pounds in iff sections-the most beau- tiful honey I ever saw. He asked me if I fed the bees? 'We had been taking sacks of granulated sugar in exchange for part of our honey. As I was leaving the grocery the owner said. "I want you to tell ine how the bees itnikc that nice honey." I answered. " I do not know. Why ? Isn't all the honey you get like that?" He said. " I guess not." " Well. I can not tell you unless the bees get it from an alsike clover field about one-half inile from them. " There is little alsike and alfalfa near here. (Mrs.) Ida Kitt. Albion. Ind.. March 18. To have only .S colonies left out of 12 is rather discouraging. But you prob- ably have plenty of company if there is any comfort in that. .-\ day or two ago a report came of one apiary of 7-5 colo- nies, and they were all dead. At any rate, you will have the fun of building up again and getting those 9 empty hives filled with bees. Be sure not to let those empty combs become victims of the bee-moth. Dr. Miller, upon being asked how a giant mouse can pass through a regular opening in a Langstroth hive said, "I don't know whether there ought to be any difficulty in the case or not, for I don't know the size of the opening. It may be anywhere from ■)« to -'4 inch in height. Anyway, it must be remem- bered that the head is about all there is of a mouse so far as getting through a crack is concerned, for once it gets its head through, the rest of its body can be flattened out so as to go through easily." Right here it may be no harm tn tell you a little secret, if you cross your heart not to tell. That is, that Dr. Miller is always ready to help answer any question that comes in this de- partment. Indeed, the probability is that if there is any difference, he gives a little more attention to them than he does to questions in his own depart- ment, for he is old fashioned enough to believe in the motto, " Ladies first." With regard to hees stinging ani- mals with white feet, it may be a pretty safe guess to say that the whole thing is a mistake. In the first place, it is generally believed that the bees are more likely to sting anything dark than light. In the second place, no bee at work upon flowers will ever volunteer an attack. The only way you could get such a bee to sting a horse's foot would be to catch the bee and hold it against the foot. So I believe the whole thing is a myth. Swarming— Prevention Not Cure One's pleasure in life comes largely from the degree of success he has with his efforts. I wanted to playwith bees, and my aim was to have the super well filled with honey, but swarming was the result. I gave the bees shade from the hot sun, air by raising the hive, but the description following shows the sequel. In the autumn I put them up as carefully as I could, from the reading I had done. They are in Norfolk, Conn., which is 1400 feet above sea level, and we have a short season, and if I have any bees alive when I take them out of winter quarters, I propose to feed them. Here is the story of the bees : May 9th. — One colony of Italian bees with a clipped queen arrived at 2 p.m. from Phil- adelphia by express. They were carried to an empty barn nearthe 01 chard and put into a dark room; at s o'clock the win-netting was taken off. cover and bottom board ad- justed, and they were carrieil to the or- chard. As there seemed to be absolutely nothing for them to feed on, as almost noth- ingwasin leaf. I used an .-Mexander feeder and gave them daily a cupful of syrup of granulated sugar, one to three, until the ap- ple-trees began to bud. May 22d— When the blossoins began to drop, and the trees had to be sprayed. I brought them to my house about half a mile away. The process of moving was rather bungled, so it was impossible to place them that nigtit where they were to remain, and the hive was put into the garage and Ufi until the next night, when they were put in their proper place. The super was put on soon after. June iSth —The bees swarmed. I looked in vain on the grass ami everywhere for the clipped queen, in a little while the s«'arm went back Jo the hive. I took off the cover and began looking for the tiui-rn. on the fourth frame I found her. I took that frame with her on it. and i other frames full of bees and put them into the hi\c about 30 feet away. I put 4 fresh foundation frames in the old hive. ICverything went along very quietly until June 27th. when a swarm came out of hive No. 2. in which was the clipped (lueeiL That swarm 1 hived in the normal way by shaking it into a sheet in front of the hive. After dark I uio\-ed it on to its stand, luly ,ld. -A small swarm came from hive No. 2. but it got away before I had time to get it; of course, the clipped queen did not fly away with it, July I2tli.— There were so many bees hang- ing on the outside of hive No. 2, that I went through the 10 frames to see if I could (ind the clipped queen, or any other. 1 couldn't. Gerhaps because it was my first attempt. lU I cut out everytliing that looked like a queen-cell, anti shook the bees off of \ frames before the parent hive— as I thought that the weaker colony — I didn't know whether there was a queen on ilu-m or not. but I wanted to relieve the congestion, I think they stayed there; at any rate, there Mav. 11>I3. American ~Bee Journal were not so many on the outside of No. 2 after tliat, and I saw no swarming from N(j. i. July i-tli.- I put supers on No. s hive, although I couldn't see where the bees were going to get the material to build out their 10 foundation brood-frames and their super foundation. Aug. 15th.— No J swarmed again, small swarm, and they »vont off. Aug. i8th. — The same colony swarmed again, but they went back. Aug. 2ist.— The bees tried to swarm again. Aug. 2^th.— The bees went out to a maple tree, but went back to the hive again No. 2 hive'. It was raining most of the day. Sept. ist -Two swarms came out of No. 2 hive, one small and the other good size. They were on low bushes, and I dumped them into two bo.\es. They stayed there till Sept 5th, when I tried to put them back, some into each hive. Sept. t)th.— The bees that I dumped into hive No. 2 went off, but I had no reason to think that those 1 put into the other two hives did not remain, the bottoms looked fuller. Sept. nth.— Took super off the parent hive. Only ( divisions were entirely capped. The outside frames were not more than half filled out. and with very little honey. Sept. 20th. I had been away for 5 days, and the night I returned I found the front of the parent hive, from which I had taken the supers on the 13th. covered thick with bees. I didn't know whether it meant another swarm or not. but I smoked them all back into the hive. The next night there were not so many, but I repeated the process. The third night there were still fewer, and I did nothing to them. Oct. 2d. Took super off of No. 2 hive. There were more sections filled than from No. I hive. Oct. ath.— Looked the i hives through. No. ^ hive, which had had some feeding for i" ide, will be in tine condition to store a lot of lioney in the supers if there is any honey to store, with no thought of any swarming. If your bees are at all rea- sonable bees you may count pretty safely on their carrying out this pro- gram. EfiR Western ^ Bee-Keeping Conducted by Wesley Foster. Boulder. Colo. Pueblo County Bee-Keeping Pueblo county is not an agricultural looking county. The waste land and unirrigated range predominate over the irrigated land to such an extent that most folks would say that for farming the county is no good. But where irrigation is practiced alfalfa will grow luxuriantly, and sweet clover lines the ditch banks. There are at the present time perhaps 100 bee-keepers in Pueblo county, with perhaps 3000 colonies of bees. This is not half the bees that were in the county in years ago, and not a quarter the number of colonies which could be kept. Ameri- can foul brood — which happens to be the only kind we have in Colorado, the European variety having not yet made its appearance — is the principal cause of this loss in bees. Pueblo is the sec- ond largest city in Colorado, with about 80,0011 people, and, of course, the city controls the county. With a con- dition of this kind, the country ques- tions will be the last to be settled. It is hard to convince the county officers of the needs of the country bee-keeper, if the officers are not directly in con- tact with rural conditions. The .Arkansas river runs from the western border of the county to the eastern, a distance of about .jO miles, through the center of the county, and the countv is h(\ miles wide from north to south, so that with a county of this size, if there is much uncultivated land, the county may be of considerable im- portance from a honey-producing point of view. The city of Pueblo lies nearly in the center of the county, with the honey- producing territory branching out in five different directions, and following in the main the irrigated valleys. To the west of town, up the valley of the Arkansas, is Swallows and Beaver, near the Fremont county line ; to the north of Pueblo lies the Fountain valley through which flows the Fountain river or creek from the foot of Pike's Peak. F'ountain creek flows into the Arkansas river at Pueblo. Quite a little farming is done with the help of the water from this stream, and Eden, the first station north of Pueblo in this valley, would suggest that it was a very fruitful sec- tion. To the east of Pueblo, down the Ar- kansas valley, is the best honey-dis- trict, because it is-the most e.xtensively farmed. .*\vondale, Nyburg, Boone, and Nepesta, are all surrounded by farming lands, and bees thrive on the alfalfa, sweet clover and cleome. Cleome is more plentiful in the Arkan- sas valley than in any other section of Colorado. Mr. H. A. Danielson, with about 20(1 colonies, is located at .Avondale. Harvey Said, who lives in Pueblo, and carried off first prize at the State Fair on extracted honey, has bees near Avondale. Mr. Said placed the glass jars containing the honey in the sun during the warm part of the day for about a week before taking to the fair, and these jars had not begun to show any signs of granulation three months after bottling, while a jar of the same honey not e.xposed to the sun's rays was white and solid. This honey of Mr. Said's was the whitest honey I think it has been my privilege to see. Mr. O. L. Reed lives about 7 miles east of Pueblo, and was formerly coun- ty bee-inspector ; he now has but a few bees, giving most of his attention to raising celery and cauliflower, which he ships as far as Kansas City and Omaha. He raises from 1000 to 1800 dozen bunches of celery to the acre, and it brings him from 35 to 55 cents a May, 1913 American Hee Journal dozen bunches, so you see each acre brings in quite an income. He says he can raise celery and put it on the cars at $10ii per acre. Mr. Reed will have several acres of celery the com- ing year, and will also raise consider- able cauliflower. He has a boy grow- ing up of whom, he says, he is going to make a bee-keeper. He is planning to build his apiary up to 100 or 200 colonies for the boy to keep. Mr. Reed hires men only, saying boys are unsatisfactory, not meaning his own. He has no use for chickens, saying that nn man who figures his time worth anything will spend much time with them. He says,for the time and money invested, /i/'s bees fay better than aiiy- thinf; else on his flaee. He has 17 acres, and is building new buildings entirely of concrete. To the southwest of Pueblo, up near the Greenhorn Mountains, a good many bees are kept. Rye, Crow, Abbey, Beulah, Siloam, and Greenhorn, are the post-offices ; none of them, however, on anv railroad, so this section of the county is hard of access. A meeting of the bee-men of Pueblo county was held Feb. 29th, and while only 8 were present (not counting my- self), petitions were taken away for the securing of signatures of bee-keepers, asking the' County Commissioners to set aside a fund sufficient to pay for adequate inspection of bees. The pros- pects are good for getting something done, as the work has been entirely neglected for the last few years. The meeting was held in the club rooms of the Pueblo Commerce Club, and the cordiality of the Club was greatly appreciated by all the bee-men present. It is probable that a county bee-keepers' society will be formed, and if this is done the campaign against foul brood can be more effectually waged. The county organization is a need in many counties in Colorado, and it is possible to keep up interest if meetings are not held too often, and are held at convenient times. Southern Beedom^ Ci^nductccI by Louis H. Scholi . New Braiinfcls. Tex. Those Divisible Brood-Chamber Hives Ur. C. C. Miller tries to give the writer a " swat," on page 102, in regard to the divisible brood-chamber hive used by us. He quotes Mr. Samuel Sinimins as advocating a hive with frames ys inches deeper than the shal- low Langstroth, and places the writer on the opposite side as claiming that the dei)th should be -'i-U inches shal- lower than the Langstroth. I wonder what some of our most able and oldest experienced persons must be thinking when they draw the conclusion that we advocate such a shallow hive. The truth of the matter is that we advocate, and have been advocating for more than ]•') years, a i/eefter hive than the Langstroth, and the way we obtain this depth is by using two shallow hive- bodies for each brood-chamber. This makes a still deeper hive than that ad- vocated by Mr. Simmins, the British authority. In other words, it gives us the same deptli as the deep hives used by the Dadants, quoted by Dr. Miller, or the same as the "jumbo " hive with very deep frames, about which there was such a commotion a number of years ago. We have tried these deep-frame liives thoroughly, and found the objec- tions that we attributed to the Lang- stroth depth of hives to be still greater. In other words, the trouble of having a solid rim of stores next to the top- bars, and above the brood, increases with increased depth of the brood- combs. An advantage of the deeper combs, however, is that the brood-rearing may be increased over that in the shallow Langstroth frames, since the comb sur- face is so much larger and the brood- nest is not so easily crowded as with the Langstroth hive. Keeping these matters in view when looking about for a change in hive construction or manipulations by which an increased amount of brood-chamber room could be obtained, while at the same time the objections to the rim of solid stores above the brood-nest proper would be eliminated, aided materially in the selection of the divisible brood-cham- ber hives. The solid stores above the brood- nest are a detriment, in that bees, as a rule, are loathe to store above such stores, and hence are kept from doing satisfactory work in the supers. In- stead of working in the latter they per- sist in adding to the already detrimen- tal stores in the brood-combs, and crowd out the queen for want of laying room. The result is apparent — slow and retarded work in the supers, and a decreased amount of brood-rearing and a consequent weakening of the forces of the colonies. While the deeper hives, such as used by the Da- dants for example, give stronger colo- nies of bees than the shallow Lang- stroth, on account of the greater cornb surface; the super work is less satis- factory since more honey is stored in the upper part of the deep brood- combs. It is perhaps well for us to call at- tention to the matter of locality, and the extent to which locality plays a part in various ways. Dr. Miller, it seems, has overlooked this matter in arguing that there is no rim of honey to bother later in the brood-rearing season, as the bees use up the honey clear up to tlie lop-bar and till the cells with brood. He further attributes the cause of the rim of honey perhaps to poor queens, or possibly to differences of climate, pasturage, and the seasons ; however, not putting as much stress on these causes as he might. His sus- picions that the combs in the deeper frames of the Langstroth hives had more to do with it, is not a strong ar- gument in the premises, since we have had very little trouble from sagged foundation near the top-bars. In the first place, we used a heavy enough grade of foundation with proper wir- ing in most cases, and in addition to this, diagonal w'iring with the horizon- tal wires aided materially in prevent- ing such sagging. The same rim of honey existed in the most perfect combs. We are sure that locality has more to do with it, especially as regards the character of the honey-flows. While Dr. Miller's bees may use up all the honey in brood-rearing in the spring, the general rule in our own locality is that a little more new honey is brought into the hive daily than is used by the bees. This honey is stored as close to the brood as possible in the upper part of the combs, and gives the trouble mentioned. We presume that this will be experienced in all localities where there is a long, slow and steady honey- yield in the early part of the season, such as we have here, and in such, like ours, the question of how best to re- move this honey is an important one. The old way was removing it by the use of the honey-extractor, but this has long been found impracticable by the writer, besides being a disagreeable job; and the result, a product of ex- tracted honey not very palatable, owing to the presence of unsealed brood of various stages in the combs. By means of the divisible brood-chamber hive, however, it takes but a moment to place the upper shallow story below the lower one and let the bees move the honey. It not only serves this pur- pose, but the handling of the honey by the bees stimulates the colony to further brood-rearing, and creates more laying room for the queen. This, done just before giving the supers above, puts the colonies in the best possible condi- tion to force them into the supers with a vim and vigor not possessed by col- onies left alone, and simply having the super placed on their brood-chamber. ■The same kind of an exchange of stories as mentioned before, just pre- vious to the swarming season, will pro- long the desire to swarm considerably. If the colony has had time to re- arrange the brood-nest after such a change long enough before the swarm- ing season is over, there is still a pos- sible chance of their swarming. The addition of a shallow story of extract- ing combs or foundation, by slipping it betzceen the two Stories of the brood- chamber, will " knock swarming in the head " more effectively than any method that we have practised. The upper story, in this case, will now become a shallow extracting su])er as the brood is crowded out, and as the honey-flow opens, the C(niib-honey supers are given underneath this. This is the most ideal way of procedure to secure the best possible work in the supers imme- diately, and to produce a maximum amount of surplus honey from a good colony of bees. We see how the shallow stories of May, 1912. American Vae Journal the brood-chami)er are interchanged from one part of the hive to another, not only in the brood-chamber, but up into the supers as well. This shows the great importance of having these all alike and interchangeable to give the best results. It is for this reason that we have been most successful with the divisible brood-chamber hives, and on this account have not hesitated to rec- ommend them to others from time to time. Dr. Miller has asked us to play fair, and asks what under the sun the advantage of shallow supers has to do with the question of the advantages of the divisible brood-chamber hives. Our answer is, that if shallow supers have advantages over deep ones, which is granted to a certain extent, and we can use these same shallow supers inter- changeably in the brood-chambers as we do, it makes it the more important to adopt them. Or, in other words, if the shallow supers are valuable fea- tures in the divisible brood-chamber hive, and the same — as shallow supers — have advantages over deep ones, there should be no question about their su- periority. We wish to mention in conclusion that we do not attribute our greater success to the mere fact that we have thrown our whole energy into using the divisible hives without trying out the Langstroth size just as thoroughly. From Dr. Miller's statement, " that it is not entirely fair to compare the in- experienced young Scholl with the Scholl of mature years and brilliant energy," it may be taken that we were young and inexperienced when we tried the Langstroth hives in our ear- lier bee-keeping, while we are using the divisible brood-chamber hive now, with our experience of knowing how to use them, and, for that reason, a compari- son would not be a fair one. However, this is not the case, for as a young, in- experienced person, we gave not only the Langstroth but other hives a thor- ough trial side by side with the divis- ble brood-chamber hive, and we are doing this today, with our advanced years and experience. That is to say, we have now hundreds of Langstroth hives in use in a large number of apiaries together with the divisible brood-chamber hives in the same yards. The longer we handle the two differ- ent kinds, however, the more we learn to appreciate the advantages we enjoy by using the divisible brood-chamber hives in connection with shallow su- pers, both for comb and extracted honey. As a result, the number of colonies in the divisible brood-chambers is an- nually increasing, and will continue to increase, as all the new hives pur- chased for the last number of years have been nothing else but the divisible brood-chambers, or the shallow supers. We realize that an effort to com- pletely cover all the points for which we have been put to task, would require more time and study. This we have not at our disposal, however, in spite of the fact that we are enabled to ac- complish more with the divisible brood- chamber hives by saving a lot of time otherwise necessitated by a large num- ber of extra manipulations necessary with deeper hives and supers. Conducted by J !.. Ever. Mt. Joy, Ontario. Obituary- S.T. Pettit, D.Chalmers, Mrs. Haberer The grim reaper has been busy lately among Ontario bee-keepers, and two of our well-known men have been called away, Mr. S. T. Pettit, father of our Provincial Apiarist, and Mr. David Chalmers, one of our inspectors of api- aries. Mr. Pettit was 83 years old, and as his health has been poor for some time, in a measure his death was not unexpected. He was very prominent among the older bee-keepers of Onta- rio, and although the writer never had the privilege of meeting him person- ally, owing to the fact that Mr. Pettit quit attending the conventions just about the time I started, yet for the past few years he has corresponded regu- larly with me at times, and the interest shown in my work, by him, was to me a source of great pleasure, as Mr. Pettit was one of those earnest Chris- tian men whom it is a privilege to have as a friend. He was an expert bee- keeper, and of quite an inventive turn of mind, always striving to find out what was the best in the way of things pertaining to bee-keeping, and in all his experiments he was ever eager to give others the benefit of his discov- eries. Mr. Chalmers was also well known, and as he was in just the prime of life, in so far as one could judge by appear- ances, needless to say the report of his death came as a great shock to all of his friends. An expert bee-keeper, a good inspector, as well as a frequent contributor to the Canadian Bee Jour- nal, he will indeed be missed — espe- cially when his place is vacant at the next convention of the Ontario Asso- ciation— as friend Chalmers has been a regular attendant at that gathering for a number of years. We have also just learned of the death of Mrs. Haberer, wife of Jacob Haberer, one of the directors of the Ontario Bee-Keepers' Association. It has been my pleasure to meet Mrs. Haberer a few times, and her kindly German manner towards the writer, when I first met her at the Detroit con- vention, is still remembered with pleas- ure. Mr. Haberer and family, as well as the relatives of both Mr. Pettit and Mr. Chalmers, will have the sincere sympathy of a host of Canadian bee- keepers. Praise for Carniolans~Do They Resist Foul Brood? Editor Root, in a recent issue of Gleanings in Bee Culture, says that the yellow Italians have not wintered as well as the darker strains commonly called leather colored. This, I believe, has been the general experience of most bee-keepers here in Ontario, in so far as outside wintering is con- cerned— for cellar wintering I have not heard of so much dilTerence. And let me say right here again, that the Car- niolans are just as much ahead of iy kind of Italians as the dark strains of this race are ahead of the Goldens in the matter of hardiness. I know many will say that they have no trouble wintering Italians in our severe climate, but under conditions where the Italians winter zee// the Carniolans will winter belter, and under conditions where most Italians are liable to perish, Car- niolans will generally come through all right, and surprise you by their rapid building up in the spring, even if they have been badly depopulated during the winter by not being properly cared for. No, I have no queens for sale, and hold no brief for any Carniolan breeder, yet, today, I am more than ever of the opinion that the Carniolan is the best all-around bee for our northern climate. One factor alone has led me to do a lot of Italianizing lately, and that is be- cause I am not sure that the Carniolans are as good at resisting black brood (European foul brood) as are the Ital- ians, and as we are expecting an at- tack of this at any time, naturally we have been taking the advice of friends as to the advisability of getting more Italian stock. At the same time, a num- ber who have had the disease in their apiaries, tell me that they fought it suc- cessfully with Carniolans, and justly think it is a libel on this race to say they are not as good as the Italians in this respect. Can any one in New York, or other States, give fosilh'e proof that the Carniolans will not "stand up" against European foul brood ? I have had no experience in my own yards with this disease, and the question is asked in all good faith. Personally, I have always found the Carniolansasgood larvae feeders as the Italians, and much better than the blacks. As they are prolific breeders, under adverse circumstances. I can not understand zv/iy they should not be as good as the Italians in fighting the dis- ease. I have been told, in a casual way, that the Italians were better to clean up the disease than the Carniolans, but in so far as I can remember, no one has ever given a specific case to prove the point. If any one has the information, the writer at least will be pleased to have the light turned on for his benefit, as well as for others who may be halting between two opinions. Conditions in Ontario From reports of wintering received to date, I judge that there will be no very heavy loss of bees in Ontario, wherever the bees were well protected. In our own yards the loss is practically limited to the home apiary, where a number of colonies were wintered in a specially prepared hive with no pack- American ^ae Journal ing except heavy paper at ends and sides of the hive — abundance of pack- ing over the frames. Today I received a short note from the friend who took out the bees at the east yard C^lMl miles away) for me. He says the bees were in line shape, and not a spot on the i!7rj liives. They were put in the cellar on Nov. 7th, and taken out April 17th, having been wintered in caves that 1 described in these columns nearly a year ago. The bees in the yards here at home were nearly all wintered on the summer stands, and as the total loss to date is about (J percent, count- ing both the east yard and those at home, it can be easily seen that out- si I combined with the best interest of the bees, are both considered. Borodino, N. Y. Ventilation of the Hive BV 1). M. MAC DONALll. All bee-keepers are agreed that there is need of some system of ventilation in the bee-hive, but all do not agree about the best way of securing this desideratum, so that the process may be carried ciut by the bees with a maxi- mum of success at a minimum of cost. Hence we have the crown or sealed- cover men ; and the //i,'A/ porous quill disciples. The steadfast faith of these separate opponents, in their own sys- tem, proves that both serve the purpose with at least a marked degree of effi- ciency. One set maintains that, following Nature, bees are best covered over during winter in such a way that there will be not only no escape of heat, but that there will be no upward ventila- tion whatever. They reason that bees in a state of Nature, when making their domicile in a " cleft of the rock," or in a " hollow oak," are hermetically sealed above the cluster, and so they adopt the "sealed cover." Through a long period of years I have found bees in hollow trees, in churches, and similar buildings below the slate roof, in out- houses between outer and inner walls, and many similar situations. In every case under the last two heads there was not only ample ventilation, but I would conclude a superfluity of this necessary to their well-being. The hollow tree has been instanced times without num- ber as a model sealed cover — why I can not conceive — and I can only con- clude that arm-chairapiarists have been reasoning the matter out from their inner consciousness without regard to actual facts. In the very nature of the case, there must be i/icoy in the interior of the tree before it can have become hollow. Out of the large number I have ex- amined, and adding to this very many more correspondents have informed me of, nol one was what in any sense could be described as hermetically sealed above. In most instances there was an immense reserve of unoccupied space generally both above and below, and frequently at both sides, atTording ample means of ventilation. In all cases soft, pulpy matter, both dry and porous, ran up and down, often sev- eral feet above and below the point where (he bees presciently selected their base of operation. Such trees almost invariably are possessed of large knot-holes in their gnarled trunks; while very frequently the internal weak- ness aids the winds of heaven in mak- ing " shakes " and cracks in the timber of the tree, each of these serving the purpose of a ventilation excellently well. Old straw skeps are pointed to as be- ing so well propolized that they afford no means of upward ventilation. This is rank nonsense. Gas, carbonic-acid gas, is an elastic aeriform fluid which penetrates upward through far more dense substances than either a straw- skep crown or by means of apertures in the presumed hermetically sealed crown board of any ordinary hive. Bees are living creatures, and even tlie closest cluster in under zero cold is never an inanimate mass. Each bee is a living, sensate being, and to live they must breathe. Thus animate, they are constantly charging the air in the hive with noxious gases, which, if re- tained in the interior, would vitiate the air and thus cause the inmates vexa- tious worry and ill-health. The air of our schools, churches, theaters, and every similar place where large num- bers of humanity are wont to assemble become charged with poisonous gases, producing headaches, nausea, and often consequent ill-health, and if people were to continue long in such a viti- ated atmosphere, even death might fol- low. Wisely, most elaborate systems of ventilation are provided in all such or gas into the outer atmosphere. Loss of heat is equivalent to loss of honey; therefore, the wrappings overhead must conserve the internal heat, yet they can be of such a nature as will serve to afford the necessary ventilation and keep the hive dry. Honey contains a large proportion of water, even when in its densest condi- tion, and it may be taken as correct that the consumption by the bees of 24 ounces of honey will produce no less than W ounces of water! This is given off by the bees in the form of vapor. Warm air, such as is found in the hive interior when overcharged, deposits the water it can no longer contain, in the form of a dew. If this moisture can penetrate upward while in the form of vapor we have a dry hive; if it is confined to the brood body, it is cooled t y the chill of the incoming air. BoNKSET \F.upatorium prrloliatiiiii\. Leaves anu Fi.oweks.— (See page 137.) gathering centers. Our dwelling houses, too, are carefully ventilated. Similar provision is an utter necessity in a bee- hive if we are to have healthy bees and strong, rousing colonies in the spring. In cellars and in colonies wintered on the summer stands, some system must be adopted to secure ventilation so necessary for the bees' comfort and health. Bees in winter have to eat to live, and, as a consequence, they breathe through the spiracles found in both the thorax and abdomen, every movement produces this consequence. Hence, is generated the carlionic-acid gas noted above, and another important consti- tuent is water. Now both of these must be gotten rid of in some shape or other, and bee-keepers generally agree that the best means for attaining this desirable end is by securing upward ventilation through porous coverings, and then ultimately evaporate the water or by the cooler layer of air which per- sists near the sides of the hive away from the cluster, and hence we have a heavy deposit of moisture on the hive- walls, which gradually turns into small, trickling rills, and then these find their way out of the entrance, perhaps. If not, the moisture may even be formed into ice in the interior, thus chilling the brood-nest more than is good for it. Unless in the cluster, or a space near it, under improper ventilation, the air becomes supercharged with mois- ture, thus ruining the combs, and de- teriorating lioth honey and bee-bread where these become char.ged with the dewy, damp deposit. One result of bad ventilation is that the bees are incommoded, and are therefore roused from their state of semi - hibernation. The consumption of honey to get up more heat is a minor evil. They have also to renew the tissue being worn down cons>' May, 1912. American l^ae Journal quent on the rousing up ami movement of muscles, and to do this they partake of pollen. This works evil in early spring, as it leads to bowel distension when no flight can be safely under- taken to secure outside cleansing. Hence, we liave dysentery, spotting of the combs, and fouling of the hive- front and flight-board. Upward ventilation, allowing the es- cape of foul gases tlirough the porous covering, and also the steady percola- tion upward of the watery vapor, with its subse(|uent dissipation in the upper air, insures a warm, dry interior with a supply of fresh, sweet air enveloping the cluster. Away back about 40 years ago, open, porous coverings were al- most universally used in .America, while on this side the " crown-board " was the favorite device. We then adopted the (|uilt, which at once " caught on," and from then until now this sys- tem of overhead covering has firmly held its place as the prime favorite. If I read the signs of the times aright, evohition is slowly but surely working its way in favor of warm, porous cov- erings above the brood-nest all over the American continent. Banff, Scotland. Brood Diseases— Live Question By C. p. UAD.\NT. It is of extreme importance to the bee-keepers of the country to be able to recognize at a glance the differences between the so-called American and European foul brood as well as the difi'erence between the latter and pick- led brood, which can not be called a disease, if we are to rely on our best authorities. For some time past, most of us have become acquainted with the peculiar diagnosis of American foul brood, the true malignant foul brood, which, for that matter, is as common in Europe as it is in America. The ro/'iiiess, the coffee-color, the f>lue pot smell, when these are present together, the danger- ousness of the disease can not be doubted, and the starvation method is the only practical remedy. Both the disease and its cure have been de- scribed often enough to satisfy every one that the transmission of it is in the honey, and that all infected combs must be removed, as explained in the McEvoy-France method. But when the ropiness is absent, as well as the glue-pot smell, how are we to decide at first glance whether the disease is black brood (European foul brood) or only pickled brood ? I asked this question of several of our leading men. Dr. Phillips said it could not be readily distinguished, except by an ex- pert. But the experts have no infalli- ble signs as yet, since they have so far failed to find the bacillus of black brood. Yet is not this an important matter to every one of us ? With this question in view, I re- solved to make enquiries that might lead us to more positive knowledge. The following letters will explain themselves. I have great faith in the opinions of McEvoy, not only because he has a very extensive experience in foul-brood matters, having been an in- spector of bees in the Province of On- tario for lil years, but also because even some of his opponents in other matters acknowledge that he is the best posted man in all questions con- cerning brood - diseases. I quote France, because he also is one of the most positive and e.xperienced authori- ties, with long experience in foul brood. I quote Dr. (.'. C. .Miller, because his trials and success in the eradication of European foul brood are quite recent. Finally. 1 quote Mr. Kildow and his lieutenant, Pyles, because botli of these men have scoured a nimiber of Illinois counties, and have met all sorts of con- ditions : Hh KT.Ki) Bkood Should Bk Called "Starved Brood." When the weatlier conditions are favor- able bees gather a jrood deal of honey all through fruit-bloom, and while they are bringing in honey daily the brood-chambers will be kept well supplied with umeiiled honey, and as long as the uusfaled Iwnt-y (which is the first used) lasts, all the brood will be extra-well fed. But in some springs, when the bees are working well in fruit- bloom, and going into brood-rearing on a large scale, wet weather sets in. and shuts off honey-gathering for days. Just as soon as this occurs the bees quickly feed the //«- .><■.//(•(/ honey to the brood, and when this is gone they do not uncap the sealed stores fast enough to keep pace with all the brood that requires feeding, and the result is more or less starved brood. Some of the brood that dies of starvation, while in the coil \oxvc\. turns /'eou may like another plan that contemplates never having anything less than .1 frames of brood in a hive. First thing, you must look out for your combs lest the wax-worms make havoc with them. You can put some of them under or over the colonies, where they will be well taken care of. Others you may treat with bisulphide of carbon, killing all eggs and worms. Before any step is taken toward increase, the 8 colonies must be strong, each having 6 frames or more of brood. Some of them may be weak, and they must be helped by the stron;; ones. You may be able to have them all strong by the first of tune, and may be not until some time later. But suppose it is June i. From each colony you will take 2 frames of brood with adhering bees, of course looking out not to take the queen. That will give you ij frames of brood. You will start 4 colonies with these, giving 4 frames of brood to each. The frames of brood you take from the strong colonies will be the ripest you can get. and you will, of course, replace them with drawn combs, putting these combs in the middle of the brood-nest. You will also lill out your new colonies with combs, thus using some of your honey. By the middle of June you will likely be able to repeat the operation, mak- ing 4 more new colonies, or 16 in all. Again, by July I. you may be able to make 4 more, or 20 in all. Then, again. July 15 you may make 4 more. In the meantime, however, the first 4 you made may be strong enough to yield 2 frames of brood apiece, thus making 21) in all. By Aug. i. 2 more of the little fel- lows may be able to help, making 34 in all. August 15 may bring you up to 4t>. and if the season continues goodyou may increase still later. Now. it may not pan out at all as pictured. But at any rate, your policy is to keep every colony fairly strong all the time, never drawing so much from any one as to leave it less than 4 or 5 frames of brood. Then you will not be caught at the tail end of the season with a lot of weaklings to be lost the next winter. Caring for Weak Colonies Out of 10 colonies of bees I have 4 that have come out very weak. I don't believe there is a quart of bees to the colony, al- though they have a little brood started. Please tell me what is best to do in such cases. Missouri. Answer.— You may be thankful if only 4 out of 10 are weak. Let them alone until some of the other colonies are strong enough to have h frames of brood. Then take a frame of brood from a weak colony and ex- change it with astrongone for a frame tilled as nearly as possible with sealed brood ready to hatch out. When this has mostly hatched out. you can make another neap. each time taking from the weak colony one of its poorest frames, and swapping for the best vou can get But don't give more brood than the bees can cover, or it will be chilled and lost. After a weakling has been thus strengthened until it has bees enough to cover 2 or 3 full frames, then you can give it from a strong colony a frame of ripe brood with the adhering bees, putting it close up to the brood, but not between two frames of brood. Of course, you will be careful not to take a queen with the brood. Here is another way: Into an empty hive on some new stand put 6 or 8 combs of sealed brood with adhering bees, these to be taken from the strong colonies. It will be just as well to fasten them in the hive, only look out that you don't smother them, .^fter they have stood 24 to 4« hours, you may then give them wherever they will do the most good to your weak colonies. If you give too many strange bees to a weak colony, there is dan- ger that they may kill the queen, if they are taken directly from a lay ingqueen; but after standing 24 to 4R hours they feel their queen- lessness and will not harm any queen where they are given. Bleaching Comb Honey How can I bleach comb honey '^ I got about 2400 sections last year, and it was hard to sell it on account of its darkness. I see a process for bleaching it in'ABCof Bee Culture." but do you know of any better way :• .•\11 the honey that is coming into the market is whiter than mine, and I can not account for it. If you know of a way to whiten honey, please let me know. Illinois. Answer.— No; lean give no better way It's one of the cases where prevention is better than cure, and I try to manage so there shall be as few darkened sections as possible. There are two reasons for sec- tions being darkened outside: Being top long on the hive, and being too near old. dark combs. If a super of sections be left on the hive until every section is completely sealed, the central sections are very likely to be darkened. So I don't wait for the seal- ing of all the sections, but take off the super when all but a few of the outside ones are sealed. Perhaps the 4 corner sections will not be finished, perhaps 4 on each side. Then these unfinished sections are massed together and given back to the bees to be finished, .-^t one time, when I used wide frames to hold sections, my practice was to raise a brood-comb from the brood-chamber and put it between 2 frames of sections in the uiiper story, so as to induce the bees to begin work promptly. It was very success- ful in that direction, but it was equally siic- cessful in getting the bees to darken the capping of the sections, for they would carry bits of the dark old brood-comb across to use on the sections, making them dark be- fore ever the capping was finished. You will probably find that a thin top-bar will help to darken sections, because it allows them to be nearer the combs. On that account a top-bar ''8-inch thick is desirable You may also find more trouble with shallow brood- combs than with deeper ones. (The above refers to the color of the cap- pings. The honey itself may have been dark, perhaps honey-dew. There is no known process to change its color.— Editor.] Different Breeds of Bees Mating Queens I am a lad of onlv 14 years, and I am very much interested in bee-keeping. To my no- tion, it is one of the most fascinating and pleasant kinds of work to be found. I keep the hybrid bees (the only kind kept around here). I have had nothing to do with any other race, but am seriously thinking of introducing pure stock into my apiary, and I hardly know what race to choose. The main honey-How here is from the first of Mav to the last of June. The principal honey-plants here are white clover, vetch, raspberry and fruit-bloom, 1 Which strain of Italians are superior as to honey-gathering qualities? ,, ,. , 2 Is the Caucasian bee as good as the Ital- ian in regards to industry, gentleness and wintering? ... t , 3 Kindly give names and addresses of a few recommended breeders of pure Italian queens, . . r j ^ * 4. Will a queen lay that is forced to mate with her brother ? .it ;. Which parent does a bee partake of most in color, generally ? 6 Do bees always build up queen-cells that are inserted in the hive with larva; in 7 'what kind of a bee is the Cyprian ? also the Banat ? Oregon. Answers, -I. Probably as good as any is the leather-colored, or darker. 3-banded. 2 There is probably no great difference in any respect as to geiitleness. Caucasians have been claimed to be the gentlest of all bees. Yet some have reported differently. 3 At this time of the year there should be no trouble in finding these in the advertis- ing columns. , „ .„ 4 Yes But if you can force a queen to mate with a particular drone you have a great secret. , , ... ™, s. I don't know very much about it. They say that the progeny follows the parent with the most fixed character; but what appears in one generation may be different in the next. 6. N'ot by any means. 7 Cyprians are something like Italians in appearance, but have the reputation of be- ing the crossest of all bees. Banats are much like Caucasians. Great Losses— Plan for Increase I had 21 colonies of bees last fall; this spring I have only 8 colonies left, the other 13 died during the winter, and 2 starved I thought a great deal of my bees, but this winter was too cold for them 1 have had bees 25 years, but never had any freeze to death except a few bees in among the col- onies, but not a whole colony as long as they had honey. Some of those colonies that froze had hives half filled with honey, but still they froze to death. . I would like to build up my bees agam to 25 or w colonies this summer. I have about that many hives and some old honey lett 1^0 May, 1013. American ~Bae Jonrnal them, if I can lind some way to do it. I don't helieve tiiat my bees will swarm to amount to anythine. because the spring is late, and they are late in rearing: young bees, and the prospect for good swarms is not very good. The bees in the dovetailed hives suffered the most. I have only 3 colonies left in the movable-frame hives, the others are in boxes and gums, and I have no way to get at them to do anything with them. I do not believe there are many bees left in this part of the country; one man had 0 colonies and lost all; a neighbor had 2 colo- nies and lost both; another 12. and has 3 left. Illinois. .'\nswer. — Having on hand 13 hives tilled with drawn-out combs with some honey in them, you should have no difficulty in in- creasing a colonies to 25 or 30 if the season is at all good, and the prospects in that direc- tion are now good. If you have not already done so. the first thing is to become familiar with the contents of a good text-book on bees, such as "Langstroth on the Honey- Bee.'" I see by your letter that you have also " Doolittle's Queen-Rearing," and that ought to help. Being familiar with general principles, you can then be guided by cir- cumstances as to what is best to do in your particular case. You might divide all your colonies at one time into enough nuclei to make the full number desired. That, however, is hardly so satisfactory as to take the safer plan of starting each nucleus so strong that there will be no danger of ending the season with a number of weaklings unable to winter over. So the first thing is to build up your a colonies strong. When the strongest of them have 5 or 0 frames of brood, then you can draw a frame of brood with adhering bees to help another colony not so strong. Only be sure not to draw so much from a strong colony as to leave it with less than 4 full frames of brood. When all are built up so as to have s or h frames of brood each, then you may reduce each one to 4 full frames of brood by draw- ing from them frames of brood with adher- ing bees The brood and bees thus drawn may be used to start new colonies with 3 or 4 frames of brood each, a ripe queen-cell be- ing furnished»to each. When the original a have built up strong again this performance may be repeated, and perhaps again still later on. Some of the earliest colonies made may also become strong enough to help in making others. A little variation of this may be advisable. Instead of putting your 4 frames of brood and bees directly on a new stand, put them in a second story on an excluder over a strong colony, and then a week later put them on the new stand. There will then be very little unsealed brood, less danger of chilling, and with a larger proportion of young bees there will be less inclination to return to the old stand. As there was no queen in thisupper story, the bees will have some feeling of qeenlessness, which will be an advantage. This is a rough outline, but with your ex- perience you will probably have little trouble in filling out the details. Good Report from California On April 11, Southern California is leading the I est of the State in the amount of rain- fall thus far this season— and it is still rain- ing, Tlie prospect is, therefore, good for .Southern California at present writing. George I.. Emerson. Fullerton, Calif., April 12. Bees Wintered Well I am well pleased with the way my bees wintered 'being my first winteri. I put 20 colonies in the cellar Nov. 20. On March 20, I took them out of the cellar and found I had 26 strong colonies, 2 light and one queen- less colony. How is that for a novice ? E. E TOWNSEND. Ft. Dodge. Iowa, April 14, A Two Percent Loss My loss of bees has been about 2 percent, while some have lost 75 percent. I have, in the last 2 years, adopted a new plan for win- tering on the summer stands. ! have only 8- frame Langstroth hives; I leave them the super of honey next to the brood-frames, as I have found that an H-frame hive will not winter a colony in a long and severe winter. I would start with a 10-frame hive if I were to start again. S. W, Smiley, Whiteside, Mo., April 18. Looking for a Better Year 1 thought of discontinuing the Hee .Journal bet:ause of the discouraginii season, but have realized that the Journal is not to blame, and needs our support to continue giving us the much-needed information we seek (as the bee-keeping world) for the future. I am looking forward for a better year, and wish you success. Martin R. Miller. Lancaster Pa.. Dec. 5. loii sistance in answering " .'\rkansas " (page 211 of iQii). "Why Bitter Honey ? " Honey never becomes bitter until about Sept. 15 of each year, or after a weed blooms here which is called bitter weed, ox-eye, or oxidine. Bees do not get any honey from it at all— only pollen— and where it is plentiful, as in thisState, Arkansas, Oklahoma. Texas, Mississippi and Georgia, there will be 00 percent of the foragers in a colony working on this weed, which stays in bloom until frost kills it. When it is young and tender, milch cows will eat of it until the milk is almost unfit for use, being very bitter. Now, the reason that the honey is bitter is because the bees will store it in almost any place in the hive, and in walking over even freshly-built comb, which only a short time before was white comb, or comb capped white, it is changed in color to a golden yel- low. This dust seems to ruin all the honey in the hive, and, of course, down here we have to take the honey before the bitter weed blooms, or it is of no use except to the bees. W. R. Cunningham. Rayville, I^a.. March ig. IBy "ox-eye," we suppose our correspon- dent means the Heliopsis, so called because of the resemblance of the blossom of this plant to a sunflower. It is a perennial plant, and the blossoms terminate the stems or branches. If this is not correct, we trust Mr. Cunningham will give us the descrip- tion of this Hower. The name "oxidine " is probably colloquial, and of local applica- tion only, as we can not hud it in the refer- ence books. We would be glad to hear the experience of others on this subject. — K.DITOR.I Cause of Bitter Honey My bees wintered well, and are in good condition, a good supply of pollen being gathered from elm and maple, and all colo- nies liave young bees. There was a good supply of fall honey gathered here from cot- ton and titi vine I want to come to your as- season is so short and the nectar is fre- quently so bountiful, knowledge must be obtained on how to manipulate the bees to get best results. Again, our fruit-trees will be almost bar- ren of fruit if there are no bees near to pol- lenize the blossoms. I have been keeping bees for over ib years in this locality, and know from observation that it will pay me to keep bees even if I didn't get one pound of surplus honey. I have not failed to have fruit exceptoneyear since I have kept bees; that failure was owing to the second winter we had in April. Kvto. It is my intention to make actual observa- tion this season of the difference in fruiting of my trees, and trees of the same size and variety, where there are no bees to pollenize the blossoms. I believe the time is not far distant when the importance of the bees to horticulture will be more fully recognized; then we may expect the bee-industry to receive its just recognition. Hamlin V. Poore. Bird Island, Minn. Recognizing Apiculture Many persons around here having bees give tliem so little attentioiL through indif- ference and ignorance, that most of that kind of bee-keepers have lost all their bees— some few having found one colony that survived the past two unfavorable seasons. I am satisfied that the bee industry never can attain its just recognition for importance to the whole people until we have a branch of apiculture taught in all agricultural col- leges and schools where sufficient interest can be obtained to secure a class in that study. In this Northern climate, where ths Only Lost One Colony I have just taken my bees out of the cel- lar; only lost one out of 20, so I now have 28 colonies, and they are in splendid shape. W. S. Chafel. North Troy, Vt,, April 10. Hard Blov^r in Ohio The bee-business sufifered a hard blow in this section the past winter, one man lost his entire apiary of 40 colonies. Last spring I just had 2 colonies, and increased to 5. I saved them all. but 2 of them are weak. I wintered them out of-doors. I use the chaff hive and a winter case of my own make. Medina, Ohio. April 15. 1, C, Mosi;rove. Bees Wintered Very Well Last Saturday I examined the most of my t^o colonies of bees, and think I have lost only 2 colonies. One of them 1 had my doubts about living when I packed them last Octo- ber, and the other I think was queenless. and was apparently robbed out recently through thegranulesof honeyon the bottom- board, and only a few bees in the hive. My bees have had nothing done to them since I left them to go to New Hampshire to live during the winter. .John 1'. CoBURN. Woburn. Mass.. March 25. Bees Wintered Well I put my bees in the cellar Nov. id. and took them out ."^pril stli. Five months and 2 days in the cellar. They had their last flight Oct. 18th. Five months and 18 days without a flight. And out of iuq colonics I only had 2 dead, and one of them went in queenless, I know. Seventy-five percent of the colonies are strone. Twenty-five percent are from medium to light. Yes. I feel good about the way my bees have wintered. G. C. Chase. Robbins, Wis. Bee-Keeping in Idaho I have no complaint about bees wintering here, but advancing age is making the care of bees somewhat strenuous for me. March 15th of each year my bees gather pollen from spring beauties, buttercups and willows. Soon there will be carpets of wild forget-me- nots, adder-tongues, etc. Then our dande- lions and never-failing snow-drop. Eighty pounds to the colony at iih cents for ex- tracted, and 15 cents for comb, helped against the high cost of livinc Moths have never eaten an ounce of comb yet for me here, V. V. George. Fraser, Idaho. March 27. A Little Experience With Bees I obtained 2 colonies of black bees 3 years ago. I furnished new standard 8 frame hives, and transferred 4 colonies for half of them. I had some little experience before, and read a book on apiculture by James King. But I didn't know enough not to transfer bees as late as July, so my neighbor lost both his colonies. 1 would have lost mine, too, but for the timely arrival of "Forty Years Among the Bees" and the American Bee Journal ; I also sent to Wash- ington and obtained the Farmers' Bulletin on bee-keeping. Mav. r.112 American fiee Joarnal I purchased ; Italian queens, and one was lost in introducine- The next summer I in- creased to 7. and Italianized them. I.^st sprine I bouk-ht to colonies. ( )ne of thetn had a fine Italian ciueen. althouth the lady from whom I purchased them didn't know that there was any Italian blood in her api- ary. I lacked 2 or 3 Queens of getting them all Italianized, on account of having very poor luck with my queens— so many were lost. The only reason I could assign was that I liad all my hives in a line in pairs, one foot apart, each pair 6 feet from the other pair. Last season I had tlietn set pro- miscuously. I lost one colony from starvation, caused. I think, by leaving a lot of supers piled upon it until very late. They had built up into a powerful colony, so much so that the bees couUI hardly find room in the hive when the supers were taken off. They had consumed all their stores by Ian. 1st. and had died. I found 2 other colonies almost as short of stores, and so I made candy of granulated sugar and placed it on the frames, after first putting .3 or 4 small sticks across under it. I pack my bees for winter (I winter them outside) by placing empty supers or a hive- body on top: and after spreading on a piece of gunny-sack cut to fit. the super is filled with forest leaves. I could not bring myself to think of sealed covers, with the moisture trickling down upon the bees. There have been many days of bright. warm sunshine, with heavy snow on the ground, lately, and bees would fly out and perish on the snow. Leaning a board in front of the hive, as per Doolittle, would do little or no good. Here is a bouquet for Dr. Miller, and a good wish for the American Bee Journal. Bolivar, Mo., March «. .1. A. Reed. Prospects Fair in California There will probably be a small surplus of honey in this locality the coming season. Bees are in good shape to take advantage of what honey-flow there may be. having win tered well. The past winter has been ex- ceptionally dry, but we have had a good April rain, which will insure us some honey I have two apiaries which I run in connec- tion with general farming and stock-raising. We can only figure on a paying honey crop on an average of every other year at the most. ii;ii was one of the best honey years ever known in this part of the State. There are still some good locations for apiaries un- occupied in this county at the present time. If any of the readers of the American Bee Journal would care to know moieabout this locality. I will be pleased to have tliem write to me. L. G. Smith. San Benito. Calif., .-Kpril tS. Loss in Wintering — Short Season Ex- pected This is the warmest day we have yet had this spring, with the temperature at 45 de- grees at noon. My bees are in " Protection " hives, so I hope they pulled through on about 10 pounds of feed each, but farmers to the south of me have lost every colony. Mr. Will McCord has 7.S empty hives, and is pretty well discouraged. Mr. Miles, of Dunlap, writes that he looks for a very short season, as the clover was drouth-killed last year. About here, how- ever. I think I saw a deal of young clover, and I know we had no fall flow. 1 am look- ing for a season of heartsease, as the indica- tions are that we shall have a tolerably wet season. .A. F. Bonney. Buck Grove. Iowa, March 27. Severe Winter on Bees We have w'hite clover in bloom during .-\pril. May, and part of June here, but the sun beats down so hard in June that it kills it out. The bees reap a harvest when not too cool from the bloom of elm, oak, sweet- gum, maple, peaches, plums (wild and tame), pears and apples. This has been a severe winter on bees, although I have lost only one colony, and it was through trying to catch the queen. She flew away and went into another liive, so pretty soon I found the dead bee. The bees having lost her went into 4 or .s hives, and then they were killed in a short time. This year the bees will commence swarm- ing in the early part of April. The farmers that have bees in box-hives are not bragging, for their bees are nearly all dead. I am very fond of the American Bee Jour- nal, and take good care of every copy. I en- joy reading what others write. W. R. Cunningham. Rayville. La . March 24. Cypro-Carniolan Bees On page sh. the writer uses the term "Cyp- rian-Carniolan " in referring to Cypro-Car- niolan bees. He says. "Late in .September, igog. I bought a Cyprian queen, but it turned out to be a Cyprian Carniolan." He says "there were drones by the thou- sand—two drones to one worker." That con- dition indicates that he introduced the queen he bought into a colony having a su- perabundance of drone-comb, and does not prove the excessive building of drone-comb to be characteristic of the progeny of the queen. She was introduced in "September." and her bees compelled to accept the drone- comb whether it was their choice or not. He says, "They are great to rob, etc." Neither the Cyprian nor the Carniolan bees are inclined to rob. and indications are that his queen was a mongrel without knowing what blood predominated. Ed L. Roser. Cleveland. Ohio. ASPINWALL NON-SWARMING BEE- HIVE ! A Practical Success after 22 years of Kxperimentation. Another season has added to its success. Evenly filled sections of Honey Pro- duced without separators. Will double the yield of Comb Hone^ Every Bee-Keeper should satisfy him- self as to our claims by ordering, at least, one sample Hive and testing Descriptive Circular, with prices, mail- ed Free. ASPINWALL MFG. CO., 602 Sabin St.Jackson,Mich. Canadian Factory: GUELPH. Ontario. World's Oldest and Largest Makers of Potato Machinery Cutters Planters Sprayers Diggers Sorters 152 -»f^g^^( American "Bee Journal Wants, Exchanges, Etc. CAdvertisements in this department will be inserted at 15 cents per line, with no dis- counts of any kind Notices here cannot be less than two lines. If wanted in this de- partment, you nuist say so when ordering.] Wanted— Carload of bees for cash. 4Atf .John C. Bull. Valparaiso. Ind. Fine Tempkked Steel Hive Tools (enam- eled handle . Price 20 cents, postpaid. Henry Benke. Pleasantville Station. N. Y. For Sale.— Bees, honey, and bee-supplies. We are in the market for beeswax and honey. SAtf Ondeii Bee & Honey Co.. Ogden Utah. For Sale — Hieh-grade bees, queens, and supplies. Pure-blooded poultry and eggs. 4A2t A. M. .Applegate. Reynoldsville, Pa. Make Pure, delicious fruit acids from honey. Cures all diseases, man or beast. Patent allowed. Mailed. 25 cents. lAiy C. W. Dayton. Chatsworth. Calif. Wanted — Choice extracted white and amber honey in barrels or cans. Send sam- ple, and price delivered f. o. b. Preston. ii.^tf M. V. Facey. Preston. Minn. Penna. BEE-KEEi'EK.'i— Having bought sup- ply business of Geo. H. Rea. I can furnish complete line of Root's goods. Full car just in. Catalog free. Thos. H. Lit/. 4A2t Osceola Mills. Pa. Queens. Nuclei, and Half-Pound Packages —a strain of vbanded Italians developed for honey-gathering ability. My entire time has been given to them for 12 years. 4A2t W. D. Achord. Fitzpatrick. Bullock Co.. Ala. Honey Cans i'or Sale— Five gallon, ho pound, square, screw top cans, used only once. Good as new. in crates. Send quick: best cash offer; any number delivered. Hilltop Pure Food Co . Ltd.. Pittsburg. Pa. Mv System — Union bee-hive and <,>ueen. Will increase both your colonies and honey crop, and improve your stock, making bee- keeping a real pleasure Cash orders Sio.oo. (Atf Joe Egner. Box 552. Lavergne. 111. Queens — Italians and Carniolans. Will exchange choice queens for bees by the pound, frame, or hive. Write, staling what you have. Frank M. Keith. .^Atf 8.i''2 Florence St.. Worcester, Mass. Wanted— All Southern Idaho bee-keepers to know they can get all kinds of Bee-Keep- ers'Supplies at home. Write for catalog. I have my own factory. C. R. Shriver. 2.^41 i62t Bannock St.. Boise. Idaho. WnrrK K(»( ks exclusively, strictly pure white, with size and fancy points combined, and excellent laying qualities. Farm range eggs for Hatching, packed to ship safely: 15, Si-.S"; 30. $2 50: 15. Si'w: ii«>. Sfi.on. ,sAit Mrs Kliner Petersen. AshUum. III. QuiRiN's famous itiiproved It:ilian queens nuclei, colonies, and bees by the lb . ready in May. Our stock is northern-bred and har- dy; live yards wintered on summer stands in iQu8 anti 10('(> without a single loss. For prices, send for circular. .^Ast (.)uirin-the-Oueen-Breeder, Bellevue, Ohio. (Joi.DEN and 3-band Italian Queens (strict- ly free from disease). Tested ijueens. $1 00 each; 3 for $12. -s; 6 or more. K^ cts. each. Un tested. 75c each; 3 Queens J2. 00; from 6 to so. 55 cts. each. Bees by the pound. Si. 00. Nu- clei, per frame, $1.25. Safe arrival and satis- faction guaranteed. C. B Bankslon. 2Atf Buffalo. Leon Co.. Texas. The Opfor Hive-Entrance Bee-Feeder.— In the sijring we must feed the hires to have them strong for clover-bloom. Willi all the present feeders this is a troublesome job— either llie hive-bottom or covers have to be taken off every time we feed. With the Entrance Feeder shown herewith, all you have to do is to push it in at the hive- entrance and leave it there until there is no more need of feeding. It contracts the en- trance, and that is what you want in spring. The size of this feeder is 7xH inches, and % inch deep, and holds 5 ounces of feed. You can feed 100 colonies in about zs minutes. In case of foul brood you can feed medi- cated syrup and your bees will build up strong and healthy, and be in good shape when clover starts, ready to shake on foun- dation. I have used 75 of these feeders about 8 years, and today they are as good as ever. With proper care they will last a life-time. In spring or in fall most bee-keepers neg- lect to stimulate brood-rearing— one of the most important things in having strong colo- nies and good wintering. It does not de- pend so much upon the amount of feed as it does upon regularity every night (unless the weather is too cold), and you will won- der where your strong colonies come from. Some of the many good points of this En- trance Feeder are these: 1. It is made of heavy galvanized iron and will last a lifetime. 2. ll reduces the hive-entrance. 3. It reaches where the bees can gel at the feed e\'en in cool weather. 4. It feeds the right amount. ^. It will not cause robbing. 6. It will not disturb the colony while feed- ing. 7. It permits quick work. 8. The bees will not drown in it. I am in position to furnish all demands tor these feeders at the following prices, f. o. b. Chicago; One for 20c: 5 for i8c each; 10 for i6c each. If ordered by mill, add mc each for packing and postage. Address all orders to— A. H. Offer, 62^0 Patterson Ave., Chicago, III. " Lang-stroth oq the Houey-Bee " This is one of the standard books on bees. It tells in a simple, concise man- ner just how to keep bees. It was originally written by Rev. L. L. Lang- stroth, who invented the movable- frame hive in 1851. The book lias been brought right down to date by Dadant & Sons, than who there are no better or more practical bee-keepers in this or any other country. It contains nearly 600 pages, is fully illustrated, and is bound in cloth. I'-^very topic is clearly and thoroughly e.xplained, so that by following its instructions no one should fail to be successful with bees. Price, postpaid, $1.20; or with the American Bee Journal one year — both for $2.00. Send all orders to the American Bee Journal. American Bee Journal {or 1911 We have a number of complete volumes of the American Bee Journal for 1011, which we offer for liO cents for the 12 numbers, as long as they last. Or, should there be among our subscribers those who would like to have any copies of the American Bee Journal for 1911 to complete their volume or other- wise, we will fill such orders at 5 cents per copy. Address this office. WANTED white HONEY Both COMB and EXTRACTED Write us before dispos- ing of your Honey Crop. ^ ^ Beeswax -WAXTl'.D— HILDRETH & SESELKEN, 265-267 Greenwich St., NEW YORK, N. Y. Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writfaiA. To The New Century Queen-Rearing Co. FOR Goldens, Caucasians, Carniolans, S-b'd Italians Untested, $1.00; Tested, $1.50. Write for prices in large quantities. "Right Treatment and Quick Service" is our motto. Address as above, or JOHN W. PHARR, Propr. BERCLAIR, TEXAS. Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writJac. Cro§vn Bone Cutter Best Made- Loivest in Price FF,KI> voiir hons rul itreoii lump aiiii R.'t nuirt' rjtgM. M'ltti a Crown Ronel'utter ytm I'liQ cut ii|> ftll srrap bonrs easllv and i|uli.'hly. and wtthi>ut any tri'iiblc. ami hiive cut Imiio rre-.h nverv day f<'r viir ("iiiltry. Si'nd Rt onci> ri>r fri'f rftt;il.ii:ue. WILSON 8R0S., B018I4 , Easlon.Pa. rtease mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. English Honey-Spoon. This tine goc Honey-Spoon and the Ameri- can Bee Journal for one year— both for only $1.75. Send all orders to the American Bee Journal. Hamilton. 111. May, 1912. American Hee Journal George W.York Sandpoint, (oiiiitv laano The above is the way to address me hereafter. Soon after this number of the old .American Bee Journal has been mailed, Mrs. ^■ork and 1 expect to be located in the beautifully situated town of Sandpoint, Idaho, where I will keep bees, handle bee-literature, conduct a general subscription agency for maga- zines and farm papers, and possibly be interested in some other things. I am hoping that the change of cli- mate from Chicago, 111., to Northern Idaho ("I* miles northeast of Spokane, Wasli.) will be beneficial to my health, which, especially during recent winters, has not been the best. Just as soon as possible after getting settled in Sandpoint, I will prepare an illustrated circular for free distribution, and will be pleased to mail a copy to any one requesting it. I hope to have it ready by the last of this month. Any of your patronage that may be turned my way will be greatly appreciated, I assure you. Although nou' at Stimipoint, Idaho, instead of Chicago, 111., I am the same George W. York, that so many bee- keepers have known in connection with the .\nierican Bee Journal for over a quarter of a century. George W. York, Publisher and Subscription Agent, Sandpoint, Bonner Co., Idaho Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. Italian Queens for Sale ! Untested Queens. $i.oo each, 6 for $s.oo. All Queens reared from Imported Stock. riroiilar Free. 0. F. Fuller, Blackstone, Mass. Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. I Breed Golden Queens and Bees by the best known methods, and best apiarist; in full colonies in prime con- dition for rearing Queens. Untested, $i.oo: Full 8-frame Colonies. $5.oo each. Guaran- teed no disease. sAtf M. Bates, Rt. 4, Greenville, Ala. Plvase meiitiim Am. Bee Journal when writing. Michigan Established in 1878 Texas Pioneer Establishment for the Breeding of Pure Caucasian Queens. .'Ml Imported Bueens bred under my instructions in the aucasus Mountains. Tested two years be fore breedingfrom. The whitest comb-build ers on earth. Will work while others starve. Gentle as Hies. Hive full of brood all through the season. My Italians need no commenting on— the thousands I have sold tell the tale. Send for prices. 5A6t A. D. D. WOOD Box 82. Houston Heights. Tex., or Box 61. Lansing. Mich. Pksw mention Am. Bee }oamal wken writiiis. You will be a busy bee if you locate in the Fertile Northwest Bee-Culture in the Northwest should prove sur- prisingly attractive to the workers with Bees in other parts of the country. — The great diversity of climate due to the varied altitudes and topographic features, affords a wide range of selection in locations, in this dry, mild, and equable region. — The wonderfully fertile soil produces the finest of clovers, alfalfa, peas, etc., so important in the production of a good and pure article of honey. Even the common sage-brush is noted for its value in honey-production. — The vast acreage in orchards in the Northwest should prove a strong argument to an experienced bee-worker to move to this very fertile country. Orchards and hives have been most profitably com- bined already, in many instances. The superiority of Northwestern fruit-blooms aids to produce a superior quality of honey, and the bees perform a reciprocal service in fruit-pollenization. — Nowhere are there more stable and remunerative markets for good honey. The many large cities, the rich mining camps, and Alaska, provide the best of markets right at home, at top prices. I llorollirA — ^"'^ ^^^^ literature relating to the Northwest, and LIIGralUrv particulars of Low Colonist, Homeseeker, and ^— ^^^^^^ Summer Excursion Fares, write to CHmate^ Bee-Food Orchards Markets L. J. BRICKER, General Immigration At^ent. 123 Northern Pacific BIdg., SAINT PAUL, MINN. A. M. CLELAND, QR General Passenger Agent. 123 Northern Pacific BIdg., SAINT PAUL, MINN. NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILWAY CHOICE HOME-BRED and Imported Stock. (.)ueens reared in Full Col oiiies. Prices for May One Tested Queen — $i.;5 " Select Tested .... i.8s " BreedingQueen.. 310 Can furnish UNTESTED Queens. Bees by the pound and Nuclei, in June, owinj to the lateness of the sea- son. Safe arrival guaran teed For description of each grade of Queens send for Free Catalog. J. L. STRONG, 204 E. Logan St., Clarinda, Iowa. Plcaae mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. FINEST QUALITY of 3-band Italian Queens reared in the Suth latitude. tested -June. S3.00; July. $250; .Aueust. $2.00. Breeder - June. $6.00; July. $5.00; August. Sj 00. Do/ . 2;"% discount. Alexander Lundgren, cAit 12 Tomtebogatan, STOCKHOLM. SWEDEN. Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. Missouri-Bred Queens! My strain of bees is the result of many years' breeding and selection. I believe they are equal to any. and surpassed by none. They are long lived, winter well, breed early, and are unexcelled honey get- ters. The workers are long-bodied, good- sized bees, uniformly marked with bands of orange yellow. They are good comb-build- ers, gentle and easy to handle, and yet pro- tect their homes from robbers. You will makenomistakein introducingthese queens into yourapiary. I guarantee safe delivery at your post-office, and make a speciality of long and dirticult shipments. I endeavor to keep a large supply of queens on hand. Prices sent on application. c.\6t L. E. ALTWEIN, St. Joseph. Mo. Please mention Am. Bee JoumaJ when writinji. Mott's Strain of Italians— Also Carniolans ID-page Descriptive I.ist free. Untested. $1.00 each : $0.00 per doz. Natural R. C. Golden from Imported Stock. Sel. Untested. $1.10 each; Tested. Si. 50. Bees by pound and Nu- clei. Leallets. "How to Introduce Queens." 15c each; on " Increase." isc or both for asc. E. E. IMOTT, Glen wood, Mich. Please mention Am. Bee Journal when 'writing. Mav, 1913. American Heti Journal The Campbell System INSURtS your crop against DROUTH Our experience in I'JIO and I'Jll has proved that good crops can be grown with less than eighteen inches of rain- fall. Those who followed the Camp- bell System in !!U() had a crop in 11(11. Don't Take Any Risks for 1912 Campbell's publications explain the'system. Campbell's Scientfic Farmer - $1.00 Campbell's Soil Culture Manual - $2.S0 Combination Price - - - $3.00 Address. Campbell's Soil Culture Co., Lincoln, Neb. When you write ask about the Campbell Correspondence School. H.^tf TEXAS HEADQUARTERS Root's Supplies for Bee-Keepers. Makers of Weed New Process Comb Foundation. Buy Honey and Beeswax. Catalogs Free. Toepperwein & Mayfield Co. Cor. Nolan & Cherry Sts., 4Atf San Antonio, Texas. Please mention Am. Bee Tournal when writing. Mexico as a Bee-Country B. A. Hadsell. one of the most experienced and largest bee keepers in the world— has made six trips to Mexico, investigating that place as a bee -country, and is so infat- uated with it that he is closing out his bees in Arizona. He has been to great expense in getting up a finely illustrated 32-page book- let, describing the tropics of Mexico as a Bee-Man's Paradise, which is also superior as a farming, stock-raising and fruit country. Where mercury ranges between ;3 and «8 Frost and sunstroke is unknown. Also a great health resort. He will mail this book Frek by addressing, 7Ai2t B. A. Hadsell, Lititz, Pa. Early ( FROFALCON ) Queens "ITALIANS" February and March deliveries— for Untes- ted. $1.50 each; April. $1.25. Tested Queens, 50 cts. additional ; Select Tested. $1.00 extra. Breeders, prices on application. JOHN C. FROHLIGER, 257 t) Market St . San Francisco, Cal. Or Berkeley, Cal ITALIAN QUEENS My strain of Hits (■rigiiiated from the Ital ian bee of North Italy, and this strain has led all other in honey-production They are gentle, and stand the severe winters of the North Prices June 1st : Select Virgins. 411C each, or $4.00 doz.; Se- led Untested, ?^c, or 0 for $4.1", and $7.50 per (Ici/. Tested Si. 25, each. Send for 1 ircular, Geo. W. Barnes, Box 340, Norwalk, 0. I'l.asc niL-ntioii Am. Ik-e Journal when writing. SUPERIOR BEE-SUPPLIES Specially made tor Western beekeepers by G. B, Lewis Co. Sold by Colorado Honey-Producers' Association, Dknvkk. Coi.o. PkaK mention Am. Bee Joumxl when writing. For Sale-15 Eggs $1.00 Indian Kunnc-r lJuc:ks - While .nid I'.iwn. 2-i J. F. Michaal, Rt. 1, Winchester, Ind. Muth Ideal Bee-Veil Free as Premium. The Muth Veil is made of light-weight indestructible wire and strong cambric, and will last a lifetime. Kits nicely around either a straw hat or a derby, and is easily put on or off in a jiffy. It is comfortable, and there is no chance for a bee to crawl up under it when properly adjusted, The Muth Ideal Veil cannot be blown in- to your eyes, nor stick to your face, and does not obstruct your view in the least. When catching a swarm in a tree or bush, it cannot hang on the twigs to be torn to shreds as some other Veils do. Price, postpaid, 75 cents; or with the American Bee Journal a year — both for $1.60 or Free as a premium for sending us 2 new subscribers at $1.1".) each, George W. York & Co., yj^fl^ Chicago, III. ECONOMY: ECONOMY TO YOURSELF ECONOMY TO YOUR BEES Are Two Usseutial Points (iaiuetl by I'siug Dittmer Process Comb Foundation Because it is the same TASTE, and the same SMELL, and the same FIRMNESS, as the COMB the Honey-Bees make themselves. It is the more acceptable to them because it is not like their OWN COMB. Remember, Mr. Bee-Keeper, that to 3'ou HONEY IS MONEY— then use Dittmer Process Comb Foundation Work for a Full-Capacity Honey-Crop. Send for Samples. All Supplies at Prices you appreciate. Gus Dittmer Company, - Augusta, Wisconsin. DOOLITTLE'S "Scientific Queen-Rearing'* This is G. M. Doolittle's master-piece on rearing the best of queens in perfect accord with Nature's way. It is for the amateur and the veteran in bee-keepinir. The A. I. Root Co.. who ouKht to know, say this about Doolit- tle s queen-rearing book: * It is practically the only comprehensive book on queen-rearing now in print. It is looked upon by many as the foundation of mod- ern methods of rearing queens wholesale." Mr. Doolittle's book also gives his method of producing comb honey, and the care of same; his management of swarming, weak colonies, etc. It is a book of 12() pages, and is mailed at the following prices : Bound in cloth. $1.00 : bound in leatherette.",75;cents. Special Clubbing Offer We offer a cloth-bound copy of tliis book with the American Bee Journal one year— both for $1 so; or a copy of the leatherette-bound edition, with the American Bee Journal one year— both for $i.;5. The cloth-bound book given free for (retting 3 new subscribers at $i. each : or the leatherette-bound copy given for 2 new subscribers. Kvery bee-keeper should have a copy of Mr. Ooolittle's book, as he is one of the stan- dard authorities of the world on the subject of queen-rearing and everything else connected with bee-keeping ;ind honey-production, American Bee Journal, Hamilton, Illinois. '55 i^American l^ee Jonrnal Established 1885 We carry an up-to-date line of Bee-Keepers' Supplies Send for our 61-page catalog that has been greatly enlarged and many new features added. The fifty questions that are asked for so often by mail are answered on page GO, and will be most valuable to the beginner. Also some in- formation is given on foul brood. We carry a full line of hives, sections, and all supi)lies commonly needed in an apiary. Our shipping facilities are good — we can fill your orders promptly. Do not fail to write us, or drop us a card for our catalog, FREE. Beeswax taken in exchange for supplies. JOHN NEBEL & SON SUPPLY CO. High Hill, Nontg. Co., No. PUase niL-ntinn Am. Ucc Journal when writing. W.H.Laws BOOKS FOR BEE - KEEPERS Ink SAI.K liV Will be ready to take care of your Queen Orders, whether laree or small the coming reason. Twenty-five years of careful breeding brings LAWS' QUEENS above the usual standard. Better let us book your orders now. Tested Queeds in March and after; Untested, after April 1st. About >o tirst-class Breeding Queens ready at any date Prices: Tested. $1.25: five for $5.00. Breeders, each. $5.00. Address. W. H. Laws, Beeville, Texas. Names ol Bee-Keepers Wanted — We desire very much to have the names and addresses of all the bee-keepers who are in your locality who do not now take the American Bee Journal. We would like to get every one of them on our list of regular readers. If you will send to this office the names and ad- dresses of such bee-keepers, we will be pleased to mail each a sample copy of the American Bee Journal. Perhaps you could send in their subscriptions, and tlius earn some of the various pre- miums that we offer from time to time for getting new subscriptions. We feel that every bee-keeper ought to read the American Bee Journal regularly. He would not only be more successful, but w^ Florence St. Worcester, Mass. CARNIOLANS BRKKU HKSl DURING SPRI.NG MONTHS Of any races of bees. This is of immense importance. Bees must be gotten strong early. .Smiess in Honey Proiiia lion can come ow Iv by Ihixiine rolonici stroiie nulun harvat opens Ask for "Superiority of theCarniolan Bee." giving full description, prices of ( )ueens *c Us Free. Albert C. Hann, Scltnlitie Qnetn Bfwder. Pittstown, M. J. For Sale -3" Deep.ShallowlL.MractingSu- ivi wan, pt-rs. 20 hull Drawn, 10 with inch starlers— never used. Will K. D.. crate and sell one or more at Si.oo each. sAtf S. A. Peck. .Northumberland. Pa. May, ^912 American l^ee Journal LEWIS BEEWARE and DADANT'S FOUNDATION ! ! Shipped I'l-oinptlv ARND HONEY & BEE-SUPPLY CO. "^^ Successors tn the York Honey & Bee-Supply Co.) 148 West Superior St., CHICAGO, ILL. Please mention Am. B€« Journal when writing. INC. Send for Catalog. Enough said I THE SECRET OF Success in Bee- Keeping Is to Keep Your Colonies Strong ; to do This You Must Have GOOD LAYING OUEENS Which We Guarantee at the Following Prices; Golden 3-Band Italian Carniolan Untested— I for $i.oo: 6 for $5 4o; 12 for $0 bo; 25 for J17.50 Tested— I for $1.50; 0 for $8.40; 12 for $15.60; 25 for $30.00 Nuclei with Untested Queen— iframe. $2.50: six i-frame. $15.00 " " " " —2 frame. $3.50; six 2-trame, $20.40 " " Tested " ~i frame. $3 00; six i-frame. $17.40 " " " " — 2-frame, $4.00; six 2-frame, $23.40 The Drones used in our Apiary for Mating purpose are reared from the very best selected Queens, which is as necessary as the selecting of a good Queen for Queen-Rearing. For good Queens and quick service you can not do better than place your order with us. We guarantee safe arrival and satisfaction. Directions for building up weak Colonies will be mailed to you for 10 cents. The above Queens are all reared in Separate Yards. 2.^tf W. J. LITTLEFIELD, R. F. D. No. 3, LITTLE ROCK, ARK. Pkaae mention Am. Bee JoanuU wben writin(. lirinj; the largest profits — 100^0 iii<)re than other poultry. C;i- lioiiizingis easy aurtsium learneiL Capoiis sell for 30e. a pcmnd, while ordiuary poul- try briupa only ISo. a pouud. Progressive poultry men know these things and use PILLING ING SETS Sent post i)aid, $2.50 per set with " Easy-to-use " instruetions. , .. . , Wealsoinake 7*'-»/(?-u 3/«rA'er, 25c. Gape \Sorm Extractor, 'IhQ Freiich Killing Knife, 50c. Ct-ukii-t, -ouidft tor cuponkiDE," free. G. P. PILLING & SON CO.. 23d & ArcliSU.. Philadelphii. Pa. Red Clover and Golden Queens Are the Best Honey-Gatherers. Untested, soc, Select. 75c; Tested, $1.00. Nuclei. $1.00 per frame. Evansville Bee & Honey Co., Evansville, Ind. Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. Bee-Supplies We are Western Agents for lAtf "FALCONER" Write for Fall Discounts— we can save you money. C. C. demons Bee-Supply Co. 128 Grand Ave., Kansas City, Mo. FIGURE THIS OUT FOR YOURSELF If you buy Bee-Supplies NOW that you will need in April, you save money at the rate of 12 percent on the $. THREE PERCENT is the amount of our early order discount on cash purchases in Janunry. January to April is just three months — % of a year. Now 3 percent for 3 months is interest at the rate of VJ, percent per year — so you see why we urge early orders accompanied by cash this month. ANOTHER reason is that we can serve you better now than three months hence. In a few weeks we will be putting up carload shipments for our dealers and distributing centers, and every eflfort in our big plant — the largest establishment in the world devoted to the manufacture of bee-supplies — will be directed to filling rush orders. You will be just as anxious for your goods as our other patrons, and will deserve and receive the same attention — no matter what the amount of your order may be, but We can Serve you Better Now and we want to make it worth your while to place an early order. Try this on a part of your list anyway. Saving at the rate of 12 percent per year ought to interest everybody. We Manufacture Everything in Bee-Supplies Get our 1912 catalog which gives descriptions, illustrations and prices on everything from bee-hives to bee- books, from frames to comb foundation. Get this Catalog NOW. THE A. I. ROOT COMPANY, 213 Institute Place, Chicago, Illinois K. \V. BOY DION, Mgr. (.lelfrey BuiUIIng) Tel. 1484 North. May, 1913. American liee Journal Use this Coupon M. H. HUNT & SON, General Agts. for Root's Goods. Lansinc, Mich. Dear Sirs: — Please quote nie your prices on the attached list of bee-supplies I need. Also send me your (i4-page catalog, and a complimentary copy of "The Bee-Keepers' Dictionary." Name Address Bargains in Bee-Supplies The recent death of James Heddon leaves us with a large amount of Bee-Fixtures and Supplies of almost every description, which wifl be sold at a great sacrifice. Write us for an inventory, and write at once, as these goods will not last lont: at the prices we are closing them out. 5A2t JAMES HEDOON'S SONS I>owagiac, 3Iieh. n.ase mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. We Make a Specialty of Manufacturing SECTIONS They are the Finest tn the Land- None Better. Our Prices will make you smile. We want 10 mail OUR BEE-SUPPLY CATALOG to every bee-keeper in the land. It is KREIi. Ask for it. H. S. Duby. St. Anne, III., carries a full line of Our Goods, ond sells them at our regular cal.dog prices. AUG. LOTZ & CO. Boyd, Wis. Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. "Griggs Saves You Freight" TOLEDO Is the Second Largest Ky. Centre in U.S.. Send us your Orders. We can save you Money on Root's Hives, Sections, Foun- dation, etc., aiKl Ship Orders Promptly. Our Catalog is Free. Write for Prices on Seeds. S. .1. OKI(; iai I" I Southwestern Bee Co., 1022 So. Flores St., San Antonio, Texas. [ ^ ^ ^ s ^ ^ ^ May, 1012 American ISae Jonrnal Bee-Supplies I Standard liives witli latest imDrovemcnts. Danzen- baker Hives, Sections, l-'oundation. Extractors. Smol<- ers; in fact, everythinu used about the liees. My equitJment. my stock of goods, the quality of my goods and my shipping facilities can not be excelled. PAPER HONEY-JARS For extracted honey. Made of heavy paper and paraf- fine coaled, with tight seal. Every honey-producer will be interested. .■\ descriptive circular free. Finest white clover honey on hand at all times. I buy bees- wax. Catalog (]f suitplies free. WALTER S. POUDER, Indianapolis, Ind. Sic Massachusetts Avenue I Protection Hive Bingham Smokers Manufactured (uily h\- The best and lowest-priced double ■ wall hive on the market. This hive has ^s-in. material in the outer wall and it is not cheaply made of ^ material as are some other hives on the mark- et Send for CIRCULAR showing 12 large illustra tions. It will pay to inves- tigate. 1"^.^' , '?f":Mc a lb . and fancy table at from 8'2@ioc. according to the quantity and quality pur- chased. Owing to the great loss of bees, no doubt there will be a fall in the price of beeswax, and only for the choicest wax can we pay 30@32c a pound delivered here in trade. The Fred W. Muth Co. Boston. .'\pr. 23. —Fancy whitecomb.i7@i8c; light amber, nc; amber. 14c. Fancy white extracted. loiSiic; light amber. «®ioc; am- ber. Qc. Beeswax. 30c. E!lake.-Lee Co. Kansas City. Mo.. April 22.— The market is almost cleaned up on both comb and ex- tracted honey. Wequote: No. t while comb. 24-section cases. $325; No. 2. $3.00; No. i am- ber. $300; No. 2. $2.75. Extracted, white, per pound. Qc: extracted amber. ;}<@8c. Bees- wax, per lb.. 2s@28c. C. C. Clemons Produce Co Denver. April 22.— We have no comb honey to quote: our market is entirely cleaned up. Our jobbing quotations on white extracted are nc: light amber. 8c; strained. iii4'<>7!jc. We pay 26c in cash, and 28c in trade for clean, yellow beeswax de- livered here. The Colo. Honey-Producers' Ass'n. F. Rauchfuss. Mer. New York. April 23 —Our market is prac- tically bare of comb honey, so to speak. Some few little lots still arriving, which have been held back, and find ready sale at from I5@17C for the white, and from I3(s'i4c for amber and light amber, according to quality. Extracted honey still remains very quiet. The demand has not been up to former years ever since the first of January, and we really see no indications for an im- provement at this time. Prices remain nomi- nally the same, with very little trade. We sanction fullv what i'-ditor Root says in Gleanings in Bee Culture, in the April 15th issue, entitled. ■* Why Bee-Keepers Should Produce Nlore Comb Honey this Year." The editor is right in what he says; itseems that too much extracted has been produced of late years, and not enough of comb. HiLDRETII & SeGELKEN. San Francisco. Apr. 22.— The demand for honey the oast month has been more marked, and there is still a lot unsold. Comb honey. I5@i8c; water-white extracted. q(?]ioc; light amber. 8@8^ic; lower grades, 5@'6^^c. Bees- wax, 27!4@3oc per pound for light in color, and 23@26c for dark. J. C. Frohliger. Cincinnati. Apr. 22.— The market on comb honey is about cleaned up, and there is a very light demand. It seems the demand has fallen off considerably. White extracted in 60 lb. cans at loc. light amber in 60-lb. cans at H^Ac: there is also a very light de- mand for extracted. Beeswax in fair de- mand at $33 per 100 lbs. The above are our selling prices, not what we are paying. C. H. W. Weber & Co. AQUASUN The flavor of richest apple cider. A talile delicacy that has no equal. A beverage that refreshes and invigorates. The strongest health germs in Nature. Made from Honey &Water In any kitchen, at any hour, at a cost of 2 to 4 cents per gallon. I^rocess and right to mak*^ it. 2=,c. < 'ircular Free. 5Ai2t C. W. Dayton, Chatsworth, Calif. 1 As a Shipping-Point Cincinnati Cannot be Excelled for this section of the country. We are located on the great trunk lines for points south of us, and orders re- ceived from this territory are shipped out at once on direct routes so that customers are assured of prompt service and a minimum charge for transportation. Coupled with the advantages offered by these resources is the service we maintain for our patrons. At this season of the year our stocks are complete, and we are making effort to handle orders with the greatest dispatch possible, so that there may be absolutely no delays in filling hurry orders. Our long experience in the supply business enables us to anticipate your wants to such an extent that we have included your order with ours to the factory, so we are simply waiting your instructions to get them started to you. For the small bee-keeper, and those who have a part of the supplies they will need for the coming season, we have goods put up in small original packages. For instance, there is foundation of all grades packed at the factory in one, two, three, four and five pound cartons. Sections of all standard sizes in cartons of 100, 250, and boxes of oHO. These small packages enable the bee-keeper to buy in quantities just suited to his needs, with the assurance that the goods will reach him in the best condition possible, and with no loss on account of a broken package. If you have lost some bees the past winter, don't be discouraged, but prepare to make the very most of those you have left, or to replenish your hives, for the coming season is bound to be a good one ; and if there has been quite a loss in your vicinity there will be all the more nectar for your bees to gather. Be sure that the season finds you prepared to give them plenty of room in which to store the harvest when it comes. If you haven't had your catalog from us, there is one ready to mail if you'll give us your present address. C. H. W. Weber & Co. 2146 Central Ave., Cincinnati, 0. Removal Notice: Chicago "falcon" Branch Owing to the removal of our Chicago Manager, Mr. York, who is locating in Northern Idaho, Mr. H. S. Duby, of St. Anne, 111., just south of Chicago, takes charge of our Branch matters in addition to his present line of bee and poultry sup- plies. All mail which has been addressed to our Branch at 117 North Jefifersou Street, is forwarded by main Chicago Office and received in St. Anne by Mr. Duby, as soon as the carrier would deliver in Chicago. So no time will be lost in tilling your orders. St. .Anne, 111., is at the junction of the Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railway and the Big Four Division of the New York Central Railway systems, affording the fastest deliveries with lowest freight rates. Send your orders to H. S. DUBY, ST. ANNE, ILL. And any letters mailed in our Chicago addressed envelopes will be delivered to St. Anne immediately. The ''falcon'' Factory manufactures a full line of dovetailed and double-walled Hives, Supers, Sections, Foundation, and all necessary implements at Falconer, N.Y. If you do not have a copy of our RED CATALOG — the only logically arranged catalog ever published — and the easiest from which to order, drop us or our nearest dealer a card. Our distributers are located all over this and all foreign countries, and the name of nearest one is gladly supplied. Dewev Foundation Kasterer — the most practical, commonsense Foundation Fastener made. Price, $1.25 ; by mail, $1.50. W. T. Falconer Mfg. Company, Falconer, N. Y. I!'/iei-f the good beehives eome from C. C. demons Bee-Supply Co. 130 Grand Ave., Kansas City, IVIo. N N H H H w N W N M N N N N N H N N M N N H. S. Duby, St. Anne, III. 133:i3333.AAAXJLJLJlJg33:33S1333:i3:i3:i:^^ The "Massie" Bee-Hives We consider these the Best Up-to-date Hives made. Double - Walled, made of full thickness of lumber, same Super capacity as a 10-fr. Dov. hive, and of the same price. Send for FREE Illustrated Descriptive List. BEE-SUPPLIES We furnish Everything Needed in Practical, Profitabe Bee Culture We manufacture the Dovetailed and Massie Hives with either the Scalloped Supers Plain Section Supers or Extracting Supers We have millions of as nice SECTIONS as are to be found in the market, either scalloped or plain, of all the STANDARD sizes. All of our Foundation is made by the NEW WEED PROCESS From strictly pure wax. None better. Our l.arf;« lllustiated ( aJalos is Fiiruislied Free to All Bee- Keepers or Dealers. Write Us for Special Prices. No Tnmhle to Answer Inqiiines. It describes and illustrates numerous money-saving and money-making devices, tried in our own apiaries be- fore offering them to the public. Write at once for a copy of our Catalog. Our prices are the lowest, the quality of our goods equal to the best ; a trial will prove our assertion. Established 1864. h N h H H H H h H H H N h In H tN H h H KRETCHMER MFG. CO., Council Bluffs, Iowa, h SyYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYW WXKKK¥W«WMMMM SXXJULJUULXm The Members in Attendance at the Meeting of the New York State Bee-Keepers' Association, Held at Syracuse, N. Y., Jan. 30 and 31, 1912 Report of this meeting is given on page 179 of this issue. Those in attendance agree that it v one of the most interesting meetings ever held by the bee-keepers of the Empire State American Bac Joarnai] June, 1912. PlBLISllEI) MONTHLY IIY Georg-e W. York & Company, l8t Nat'I Bank Bldg. Hamilton, Illinois IMPORTANT NOTICE THE SUBSCRIPTION PRICK of this Journal is $1.00 a year, in the United States of America and Mexico; in Canada. $i.io; and in all other countries in the Postal Union. 25 cents a year extra for postage. Sample copy free. THE WRAPPER-LABEL DATE indi- cates the end of the month to which your subscription is paid. For instance, " deci2" on your label shows that it is paid to the end of December. 1012. SUBSCRIPTION RECEIPTS.-Wedonot send a receipt for money sent us to pay sub- scription, but change the date on your ad- dress-label, which shows that the money has been received and credited. Advertising Rate, Per Agate Line, 15c. 14 lines make one inch. Nothing less than 4 lines accepted. DISCOUNTS: 3 times 14c a line 0 times uc a line i " I2c " 12 " (I yr.) IOC a line Reading Notices. 25 cents, count line. Goes to press the 6th of each month. (Organized 1870.) National Bee - Keepers' Association OIJJECTS The objects of this Association shall be to aid its members in the business of bee-keep- ing: to help in the sale of their honey and beeswax: and to promote the interests of bee-keepers in any other direction decided upon by the Board of Directors. Officers President— George W. York. Sandpoint. Ida. Vice-Pres.— Morley Pettit. Guelph, Ont. Can. Secretary-E. B. Tyrrell. Detroit. Mich. Treasurer— N. E. France. Plattevillo, Wis. Directors E. D. Townsend, Chm.. Remus. Mich. Wesley C. Poster, Boulder, Colo. Franklin Wilcox. Mauston. Wis. J. E. Crane. Middlebury, Vermont. J. M. Buchanan. Franklin. Tenn. Annual Membership Dues $1.50, one- third (50 cents) of which goes to the local branch where such branch is organized. Send Dues to the Secretary. E. B. Tyrrell. BEE-KEEPERS I^ook up your stock at once and send me a list of the supplies you need. I have a large stock to draw from to handle your orders for Hives. Sections. Comb Foundation, etc.; standard goods with latest improveiuents fresh from the factory at factory schedule of prices. I have a general line of Root's Qoods constantly on hand. My facilities for serving you are unequalled. Beeswax taken in exchange for supplies Or cash Italian Bees and Queens Be sure you have [uy i';i2 Catalog of Rces. Oueens and Supplies. sA.^t niARL M. NICHOLS, Lyonsville, Mass. Queens That "Are better*' Italians & Banats Untested Queens. 75c each; $a.oo per doz. ; two or more doz. in one order. $7.50 per doz. Tested Queens. li.25 each: $12.00 per dozen. Breeder Queens. $3.00 each. Foreign trade add sc each extra. M-lb. Packages of Bees after May ist, $2.00. Select aueen wanted and add to this. The ex- press charges on these will be very small in comparison with charges on frame nuclei. One-Frame Nuclei, with Untested 0-ieen, $2.00 each; 2-fr.. Jj.oo; 3-fr.. $4.00. Full Colony of Bees in lo-fr. hive. $7.00. Add 50c if Tested Queen is wanted; $2.00 if Breeder Queen is wanted. For 10 or more Colonies or Nuclei, deduct 25c each. I have successfully shipped Bees and Queens from this place every month of the year. I started two colonies Jan. 25th on their voyage to Nutsusarida. Kobe. Japan. Each con- tained a Breeder Italian Queen. My Bee and Queen Exhibits at the State Fair of Texas were awarded six premiums in igii. Italians also were awarded First Prize at The Cotton Palace, in Waco, Tex. ' Your Money's Worth " is my motto. Terms are Cash with order. I refer you to Sabinal National Bank or any business firm in Sabinal. I have seven yards, and with several hundred nuclei I can serve many customers. I solicit your trade. J. A. Simmons, Uvalde Co. Apiaries, Sabinal, Texas. Please mention An. Bee Joomal when writing. Southern Bee-Keepers! I have a Large and Complete Stock of BEE- SUPPLIES at Cordele, Ga., and have erec- ted a large Warehouse and filled it with New Bee -Supplies at O'Brien, Fla., near Live Oak. the best shipping-point for all sections of Florida. Southeast Georgia and Southern Alabama. Send all orders to CORDELE, CA., and state from which point you wish vour Sup- plies shipped. J.J, WILDER. OUR FREE CATALOG Will tell you all about our Best Bee-Keepers' & Poultry Supplies Sold at lowest living prices. We handle the Best Sections in theWorld— the August Lotz Sections at Lotz prices. Three Carloads of Goods on hand with 2 more coming. Drop us a card and we can please you. Catalog Free. H. S. Duby, St. Anne, III. PJraae mrntion Am. Bee Journal wheo writing BEE - KEEPER'S NOVELTY POCKET - KNIFE. Your Name and Address will be put on one side of the handle as shown in the cut. and on the other side a picture of a Queen-Bee, a Worker-Bee, and a Drone-Bee. The handle is celluloid, and so transparent, through which is seen your name. If you lose this Knife it can be returned to you. or it serves to iden- tify you if you happen to be injured fatally, or rendered unconscious. The cut is the exact size; it is made of best steel. When ordering be sure to write exact name and address. Knife delivered within two weeks after we receive order. Price, postpaid, $L00 ; or with a year's subscription to the .'American Bee Journal — both for $1.80; or given Free as a premium for sending us 3 New sub- scriptions at $1.00 each. American Bee Journal, Hamilton, Illinois. Bees Require Up-To-Date WORKSH OPS Muth's Special and Ideal Metal-Covered Dove- tailed Hives are bouj);-ht by the practical bee-keeper. Honey- board and all regular fixtures with each hive; finest lumber and workmanship used in the manufacture of our hives. Pully illustrated in our big Catalog. Send for it today. THE FRED W. MUTH CO. "The Busy Bee Men" 51 Walnut Street, (MNOINNATI, OHIO We Pay the Highest Cash Market Price For Honey and Beeswax Always Tune. 1913. George W.York ^^g^ Sandpoint, '' '^ -^ Idaho Bouuer County This is May 21st. and I am getting settled as rapidly as possible here in Northern Idaho. In another week I will be ready to do business again. While I will make the handling of bee-literature a specialty, I will also take subscriptions for any other publi- cations. Write me what you would like, and I will be glad to quote you some attractive prices. A Few Special Offers. American Bee Journal one year ($1.01') with either " First Lessons in Bee-Keeping" (.iOc), or Doolittle's "Scientific Queen-Rearing" (.50c), for only $l.iHt; or the .American Bee Jour- nal a year with both of the books men- tioned—all postpaid for only $1.40. If you prefer, you can have either Gleanings in Bee Culture or the Bee- Keepers' Review for a year instead of the American Bee Journal in the above special offer; or, if you want both books and any two of the three bee- papers, send $2.20 ; or if you want both books and all three bee-papers for one year, send $2.90. Send for my free circular of other special offers. White Sweet Clover Seed I have a quantity of White Sweet Clover Seed in Chicago, 111., which I will sell at the following low prices so ong as it last;, all orders to be sent to me here at Sandpoint, Idaho : .5 lbs. for 80c; 10 lbs. for $1.50; 25 lbs. for $3..50 ; 50 lbs. for $6.50 ; or 100 lbs. for $12.00. If wanted by freight, add 25c for cart, age on your order. A GOOD COUNTRY FOR BEES. I am told by local bee-keepers that this is one of the best localities for bees, and there is much unoccupied territory here in Northern Idaho. If interested, ask for particulars. Address George W. York, Publisher and Subscription Agent, 302 S. Boyer Ave., Sandpoint, Bonner Co., Idaho Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. American ]Bee Joarnal Untested Italian Queen-Bees Our Standard-Bred 6 Queens for $4.50 ; 3 for $2.50 ; 1 for 90 cents. For a number of years we have been sending out to bee-keepers exceptionally fine Untested Italian Queens, purely mated, and all right in every respect. Here is what a few of those who received our Queens have to say about them ; George W. York & Co. :— The two queens received of you some time ago are fine They are grood breeders, and the workers are showing- up fine I Introduced them among black bees, and the bees arc nearly yellow now. and are doing good work. Nemaha Co , Kan , July 15. A. W. Swan*. Georoe W. York Sc Co :— After Importing queens for 15 years you hare sent me the best She keeps 9 1-2 Langstroth frames fully oc- cupied to date, and. although I kept the hive well contracted, to force them to swarm, they have never built a queen-cell, and will put up 100 pounds of honey If the flow lasts this week. Ontario. Canada July 22 Chas. Mitchell George W. York & Co. :— The queen I bought of you has proven a good one. and has given me some of the best colonies. Washington Co., Va., July 22. N. P. Oglesbt. George W York & Co. ;— The queen I received of you a few days ago came through O. K . and I want to say that she is a beauty. I im- mediately introduced her into a colony which had been queenless for 20 days. She was accepted by them, and has gone to work nicely. I am highly pleased with her and your promptness in fllllng my order. My father, who is an old bee keeper, pronounced her very fine. You will hear from me again when I am in need of something in the bee line. B. E. McColm. Marion Co.. 111.. July 13. We usually begin mailing Queens in May, and con- tinue thereafter on the plan of " first come first served." The price of one of our Untested Queens alone is 90 cents, or with the old American Bee Journal for one year — both for $1.60. Three Queens (without Journal) would be $2..50. or 6 for $4.50. Full instructions for in- troducing are sent with each Queen, being printed on the underside of the address-card on the mailing-cage. You cannot do better than to get one or more of our fine Standard-Bred Queens. American Bee Journal, Hamilton, Illinois. »0CG0O9COS0OSO0OS00QCOSOCO0000OeOOO0O000O0O0ei0GCeOOO» I NARSHFIELD GOODS I BEE KEEPERS :— We manufacture Millions of Sections every year that are as good as the best. The CHEAPEST for the Quality ; BEST for the Price. If you buy them once, you will buy again. We also manufacture Hives, Brood- Frames, Section-Holders and Ship- ping-Cases. Our Catalog is free for the asking. I Marshfield Mfg. Co., Marshfield, Wis. «eceoceosGGCccososoososcoQeooooccococ»ooosc i When You Buy Lewis Beeware You Get T AYAric Aiioli'l'ir W^i'^^ means that all Lewis Hives are made out of clear LivWIo liUdiliy white pine, and Lewis Sections made out of fine bright basswood. Material in these goods is the best obtainable, selected by experts. T ATA/ic WArlfinancllin '^^^ ^^^^^ Factory is equipped with the latest IjCWla f T Ul AlllCtilailip improved machinery, constantly watched over by experts. The Lewis head mechanic has 35 years of bee-supply experience ; the superintendent of bee-hive department 29 years ; the superintendent of sec- tions 28 years. These and many other skilled men have a hand in all the Lewis goods you buy. f AYA71C Porlrincf "^^^ Lewis Beeware is carefully and accurately packed — LivWio I dCJilll^ a patent woven wood-and-wire package made only by the Lewis Company is employed largely in packing ; this makes the package light, compact and damage-proof. 1 AiAric CarvirA Years ago all goods were shipped direct from the factory LivWla iJCrVlCC with attending high freight-rates and delays during the honey season ; now Lewis Beeware can be obtained almost at your own door. Over 30 Distributing Houses carrying Lewis Beeware by the carload, are dotted all over the United States and foreign countries. Write for the name of the one nearest 3'ou. WATERTOWN, WIS. G. B. LEWIS CO., MANUFACTURERS OP BEEWARE If BEES could TALK THEY WOULD SAY : "GIVE US DADANT'S FOUNDATION It's Clean. It's Pure. It's Fragrant. It's just like the Comb we make ourselves." ' TT T r yT TyTTT-TTT-T-TTTTTTT T T < If you are not using " Dadant's Foundation" drop us a card and we will give you prices, or tell you where you can get it near you — Agents Everywhere. Published Monthly at $1.00 a Year, by George W. York & Company, First National Bank Building C p. DADANT. Editor. DR. C. C. MILLER, Associate Editor. HAMILTON, ILL., JUNE, 1912 VoL Lll -Ne. 6 Editorial Comments Affrieiiltural C'ollege.s and Bee- Keeping We call the attention of our readers to the articles of Messrs. Wesley Fos- ter and L. V. France in this number, on the above subject. They are both young men, and both see the necessity of educational courses in bee-keeping. The time for urging apiculture upon all our State Agricultural Colleges is at hand. Already in 1011, when the bee-keep- ers of lUinoiscalled upon Gov. Deneen for his consideration of the foul brood bill, he made the remark that the State Agricultural College ought to have a teacher of apiculture and an experi- ment station. The Illinois State Asso- ciation was unprepared for a step of this kind, hence nothing was done out- side of securing the foul brood law and State bee-keepers' appropriation. But the work is before us, and we must unite and put our shoulder to the wheel. We will get the apicultural schools without much difficulty if we use our energies in that direction. The next 10 years ought to see a revo- lution in methods among the masses, in this industry. . Oeniaree Plan of Swarni-Preven- tion Geo. W. Rich writes that a non- swarming race of bees is against Na- ture, since everything is created to in- crease, and that the only thing that can be done is to keep bees from getting into a condition that gives them the desire to swarm. This he accomplishes by raising half the brood above an ex- cluder, when 4 to •') frames of brood are in the brood-chamber, inserting empty combs into the brood-chamber in place of the brood that is raised above. This is a variation of the Demaree plan. Some years ago G. W. Demaree, a Kentuckian, gave to bee-keepers a plan for prevention of swarming that with many has proved an entire suc- cess, although with a few the success has been only partial. The plan is simple. When a colony becomes strong, and before it has started too far on the road to swarming, put all the brood into an upper story, having an ex- cluder between the two stories, the queen being left below the excluder in the lower story, which is filled with drawn combs or frames filled with foundation. That's all ; the bees do the rest. The bees have an empty brood-cham- ber, and are thus left in much the same condition as a natural swarm, while the brood over the excluder will be hatching out, and as fast as the brood hatches out the empty cells will be filled with honey, thus gradually chang- ing these combs into extracting combs. In some cases the bees have shown some aversion to occupying the empty brood-chamber, and on that account it may be well to leave in the lower story one of the old frames, perhaps one with little or no brood. University Kecognizes Bee-Cul- ture The Wisconsin Agricultural College has decided to introduce an elective course in bee-culture, to begin about Feb. 15, 1913. It is to be under the direction of Prof. J. G. Sanders, of the College of Agriculture. This informa- tion is supplied to us by Mr. L. V. France, son of the well-known N. E. France. The Frances have evidently been influential in securing recogni- tion for bee-culture. A Bee Journal for the National We are informed that the National Bee-Keepers' Association has purchased the Bee-Keepers' Review, which will hereafter be published as the official organ of this corporation. In this, America only follows the lead of other National bee - associations. France, Italy, and Germany have their National organs, as well as other minor associa- tion journals. With E. B. Tyrrell as editor, the new departure will surely be a success. Mr. Tyrrell is young, capable, and wide-awake. We have been asked whether we did not think that this new arrangement would be injurious to other bee-papers. We see no reason why it should be. The publisher of a bee-periodical ought to make his paper worth more than $1 to its readers. If we can not make the American Bee Journal sufficiently interesting to make it worth twice its cost, we ought to quit. Regulations Concerning the Mail- ing of Queens On March 23, 1912, the following ruling was made by thePost-Office De- partment concerning matter that could be accepted in the mails: "Queen bees, and their attendant bees, when accompanied by a certificate from a State or Government inspector tiiat they have been inspected and found free of dis- ease." Realizing that this ruling was im- practicable, since it is impossible for any one to know by examination of a queen whether her brood would be free from disease, and also since there are no provisions made by the Govern- ment, or by many of the States for in- spection of bees throughout the coun- try, we wrote to Dr. Phillips, In Charge of Apiculture at the Department of Agriculture, who answered at once that they were taking steps to have a more practical ruling substituted. This ruling, just received, is now in force; it reads ; "Queen bees, and their attendant bees, when accompanied by a copy of a certificate of the current year from a Stale or Govern- ment apiary inspector to the effect that the apiary from whicli said queen-bees are shipped is free from disease, or by a copy of a statement by the bee-keeper made before a notary public or other officer havine aseal that the honey used in making the candy used in the aueen-mailine case has been diluted and boiled in a closed vessel." Dr. Phillips deserves the thanks of the queen-breeders for securing this change promptly. Until an efficient and entirely equit- able method of inspecting every queen- dealers' apiary can be devised, the above ruling is certainly the most June, 1912. American ~Bee Journal practical. It is of the utmost impor- tance that no tainted honey be used in the mailing of queens. By the way, we have a statement from Mr. O. F. Fuller, of Blackstone, Mass., saying that he has been making candy for queen-cages without the use of any honey whatever. If this method is practical it ought to prevail. We have for years made candy for winter food without any honey, and it has served the purpose well. Kasy Plau of Introduction Wesley Foster gives in the Bee-Keep- ers' Review the following easy and rapid plan for introducing a queen : " Going to the hive I wish to requeen I find the old queen and kill her. then take two of the combs with the most yount; bees, and hatching bees on them, puttinti them at one side of the hive, with the division-board be- tween them and the main cluster of bees. If there are no old bees on these combs to speak of. I then run the new queen ri^ht in on these combs of hatching bees. " So far I liave not lost one in 20 of the queens, and in 48 hours 1 come around and remove the division-board, readjusting the brood-nest as I wish it to be. In many a hive I just pull out a comb of bees and brood after disposine of the old queen, and turn my new queen loose on the comb before my eyes. If the bees are quiet, and the queen not nervous, everything will be all right, but should anything unusual appear in the bees' manner toward the queen. I resort to the isolation of the queen on the combs of hatching brood." Even though coming from so good an authority as Wesley Foster, it is a little difficult to believe that with such an apparently reckless plan the losses would not be greater than one in 20. But the gain in time and trouble is so great that the plan is well worth atrial. European Foul Brood Ver.su.s Pickled Brood The correspondence in the May num- ber concerning the above subject, is causing considerable comment. Nu- merous protests have been received against the assertion of Mr. McEvoy, that 90 percent of the so-called Eu- ropean foul brood is nothing but starved brood. We want to hear from those who have had experience. There are three points to determine by practi- cal bee-keepers: 1. Are the descriptions given of the differentiation in appearance of the two diseases correct ? If not, where is the discrepancy ? 2. Is European foul brood cured generally by italianizing the colony ? 3. Is pickled brood diseased or only starved ? Messrs. Kildow and Pyles stopped one day with the Editor upon their re- turn from a tourof inspection in south- ern Illinois. They will have something to say, but are too busy at present. They assert that European foul brood is gaining ground. We received, at the last minute. Bul- letin No. 157, from the Department of Agriculture, on "The Cause of Euro- pean Foul Brood," by Prof. G. F. White. This distinguished bacteriologist af- firms the discovery of a new bacillus, "bacillus pluton," which he considers as the "i)rimary exciting cause of a brood disease." Incidentally he indi- cates that he does not consider "pick- led brood " as starved brood. He des- ignates it as "an apparently non-infec- tious disorder, the exciting cause of which is not vet known." On the other hand, Dr. E. F. Phillips calls our attention to Bulletin No. 442, of the Department of Agriculture, in which he gives a description of all brood diseases. His description of pickled brood dififers but little of that given in the May number. Here it is : "The most typical form kills the larva when it has extended itself in the cell. It usually lies on its back with the head turned upward. The color varies, but is frequently light yellow or brown, and the head is often almost black. The body is swollen, and the contents watery, and the head may be quite hard. There is no ropi- ness. In case the larv;e are sealed before dying, the cappings are usually normal." The important point is to inform the average apiarist of the description of each of the diseases, so that there may not be errors made and colonies treat- ed by radical methods for a harmless trouble. Information wanted! Give us both facts and opinions. Wliat Kind of a Hive Does Mr. Scholl U.se? On page 140, there seems to be some misunderstanding about the kind of hive friend Scholl uses. Let's see if we can not straighten out the tangle. You wonder, friend Scholl, that any one should think you advocate a shal- low hive, and say that you "have been advocating for more than 1.5 years a deeper hive than the Langstroth." May be ; but I think one reading that article on page 47, the one to which I referred in what you call my attempted " swat," would be excused for thinking that you use shallow hives. The first sentence tells us that you are answering inquiries about " shallow, divisible brood-chamber hives." That hardly sounds like deep hives. Then a little farther along you say, " Presum- ing that the readers know that we use the lO-frayne hive frames 5^8 inches deep." Neither does a 10-frame hive with frames hy% deep sound like a deep hive. Looking hastily through the rest of the article, I don't see any place in it where you mention using a deep hive. But that only goes to show that it isn't always easy to use the English language so as to be properly under- stood. I'm sure it's so in my case ; but then you have the advantage over me, for when you can not make your- self understood in English you can say it in German. I wish I could. To come right down to it, I didn't suppose you did use a shallow hive — except sometimes. I supposed you used a hive of two stories, each story con- taining 10 shallow frames, except that sometimes you used only a single story, and if I am correct in thinking that sometimes you used only a single story, then at such times you do use a shallow hive, don't you '^. But mostly you use a hive deeper than the Langstroth. But honest, now, Louis, do you really think I deserve to be swatted for ac- cusing you of claiming that the depth of a hire should be 3:'4 inches shal- lower than the Langstroth. Please look again at page 102, and you will see that I said you wanted the f'yume to be 3^4' inches shallower than the Lang- stroth. Well, now that we're friends again, what is really the hive you use ? Should it be called a "deep 20-frame hive," or what ? Anyhow, I wish you a big crop of honey in your hives, whatever the name. C. C. M. Variation in Sections One of the things not always taken into consideration is the variation in the weight of sections due to differ- ences in seasons and honey-flows — perhaps one might also say to differ- ences in localities. Every now and again some one is possessed with the idea that a size of section should be adopted, that, when filled, should weigh exactly a pound. Such a thing is an utter impossibility. Suppose such a section tentatively adopted, and used in a given apiary for the year's crop. If the harvest starts with a good flow, and the first sections taken oft' comply with requirements as to weight, it by no means follows that those taken off near the close of the flow will have the same weight. These latter, even if ap- parently well filled and finished, may average an ounce or more less in weight than their predecessors. We may, however, have sections of such size that the average of the en- tire season shall be just right as to weight. Let this happen in an un- usually good season with a heavy flow, and let the next season be a poor one with light and intermittent flows. It will be found in this poorer season that the average will be materially less than in the previous good year, the differ- ence being more than an ounce per section. Even in the same year, and in the same apiary, the sections from one col- ony may be lighter than the sections from another colony, perhaps because one colony is weaker than the other; possibly because of a difference in the bees aside from the matter of strength. The management of the bee-keeper may make a difference. If he keeps one colony crowded for room, and gives another abundance of empty sec- tions, both colonies being of equal strength, he may count on sections of materially heavier weight from the crowded colony. Some races of bees fill the sections better than other races. Altogether this matter of variation in the weight of sections is of serious importance, and it must be reckoned with. Holding' Intere.st iu Coiiventiouis Speaking on this subject, the editor of the Bee-Keepers' Review says: " Personally. I find that the regular con- ventions, where the mass of bee-keepers at- tend .should be devoted mainly to discuss- ing currrent topics of bee-keeping These should be selected with a view to bringing out discussions from all present, and must be questions they are all interested in. The business, on the other hand, can be best done by delegates, which session bhould be held apart from the others so that they will not interfere with the regular program. Byer is right in believing that too much business can be injected into a regular bee- keepers' convention. " It does seem too bad to have the time of all the members taken up with a matter of business that can just as Tune, 1912. American Hee Journal well be done by a small number; yet there are two sides to the question. If the amount of business be so small that it can be done outside the regular times of the sessions without over- burdening those who have the business in charge, well and good. But if the business must be done at the regular time of the meetings, then there are two dangers ; one is tliat the business committee may be in haste to get to the bee-disciissions, and so slight the business on hand. The other is that the withdrawal of some of the most efticient members will detract from the interest of the general sessions. Of course, it is easier to find fault than to suggest the remedy. Timely Hiut.s tor June When the bees whiten the upper edge of their combs, unless it is in a short flow like fruit-bloom, put on your su- pers or get ready to harvest swarms. Always have some empty hives with frames fastened in proper position, and with either starters or sheets of foun- dation, ready for swarms. It is poor policy to wait until the swarm is hang- ing to the limb. If you have plenty of old combs from dead colonies, this is the time to use them. Better make divisions with them, for if you furnish them to strong swarms they may fill them full of honey and leave no room for their queen to lay. In this way they do more damage than good. There is, however, one way to furnish them to natural swarms in a profitable way, it is to supply them in sufficient quantities — say two full stories — that the bees may have room for both a large crop of honey and breeding cells. It is then that you will find how much more honey may be produced with combs already built. Do not give natural swarms part built combs and part empty space, for they will then te induced to build a large amount of drone comb. Either give them all empty space or all built combs or foundation. When strong colonies cluster on the outside, they are either crowded for room or too hot. Give them more room, more shade, or more ventilation, or perhaps some of each. Ants often make their nest over the brood-chamber, in a warm place above the bees and out of their reach. You can effectually get rid of them by put- ting in that space a little powdered sulphur, or a little fine salt, or a little dry, wood ashes. A sheet of newspaper stained with coal oil or with carbolic acid will also frighten them aw?y, but these substances must not be used any- where near a super of honey, for they will taint it. Ants do no harm, outside of the annoyance they give the bee- keeper when opening hives. When you insert a queen into a queen-cage, let her cnncl uf into it. You will rarely get a queen to cru;cl dmiii out of your hand into a cage. When a swarm has emerged and is sporting in the air preparatory to set- tling, you may be unable to know from which hive it has issued, unless you look closely in front of each suspected colony. Very young bees, which are yet unable to fly, are always carried out by the rush, and you will find a number of them almost invariably in front of the parent colony, crawling back home with difficulty. Empty hives, properly prepared be- forehand, are often pre-empted by nat- ural swarms, especially if placed in some elevated position. A friend in southern California caught so many in this way, in one season, that he will not let us tell how many, for fear of disbelief. Oracling: Kule.s for Comb Honey The Bee-Keepers' Review has tackled the subject of the grading of comb honey with the idea of having a uni- form system of grading throughout the whole country. Over its honey quota- tions it has been printing pictures of 3 sections. The first shows the poorest that should be admitted in the fancy grade, the second the same as to No. 1 grade, and the third as to No. 2 grade. EditorTyrrell has sent out inquiries to leading buyers and producers as to their views on the matter, and it turns out as he had expected, that "there is no uniform interpretation of even the grading rules we have had." The buy- ers were asked whether they would ac- cept shipments of honey with no sec- tions poorer than the ones pictured in their respective classes. Some of the replies have been published. Blake-Lee Co. would accept such shipments as satisfactory. R. A. Bur- nett & Co. would want something bet- ter in all three cases. C. C. Clemons Produce Co. are not in favor of having a fancy grade; "the opportunities are too great for rejecting a car if the mar- ket was not just right, and after mak- ing a fancy grade you have left only an ordinary grade of No. 1 and a very poor grade of No. 2." They would include the first two under No. 1, with some question as to whetherthe No. 2 should not be classed as No. 3. Apparently, however, they are considering the pic- tures as representing the average in- stead of the poorest in each class, for they say, "The third is not a very good No. 2, and a carload all like that would hardly pass for No. 2." Hildreth & Segelken stijiuUte that 24 combs of fancy should average 23 pounds net, No. 1 from 21 to 23 pounds, and No. 2 not less than from III to 20 pounds. So far from rejecting the sample of fancy as too poor for the very poorest in that class, as do Bur- nett & Co., they say they would be only too glad to receive all combs as good. However laudable may be the under- taking, the evident desire of Editor Tyrrell to bring about such a uniform understanding about grading as to es- tablish a National market is a desire not to be consummated without diffi- culty. One can but wish him well while watching further developments. Stinmlative Feetling- iu Spring- What is called stimulative feeding is not always stimulative. It is sometimes destructive. There seems to be a grow- ing belief that when a colony has abun- dance of stores in the hive, additional feeding by no means always results in increased brood-rearing. J. L. Byer says in the Bee-Keepers' Review: "Given a sood, prolific queen in tlie hive, abundance of good stores, and the colony having wintered in good condition, wiial can stimulating by feeding do to better the con- dition of said colony during tfie latter part of March and all of April, owing to the very uncertain weather changing from cold to warm, and vice vcrsa~\\\\s kind of weather often continuing during the first week of May ? Is it not the general experience that colonies at that time do not suffer for want of hrooil, but rather from want of bees to take care of the brood there may be in the hives ?" Price of Honey iu South Africa Complaint is made in the South .Afri- can Bee-Keepers' Journal of the market being deluged with honey, good honey being sold for 25 cents a pound, and some reported even down to 16 cents. They seem to be harder to satisfy in the matter of prices in South Africa than in this country. Miscellaneous ^ News Items A Case ol Grit John F. Otto is a successful Wisconsin bee-keeper, who, for the past 10 or 12 years, has wintered each winter about 300 colonies, reduc- ing the number to 175 or 200 to get them strong for the honey-flow. In the Bee-Keepers' Review he tells about some of the struggles in the earlier part of his career. An indoor life did not agree with him, so he sold out, in- tending to devote himself to bee-keep- ing. To the 25 colonies on hand he added 12 more by purchase, putting into the cellar 37 colonies. The follow- ing spring the original 25 were all in good condition, while the purchased 12 were all dead. Nothing daunted, he bought 25 more colonies, and started the season with 50 colonies. He says : " The next fall I had 114 colonies rotten with foul brood, as rotten as they could be; some had only a handful of bees. I noticed during all the summer that there was something wrong with my bees, but did not know what, until in the fall, when I subscribed for the American Bee Journal, and reading an item on foul brood, I knew what was the matter with my bees. The next spring I got two books on foul brood, and in the latter part of May I began to cure them. In the fall of that year I had .5f) colonies in good condition, but 3 of them still had a few foul cells. I left them until next year. " It took me just 5 years before I had the disease completely rooted out. It was not due to my carelessness in cur- June, 1912. American Bee Jonrnalj ing them, but when those 12 colonies died, in the spring of that year, I gave my bees a chance to clean up the combs from those colonies, and all the neighbors' bees had a hand in it, and you certainly know what that meant, and what effect that had on my yard in the future. But still 1 did not get discouraged; I was determined to make a success in the business, and so I did." ^ New Irrigated Regions. — S. King Clo- ver has been in the Yakima Valley since 1!I04, all the while actively en- gaged in bee-culture, and in the Bee- Keepers' Review sounds a warning against the idea of rushing into the new lields opened up by irrigation with the expectation of making a fortune at bee-keeping. The railroads and others paint in glowing colors the advantages in these new places, but say less about the drawbacks. Among other things he says : " Tliose of you who have your cosy homes where God waters the land with the rain, where you have u'ood water to drink, plenty of fuel, your friends, think twice before you sacritice your homes to go to a land and a condition you know little about, devoid of the improvements afforded by older settle- ments, and old. established society: those of you who appreciate even a garden of vetr- etables. beware of these irrisated districts. The railroads have no other object in en- ticint' you West than to convey you out here at so much per head, the same as other merchandise. It is a money-making scheme, like other schemes. They have no interest in you after you are once here, un- less you wish to go back East. Irresponsible bee-keepers frequently give glowing reports to the press for publication, which are far from the truth. The real-estate agents are on the alert for just such articles, and they are widely published. Fraudulent Packing It seems that the traffic in bulk comb honey is not without its perils. The following oc- curs in the excellent bee-bulletin of Texas : A deceptive method of packing bulk comb honey has recently come to our attention, and it can not be too strongly condemned, both by customers and honest bee-keepers. As e.\plained on a preceding page, bulk comb honey, when properly packed, consists of cans filled I till of lonib honey, the latter cut into just as large pieces as will go into the can. What few openings then remain are filled with extracted honey. Some bee-keepers have, however, adopted the plan of filling the honey cans orilv ,iI>onI one third J itll oi comb and then filling up the can with extracted honey. (Jf course, the pieces of comb float on top of the extracted honey, and when the customer takes off the cover the can ahpeiirs to he filled with comb honey. The deception is not discovered until the customer has purchased the can and used out ahtiut a fourth of its contents. Such a deception is little short of actual fraud, for bulk comb honey usually sells at 2 to 5 cents per pound higher than extracted, and when the customer pays the higher price for bulk comb he is certainly entitled to it. not to a mixture containing 7S percent of a lower priced honey. Western Honey-Producers Change Lo- cation. -The Western Honey-Produc- ers' Associaticju have moved their headquarters from Salix, Iowa, to Sioux City, Iowa, where they will conduct their honey business on a larger scale, h'or the last five years their honey- packing plant has been at Salix, under the management of W. P. Southworth. ThomasChantryand Kdward G. Brown, officers of this Association, have made bee-culture their life work, and are careful to locate their apiaries in locali- Fooi.ED— No Bees There. ties that yield the choicest nectar. Their method of thoroughly ripening the honey in the hive and removing it with scientific care adds to the supe- riority of their product. This move makes Siuux City a honey market, and will materially assist the bee-keepers of the surrounding country in disposing of their product readily. he had ever endured. After trying a few of the popular remedies, a physi- cian was sent for. Mr. Simmons re- ports himself as doing well, though still propped up in bed. Cow-Dung for Smoke Nothing new about that. Yet sometimes some of the old things, that by some means have been set aside and forgotten, are worth reconsidering. H. Martin, in the South African Bee-Keepers' Jour- nal, has this good word to say for cow- dung as smoker fuel : " After a test of over five years I have come to the conclusion that it would be very ditiicult to beat ordinary thurouahtv dried cow-dung as a smoker fuel. I wonder how many bee-keepers have tried it, or if they have found it satisfactory. The advantages are that it is a very agreeable smoke to the operator and effective on the bees: when once alight it will not go out until the last pick is reduced to ashes, even if the smoker is left aside and not used; it occupies a small compass, and a well-filled smoker will give forth smoke longer than any other fuel I know of. Often has my smoker been found alight and fuming merrily away four hours after it had been put away to one side. To beo-keepers who have had trouble in this respect, i should strongly recommend a fair trial. To light up. about half fill the smoker with small pieces of well-dried cow dung: go to the kitchen stove and drop a glowing eml.ier on top of these, adding a few more small lumps of this variety of fuel. You will now have a smoker uponwhichyou can rely. If there is no fire available, it will be neces- sary to set fire to the cow-dung by the aid of some more inflammable material, such as shavings or dried wood: a little paraflin or methylated spirit dropped on to the cow- dung is even better." A Hot Bee-Sting On May 13th, J. A. Simmons, a queen-breeder of Sabinal, Tex., while replacing extracting combs on a hive of bees, was bitten by a snake, which the local Mexicans call "bee- water." Mr. Simmons says that, at the time, he thought it the hottest bee-sting Winter and Bees in Switzerland. — The editor of the Bulletin Suisse writes us : We are having a mild winter. From Feb, 2 to 10. there was no frost, the land has be- come green, and there have been flowers. But. strange to say. the few white frosts which wc have had since, have done more harm than the coldest winter weather would do. The esparcet is parched, and some plants which can stand a temperature of zero ha\'e greatly suffered. The bees have wintered finely, we had no losses, but if the winter had been cold there would be great losses, for the Quality of the stores was inferior. Tlie bees are very far along, and at this date we have colonies with 0 combs of brood. It is rather too much, as a return ot cold weather would injure it. Ul.RlCH Gl'lil.ER. Belmont. Switzerland, March 20. Coated Nails for Shipping-Cases At the Wisconsin State Bee-Keepers' con- vention in February last, criticisms were made of the use of cement-coated nails in fastening on the covers of shipping-cases for comb honey. Mr. Frank Rauchfuss, the efficient secretary of the Colorado Honey-Producers' As- sociation, being informed of this dis- cussion, writes as follows: "Regarding the nailing of covers on ship- ping-cases with cement-coated nails. I want to say that there are two sides 10 the ques- tion. We formerly permitted our members to use the smooth nails that the Ci. H. Lewis Co. have been furnishing, but found that this was not practical. Members who would haul their honey from 5 to 15 miles, over or- dinary wagon roads, would drive up to the warehouse with a large percentage of the top cases of their load with covers partly pried off by the friction of the cases in the wagon while on the way. Many covers would, on that account, be split up. making a bad job. .Since we have adopted the use of cement-coated nails, of rather small size for nailing on the covers, we don't have any trouble that way. "What I have said about the hauling of cases on wagons applies with equal force to Tunc, 1013. American Hee JonrnalJ Photo by Geo. J. Dii.c. Mokton Gkove. Illinois. Showing Upward Huilding of Comb Over a Crowded Hive. any that are loaded in cars and shipped out. I know when they have arrived at their des- tination that the covers had worked off in a similar manner, and if the dealer at the other end had the tools for opening cases, he should not have very much trouble in re- moving the covers nailed w'ith cement- coated nails without splitting them. In my inspection work I have to open a great many cases during the season, and it is not very often that a cover board is split. Of course, the nails we are using for covers are not larger than id." Death of Bernhard Rietsche. — In the May number we announced the death of a man who has been one of the most important factors in the advancement of bee-keeping in Germany, Bernhard Rietsche. He was the inventor of a number of things of value to bee-keep- ers, but the one thing above all others that has made his name a household word in German bee-keeping circles is the Rietsche foundation press. In Ger- many conditions connected with the manufacture and use of comb founda- tion differ greatly from conditions in this country. In Germany it is the common thing for a bee-keeper to make his own foundation. Here it is the uncommon thing. To be sure, some years ago quite a number of bee-keepers made founda- tion for themselves and neighbors among American bee-keepers, but gradually this has disappeared. Foun- dation in this country is now practi- cally all made by the few foundation makers who make it on a large scale. German thrift requires that so far as possible no cent shall be paid out for anything that can be made at home. But that is not the only reason — per- haps not the chief reason — why Ger- man bee-keepers make their own foun- dation. Strange as it may seem, so much of the foundation that is sold there is adulterated, that the purchaser may generally be in doubt about what he is buying. Perhaps because less skill is thereby required, foundation in Germany is largely made in a press, the melted wa.x being poured into an embossed plate and an upper plate pressed down upon it. In 1883 Mr. Rietsche began experi- menting with the manufacture of foun- dation for his own use, using a press of plaster of Paris. From that, grew by degrees the finished metal press of the present, and the immense business to which it has led. In 18!)(i, Rietsche sent to Dr. Dzierzon as a present, a press that numbered 10,000 in the series that had been manufactured during the previous Vi years. No figures are at hand to say just how many presses have been sent out in the following 16 years up to the present time, but the likelihood is that more than another 10,000 has been reached, for we are told that the business had grown to such an extent that 1000 a year were sent into all parts of the world. Two sons, trained to the business, have latterly conducted it, leaving the father free play to his inventive genius. His last work was upon a cylinder foundation machine to excel anything of American manufacture. C. C. M. Driving Bees Out of Supers A. F. £. Hind says in the South African Bee- Keepers' Journal : " Raise the crate, with a screwing motion, completely off the hive, and place it on a table or bo.\ a few yards away from the hive. Then place an empty candle or soap box up- side down on topof thecrate of sections. If you now start rapping with the handle of your screw-dri\'er, or any other tool, back- wards and forwards on the sides of the crate, the bees will in a few minutes run out of the sections up into the empty candle box, where they will cluster. The box can then be carried back to the hive and the bees shaken out on the alighting-board. The sections will be quite free from bees, and you can take them out of thecrate in comfort, without any fear of crushing a bee. This is simply "driving" the bees, but it is quite unnecessary to invert the crate as one would a skep when driving the bees. In this climate, with our warm nights, the Porter bee-escape often does not act well; the method here advocated has the advantage of requiring only one visit to the hive, and is just as humane as the escape, because not a single bee need be hurt if the operator uses ordinary care." For several years he had been presi dent and director of the Washington State Bee-Keepers' Association, and was well known throughout the North- west. Ontario College Experiments The Ontario .Agricultural College reports co-operative experiments in apiculture on the following subjects: 1. Prevention of natural swarming in the production of extracted honey. 2. The same with the production of comb honey. 3. Experiments with races of bees gen- erally. 4. The same with refecence to their power to resist European foul brood. We can not quote the entire report, but it makes good reading. A notable fact is that they have noticed the greater immunity of Italian bees from this disease. Mr, Morley Pettit, the apiarist in charge, is a wide-awake worker. Bee-Biscuits and Honey. — Under this heading the Free Masons of Fruitvale, Calif, announced a lecture on bees by John C. Frohliger, for May 7th, with stereopticon views and an explanation of the methods of handling bees. The little circular announcing this is very neatly gotten up. It promises a " Hot-Biscuit-Honey Festival," and con- tains some humorously worded moral maxims like the following: " Find out about the effect of smoke on bees; better have your boys learn how to sjnokc bees than smoke lisarcttes: more profitable for them to acquire a love for bees than love for booze." Balling Queens, the Cause. -In Les Abeilles and Les Fruits for March, Maurice Bellot gives his idea of the cause of queens being sometimes balled in their own hive. He says this hap- pens when the hives are too close to- gether, and owing to some disturbance some bees make error and enter the wrong hive. "Those bees," he says, "finding a queen which is not their own, may attack and ball her." He is also of the opinion that when a queen is handled by the apiarist, she may ac- quire an odor which will cause the bees to dislike her. — {Traiisla/cd.) Bee-Inspection in British Columbia. — Mr. E. F. Robinson, of Victoria, B. C., is bee-inspector for British Columbia, and he lately gave out his route of in- spection, which covered the islands and lower mainland districts, from May 6th to May '28th, inclusive. Advantages and Disadvantages of Sec- tional Hives.— J. E. Hand, after having had sectional hives in use more than 20 vears, gives what appears to be a can- did summing up of their merits and de- Death of Geo. H, Coulson. — On Sunday, April 28th, at Cherokee, Okla., occurred the death of Mr. Geo. H. Coulson, who, for many years, has been widely known as a progressive bee-keeper. Mr. Coul- son was also well know-n politically, having been a representative to Con- gress both from Oklahoma and from his old State, Kansas. The bee-keep- ing public has sustained a great loss in the death of Mr. Coulson. Our heartfelt sympathy goes to the family in its bereavement. Death of Mr. Thornton — On April 9, 1912, at North Yakima, Wash., occurred the death of Mr. Jesse W. Thornton. Swarm and Apiary of S. J. Knox, Bower Mills. Mo. Tune, 1913. American ISae 'Journal merits in the Bee-Keepers' Review. Editor Tyrrell foot-notes the article thus: " The conclusion that I come to after read- ing the above is. that Mr. Hand, after tryine both kinds of hives, does not consider the advantage of either over the other of suffi- cient importance to warrant a change from one to the other being made. I would guess." however, that if he were starting anew, he wouldadopt theregular Langstroth hive." Neeting of Illinois Bee-Keepers A. L. Kildovv State Inspector of Apiaries. and Deputy I. K. Pyles, while out in the interest of tlie bee-business, met by pre- arranged plans at Casey, Clark county. And on the afternoon of May 10th the bee-keepers of that vicinity assembled at the home of Oscar Shawver, for the purpose of gaining information con- cerning foul brood and its treatment. There were bee-keepers from Green- up, Casey, Martinsville, and the sur- rounding country at this meeting, and a general interest was shown. Mr. An- derson, of Greenup, Cumberland county, brought a frame of European foul brood, which contained the disease in its various stages. This was thoroughly examined and e.xplained, and many questions asked, which showed that all were interested in this matter, and anxious to gain information. Mr. Shawver deserves special mention for the interest he took in this meet- ing, which was very satisfactory to all present. It was gratifying to see the fine condition in which Mr. Shawver keeps his bees. If these meetings could be held in different parts of the State great bene- fits could be derived from them, and the State Inspector would be glad to meet with them and give all assistance possible. -^ Honey for Baby's Hiccongh Mother, when your baby has the hiccough, give it a drop of honey on the end of your finger. That will stop it. Try it. determinedly swarming, I would feel myself gieatly their debtor. I shall be unable to procure Caucasian queens until too late for the proposed experiments this spring. D. E. Light. Bee-I^eping ^ For Women Conducted bv Miss Emma M. Wilson, Marengo, 111. A Story—Man Put to Flight The honey crop will be a failure in this vicinity this season, owing to the drouth. In consequence, all are feeling blue, so I will tell a bee-story to cheer them up. In the spring of i'>oo one of my neighbors, who had bought quantities of honey of me. thought he would go into the bee-business himself. He bought one colony of what was called Italians, a very tame bee he was sure o( that. He chose a place under the granary to set the colony, because it would be shady there. There was about 3 feet of space be- tween the granary floor and the ground, and all went well until one hotday in July, when he telephoned to ask me whether I would come down and help him take off his honey, as he did not have a smoker. Gathering up my bee-dress, smoker and gloves. I was soon on the scene. He wore a mosquito-net over his hat, and cotton-flannel gloves. We filled an old pan with smoking rags, had the smoker going, nnd started for the colony. We pried off the super. The bees were mad, and soon were stinging Mr. A. pretty bad. I handed him the smoker and pan of burning rags, and told him to go to the house. He did as 1 said, but as Mrs. A. had fastened the screen-doors, he could not get in the house, so he commenced to run around the house with about 7.000.000.000 bees after him. He soon threw the smoker away, then the pan of burning rags, but kept running around the house. I finally called to him to go into the cellar, which he did. and stayed there, a very badly stung man. I could not lift the super of honey, so I carefully turned it. *vheel fashion, from one side to another until I got it some tiistance away, and then pried out the sections of honey. I am afraid you can not see any laugh in this, but I have laughed many times when I recollect how Mr. A. speeded around the house, jumping about a foot in the air at each step. Was it wicked to laugh ? Ohio Bek-Woman. syringas of a simple, old-fashioned garden there is a neat little row of modern white bee-hives, while under a fine, old flowering catalpa. in the middle of a small clearing, stands a modern observation hive wherein the bees are compelled to build their combs between glass partitions, oneover the other, so that the entire interior of the structure may be available for study. Here the young bee-keeper spends her leisure hours during the summer months, earnestly trying to master the rules of perfect communism so rigidly followed in the miniature world she possesses but can not rule. Twice a week she gives afternoon " bee-talks " to the chil- dren of her acquaintance; and so persuad- ingly does she speak, so full of insidious en- chantment are her words, that one leaves her presence with a growing conviction that life without bees is but an arid waste. One Woman's Method of Bee-Keeping Here is a clipping from the Woman's Home Companion giving a pleasing picture of the activities of one of the sisters whose name and address one can but wish had been given : In the M-ry heart of a city in the Middle West, there is a young woman whose hobby is bees. Among the sheltering lilacs and Caucasians and Italians Dear Miss Wilson ;— hrom your criticism of my paper, published in the March number of the American Bee Journal. I see that I failed to make my meaning clear. In regard to the expression that the Italians were not good for extra-early brood-rearing. I had in mind bees that would respond to the same stimulative feeding after the first flight in March or April (or even before) that Mr, Alexander recommends for Italians after fruit-bloom. You would hardly recommend just that for the Italians, would you ? I am aware that with my very limited ex- perience with the Caucasians I ought to speak modestly, for it is quite possible that the chameleon which appears to me to be " honest Indian " white, may really be green to some one else. But is it true that the c:aucasians have been found anywhere near equal to the Italians for the production of comb honey? I have never noticed if it has been so reported. If this should prove true, it would be to me like one of our old friend A. I. Root's " happy surprises." and I would discard the Italians. The Caucasians build up such beautiful white comb, or mine did. and were so much more hardy, prolific, and gentle, and in every way satisfactory. But. " in this local- ity, ' they were like the Carniolans. in that they would not bear crowding for comb- honey production. If any one would suggest to me any system of management ithat did not reiiuire too great labor and expensci by which the Cau- casians could be induced to enter and work in the supers as the Italians do. instead of Getting a Swarm Under Difficulties The colony here represented came out as a swarm about May 7th of last season. They were about 15 feet from the ground, but by tying a rope around the hive, and placing Fifteen Feet Above the Ground the end overalimb (after climbing a ladder*, I finally got the hive in place, and came out the victor. I secured a fine colony of bees, which gave me two supers of honey. Williams. Nebr. (Mrs.) L. C. Lamb. Using a Queen-Excluder to Prevent Swarming Dear Miss Wilson:— I greatly appreciate your thought and interest in my troubles, I have learned more from your leply than all of my readings in books, and am most pleased. I do not want more bees than the ^ colo- nies I have. Now. if they will swaruL why can't I hive them in a box and put on top of it one of those bee-escapes that permits the bees to BO out and not the queen, then will not the bees go back to their old home i' I can have a glass front in the box so that 1 can see what is going on. I have put up some extractini; frames, and shall put theni on. I wish I could get all my queens and clip their wings, but that is beyond me. 1 am dull at finding them. Ellen B. Spofkord. It is not entirely clear just what your plan is with the box, but it seems that in some way you are depending upon a queen-excluder to hold the queen and allow free exit for the bees, with the expectation that the bees will be oblig- ing enough to go back to their old home. You may as well make up your mind that nothing of that kind will work. If the bees are hived in a box with an excluder over it, they will ac- cept that box as their home just as if no excluder were present, tlie presence of the (lueen being to them the thing that matters. Some have thought to prevent swarming by placing a queen- trap or excluder at the entrance, rea- June. 1912, American Vee Journal soning that the queen would thus be prevented from going with the swarm, and that the bees would return to the old hive upon finding no queen witli them. All that is true enough. But that is not the end of it. Very likely the bees would swarm again the next day, possibly more than once, and possibly on succeeding days. Then in about 8 days — more or less — the first virgin would hatch, and then the fun would begin in earnest. The old queen would likely be killed, the bees would swarm and swarm, likely until all the virgins had left their cells and fought until only one was left alive, and then if the trap was still left at the entrance the remaining virgin could not leave the hive to be fertilized, and would be a drone-layer if a layer at all. You evidently have a feeling that you can not succeed at finding queens. Please don't feel that way. " If at first you don't succeed" — you know the rest. Just keep a lookin'. But don't look too long at a time. After you have looked over all the frames per- haps the second time unsuccessfully, just close the hive until an hour later or until another day. And when you do find a queen, it's such fun. But after you have had much experience at it, you may still find times when a queen in some mysterious way escapes your eye. and you may as well give up the search. The writer has found thou- sands of queens, sometimes 50 or more on the same day, but many a time has had to acknowledge defeat and close the hive until another time. You say you are going to put on ex- tracting-combs. Thanks for that in- formation. For that lets out the fact that you are working for extracted honey, and in that case you may use the Demaree plan to prevent swarming. Many report the plan a perfect success, while some report exceptions. Let us hope that you will have no exceptions. Here is the plan: A little before time for swarming, put all the frames of the colony in the upper story, leaving empty combs or frames filled with foundation, and also the queen in the lower story; a queen-excluderbetween the two stories. Never mind where the bees are, they'll take care to divide themselves properly between the two stories. It may be well to leave one of the brood-frames below, and to kill all queen-cells in the upper story a week or 10 davs later. Marking the Hive Tool After hunting two hours one hot day in July for my hive tool, which I had lost in the deep grass near the apiary, when found I thought to myself. life is too short to hunt for lost tools, so I tied a piece of bright red flannel to my hive tool, and if I lose it again I can easily find it. " A word to the wise is sufficient." Ima. Another good way is to paint the hive tool red. Em) Western ^ Bee-Keeping Conducted by Wesley Foster. Boulder, Colo. Honey— The Consumer's Dollar, and Who Gets It ? The " consumer's dollar " and the parties who get the big end of it is an interesting subject to me. The Department of Agriculture gives the average production of a colony of bees at 25 pounds yearly. As most of the honey produced is comb honey, and that is the kind I am familiar with, I will endeavor to show what share, as nearly as I can, each one in the move- ment from the producer to the con- sumer gets for his trouble. One hundred colonies of bees, with equipment to manage them, will repre- sent an investment of about .$6il0. and out of the proceeds from the honey sold will have to come the interest on the investment, taxes, depreciation, re- painting, etc. For harvesting a crop of 25 pounds, we will require the following supplies : 1000 section-honey boxes at $5 $15.00 100 shipping- caSes at 20c 20.00 20 pounds comb foundation at 60c... 12.00 10 new hives for swarms, with supers 25.00 New tools— smokers, veils, etc 2.50 Freight, drayage and incidentals 8.50 Total 183.00 This makes a total expense of $8.3 for supplies to produce and prepare for market 100 cases of honey. Most of the comb honey here in the West is bought up by jobbers or dealers from the Middle 'iVestern cities — St. Louis, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Chicago, etc. This year the price ran from $2.25 for second grade to $2.50 for No. 1— both ways; less being paid in some instances and more in a few others for the very choice graded stock. The buyer pays cash for the honey f. o. b., and from 2 or 3, to a dozen or 20 producers put in their honey to fill the car. Here are the figures : t)0 cases of Xo. i at $2.50 $150.00 40 cases No. 2 at J2.25 90.00 Total .$240.00 This gives a total of $240 for the crop, and subtracting the expenses, $8.3, leaves $157 for the producer, to pay him for his labor, interest on the invest- ment, keep up repairs, pay taxes, etc. Now let us follow this honey to mar- ket and see who gets the big slices. The buyer of the honey from the pro- ducer is primarily a speculator, and is going to sell for all he can get, so he fixes the price at a figure where he can make about a dollar a case, 'ometimes more and sometimes less. He will dis- tribute the car around among the wholesalers, giving them 10 percent commission — sometimes a little larger commission. I find that comb honey retails for 18 to 25 cents in the markets where our Western honey is sold, and this is about the way it goes to the con- sumer: 20 cases No. i (24 lbs. to the case) at 25c. $6 $120.00 40 cases No. i at 22'Ac. or $5.40 a case 216.00 30 cases No. 2. retailine at 20c. or $4.80 a case 144.00 10 cases No. 2, retailine at 18c, or $4 32 a case 43.20 Total $523.20 This makes a total of $523.20 that the consumers pay for this honey. The producer gets $157 of the $523.20, or 30 cents of the dollar; railroads get $3.5, or 6-3; bee-supply manufacturers get $70, or IS',, ; the jobber gets $100, or 19; wholesaler gets $-10, or 7-3; re- tailer gets $121.20, or23'3; consumers pay $523.20, or $1.00. The jobber, wholesaler, and retailer are getting 50 cents of every dollar for the distribution, while the work done by the producer, the railroads and the bee-supply manufacturer and his dealer get the other 50 cents. Much is still to be done in reducing railroad rates, and perhaps the bee-supply manufacturers are charging all the traffic will bear, but the big thing to be accomplished is to cut down the 50 cents the middlemen get to about 10 cents. Lender our pres- ent system of distribution this is not possible, but it is under co-operation, which will bring the producer and con- sumer together. Now, as to the damage that this big profit in the hands of the jobber, whole- saler and retailer does: It gives the jobber the means to "doctor " the mar- ket reports by reporting an immense crop in California, or the East, as his fancy or interest dictates. He sends out crop reports forour enlightenment, telling us that there is a large crop, and that the earlier we sell the better. The wholesaler and retailer cry " hard times," honey will not sell, and there is no demand for luxuries. The price goes down until the market is supplied by us poor fellows who need the money for our honey, and we sell at such a figure that the middlemen can make a fine thing with fancy comb honey for the early winter and Christmas trade. Yes, it is very evident that the -50 cents the middleman takes from us is used as a fund to keep the .50cent pieces coming his way, and if possible in- crease the .50 cents to 60 or 6-5. Parcel post and co-operation will : tart things the other way all right. Bee-Culture Still in the Woods Admitting that progress has been rapid in the development of bee-keep- ing practice, the observer of condi- tions, the wide country over, realizes full well that development has been along but a narrow margin of the field. There may be 40,000 keepers of bees who are more or less awake to the advancing methods, but we have 700,000 bee-keepers in the United States. For the last 10 years we have been los- ing 10,000 bee-keepers each year. At this rate, bee-culture would be an ex- tinct industry, the bees but a memory, and honey one sweet dream in 70 years. One progressive bee-man in 17 is hardly enough of a saving grain of salt for the pursuit. He is overwhelmed by the "fear thought," so that it is pretty June, 1912. American Hee JoarnaJ] much of a proposition to maintain courage. Remembering that there are whole counties where the commercial irnportance of the industry has been wiped out by foul brood and ignorant management, should cause a thinking man to ponder. Today I saw a super on a hive of bees, with 11 sections, no starters at all, and the propolis had been collecting for years on the mildewed wood. The sections were set in every way, and as far as utility, a bundle of sticks would answer as well. The owner was bliss- fully ignorant of my opinion of his bee- keeping, and would have been compli- mented had I taken a picture of his little apiary and manner of supering. Hardly a person believes it a possi- bility to get foul brood under control in districts where the disease is preva- lent. Now, what shall we do about it ? We can get bee-keeping incorporated into Farmers' Short Courses. Work in bee-culture should be obtainable in every agricultural college and agricul- tural high school in the country. There are several very good reasons for this. When a young man goes to an agri- cultural college he has a $10,000 barn to work with as his model. Expensive hog-yards, poultry houses and cattle- feeding yards are provided. This young man, upon leaving this institution, can not hope to have such an equipment on his own farm for years. What does he do ? He gets a job as a teacher in some agricultural college, or with the Department of Agriculture, or perhaps a salaried position as manager of some wealthy man's estate. He is not able to begin for himself as he wishes. The culture of the bee is different. With a few hundred dollars, a graduate of a school of agriculture, who has specialized in bee-keeping, can begin and follow the best practices, make a living and get ahead from year to year. Such a graduate would very soon distance the ordinary specialist bee- keeper as we know him. He would be trained in queen-breeding, in the preparation of a colony of bees for successful wintering, in the methods of securing a large force of bees for the honey-flow. He would have learned the importance'of system and account- ing, so that he would know whether it required .j or l-') pounds of the honey crop to pay interest, depreciation, ex- penses and salary for himself. He could and would be able to say what had been his profits. Now, do not think that these things can not be learned outside of a school of agriculture, for they can. A few are learning tliese things. But the majority will learn much faster if they can be given the training without the distract- ing elements of commercial bee-culture. It is possible to secure a thing of this kind easier than many imagine. Determination and persistence will se- cure the recognition of our rights. If agriculture had received one-half of what has been expended on the Army and Navy, this country would now be invincible, and the envy of the world. But with the scanty recognition ac- corded our little corner of the agricul- tural field, we are making some head- way, and if we work hopefully we will grow by what we feed on. Let us tell our agricultural college men of our needs every opportunity we get, and constant application will have its effect. The Railroads and the Bee-Keeper It costs $3.0(1 more to ship a car of comb honey from Nampa, Idaho, to Portland, Oreg., than it does from Nampa, Idaho, to Denver. The Pacific Coast is the logical market for Idaho honey, and with favorable freight-rates the Idaho bee-keepers could get as good prices as the men located farther East. It is hoped that every bee- keeper interested will do what he can. It is irnportant to the Eastern market that this honey should go in the direc- tion of the demand, and not be held up by the excessive rates. This petition of the Southern Idaho bee-keepers will explain itself: Bee-Keepers Petition for Better Rates. The beekeepers of the South Idaho and East Oregon Association have sent in the following petition to the O. S. L. Railway- L. C. McCarty. of Nampa. has the matter in hand. The petition reads ; "We. the undersigned bee-keepers of Southern Idaho, beg to submit herewith a few figures on honey-rates from Southern Idaho for your consideration. We take Nampa as a basis; "Honey carload Nampa to Denver. io/ quite as good as our clover and basswood. By the way, my father thinks there is a great future for the honey industry in the county named, and he was sur- prised, with all the favorable things present to encourage bee-keeping, that the industry is not more developed than is the case. He painted such a glowing picture of the section that the writer felt that it would be a good place to go to ; but when my better half heard him say that there were quite a lot of snakes in that country — well, that settled all my chances of migrating, unless I should decide to go without her, and, of course, such a thing is out of the question, for if left to my own devices I would surely be getting into all sorts of trouble. Prospects Through Canada In the Mav issue of the American Bee Journal' I stated that the little clover we had left last fall had win- tered well. I had not reckoned with the latter part of April yet to come after the time I was writing, and at this date there is a different story to tell. With hard freezing by night and thaw- ing by day, our alsike was badly in- jured—much of it killed outright. This is speaking of only York county, as I have not had reports from other sec- tions. A trip a few weeks ago up through the northern part of Simcoe showed the clover to be all right there, so no doubt in many places the pros- pects are good for a crop. As to win- tering, reports are meager and con flicting, but losses are not heavy in general, and where bees wintered well they are very strong at date of writing (May 13th), considering the late, back- ward spring we have had. The first 10 days of May were ideal bee-weather, but today the change has been to very cold weather for this time of the year, and with the rapid exten- sion of the brood-nests during the past two weeks, no doubt brood will be chilled, especially in unprotected hives. Yellow willows and hard maple are in bloom, while dandelions are just open- ing. Naturally bee-keepers will be looking for a return to warm weather with interest, when such an abundance of spring bloom is awaiting the bees, and they will be very glad if the pres- ent cold snap does not develop a frost before the warm change comes again. Cement for Hive-Stands G. A. Deadman tells in the Canadian Bee Journal how he made a number of cement stands for his bee-hives. Aside from the growing scarcity and conse- quent high price of lumber, Mr. Dead- man says that the cement stands are better than those of lumber, because of less dampness to aflfect the bottom- boards, and, again, hives will not freeze down to the cement — this latter advan- tage applying of course only to cellar wintering. Wooden forms are made to hold the cement, and as to the cost and labor, I quote from his article : " Thirty bags of Canadian cement com- bined with nearly 2 loads of sand (3 cubic yards) made 300 blocks. Two men can easily make 15 blocks per hour, exclusive of emptying and re- filling the molds, which is hard to esti- mate, but which does not take long. The cement at 40 cents per bag, and the sand at $1..jO per load, would be 5 cents per block for the material, or 5 cents per hive. To this must be added the price of the labor." The durability of these cement blocks will appeal to all who have bees are never moved about, and I have often wished for something that was always in its place, that would not topple over or get " lop-sided," that would not rot — but why enumerate further, when all who have had experi- ence with bees know of the trouble in keeping good foundation for the hives ? However, if one is moving bees very Another Inspector in Canada Diet When writing the obituary notices of three departed friends last month, little did I think that at that time an- other inspector of apiaries had just died. Col. J. B. Checkley, inspector for three of the eastern counties, while in the best of health apparently, suddenly was stricken and in a short time passed away. I had never met Mr. Checkley, but my apiary in the east was situated only 5 miles from his home, and while out there I heard of him quite often. Universally respected by all who knew him, his death will be a great loss to the whole community; to the family in particular his unex- pected demise will be a source of great sadness indeed. As to who will be called to fill the offices of the two de- ceased inspectors I have notyet learned, but one thing is getting to be more in evidence all the time, in the future it will be more and more difficult each year to get qualified men to take up this work, as men so qualified choose rather to be in apiary work themselves than to go on inspection work, which is not at all a bed of roses. Value of Conventions and Demonstrations May is the month in Ontario when conventions and demonstrations in api- aries are in order, and at present a number of them are being announced. These meetings are of very great edu- cational value to all attending, and aside from that, to me at least, it seems that the social side of these meetings is just as important as the educational. Often some will be disappointed be- cause " direct results " of these meet- ings are not more in evidence, forget- ting that great benefits are received by individuals that are not apparent to any one but the one receiving them. By all means encourage these meet- ings, even if you are not of the " be- ginner" class, and have an idea that you can learn nothing by attending. Chances are that you will be mistaken in your views, and even if such is not the case, you may be the means of help- ing some one else. Who will not ad- mit after all is said and done that more satisfaction comes from giving than from always expecting things to come your way? Tribute to Mr. York With mingled feelings the writer learned of the change in the manage- ment of the American Bee Journal. First I noticed who the purchaser of the Journal was, and it gave me a source of pleasure to know that it had fallen into such able hands. Then as I reflected over the relations of the re- tiring editor with myself for a number of years past, I could not help feel sorry that in a certain sense our rela- tions would not be quite so close in the future as in the past. During my years at bee-keeping, and especially since the time when I started to scrib- 174 i "^SSl^ American Itec JournalJ June, 1912. b!e more'lor less for the bee-papers, Mr. York;jhas been a friend to me at any and all occasions, and .sentiments hard to put on paper come into my mind as I write. In so far as I am aware there is no "Irish "blood in my veins, so I will not be accused of having " kissed the Blarney stone" in expressing myself as I am, and while the many, many friends I have learned to know all over the continent are valued by me as my best " assets " gained during the past few years, very few indeed of these dear friends stand giu'/e as close to me as George W. York. A gentleman in the best and truest sense of the word, wherever he goes, and whatever busi- ness he engages in, the good wishes of a host of friends will ever be with him. Bee-Keeping In Dixie^ Conducted by J. J. WiI.UER. Cordele, Ga. Removing Honey— SelliDg-Price of Honey The spring honey-flow is now over, and section and chunk honey supers should be taken off the hives, the honey removed, the supers cleaned and set away in readiness for the summer and fall flows — partly-built combs should be given back to the bees. Extracted honey can be drawn off in tins after it has remained several hours in honey-tanks, barrels, or whatever has been used for storing it. Or the fancy grades may be drawn ofif in regu- lar honey-jars, or pintand quart Mason fruit-jars, which are good vessels for the purpose, and can be obtained any- where. All vessels should be neatly labeled, bearing the name and guaran- tee of the producer. The darker grades of chunk honey should be packed in large mouth fric- tion-top or screw-top cans and pails, in size similar to those for extracted honey. The light or fancy grades should be packed in jars by cutting the comb in small strips as long as the height of the jars, and placing them in endwise. All vessels thus packed should be filled with extracted honey, then labeled and packed in the same manner as extracted honey for market. Comb honey in one-pound sections should be graded fancy. No. 1 and No. 2. The fancy grade should be amber or light in color, and sections well filled; No. 1 grade should include all well-filled sections of dark honey, and sections of light honey that could not be graded as fancy. These sections should be over three-fourths filled. No. 2 should include all sections not less than two-thirds full. No sections con- taining broken comb or honey that would be liable to leak out, should be included. Comb hciney in 1-pound sec- tions should be packed in regular ship- ping-cases, and the cases crated to suit the trade. After the honey has been properly graded and packed, the question of a market for it is not a very serious problem. Let the people over the country know that you have nice honey for sale, and get thereto taste it. Soon they will take all you have to offer, and in this way you will work up a market for your honey right at home, or tlie towiis near you, that will surprise you. For the city trade you can best handle it through your grocers, allowing them a percentage for selling, or you can sell to them outright as soon as they find they have demand for it. Dark honey packed in pails and cans should net the producer not less than 8.J4 cents per pound. The fancy grades packed in glass jars should net not less than 10 cents per pound. Dark chunk honey packed in tin cans and pails should net 9)4 cents per pound, and the light grades of chunk honey packed in glass jars should net not less than 11 cents. Fancy comb honey in 1-pound sections 12 cents, No. 1, 10 cents. No. 2, 8 cents per pound. [A comparison of prices and grading rules as suggested here by friend Wilder, and those given out by others in distant parts, such as the Colorado Honey-Producers' Association, will in- dicate how difficult it will be to obtain uniform rules and equal prices through- out as large a country as this. — Editor.] Honey Crop Reports Very encouraging reports have come in from most sections of Dixie. This, indeed, is very gratifying, for the bee- keepers were somewhat discouraged over the prospects several times dur- ing the spring, owing to unfavorable weather conditions. More than an aver- age crop was harvested, except along the large streams where the great flood with heavy rainfall almost put an end to bee-keeping. Such was the case in the tupelo-gum region. Spring ty-ty and gallberry gave unusual heavy flows, as did the pop- lar in the most northern region. Per- haps there has never been as much swarming among bees in Dixie as this season, and great increase has resulted. Automobiles and Auto Trucks for Bee Keepers Gleanings in Uee Culture for April 1st, was the automobile edition, and a "good number." I was surprised to know what some of my Northern fel- low bee-keepers were doing with these cars. I wish we could use them down here to help us solve our labor and other problems, but the poor condition of the roads is prohibitive, especially during the rainy season, for we have to cross streams, which would be the most dilTicult problem to solve. I have to cross many unbridged creeks in making my rounds. Then I fear that our roads would soon impair a car, and in the long run it might not render good and lasting service. One of our helpers has a good pas- senger car, and we have made the rounds to our apiaries when we could. It proved a great help to us. The dis- tance from one yard to another was soon passed, and we had to keep our veils on all day. Then it would rain and the water would rise in the branches and creeks, so we would have to resort to our horse and buggy. We have decided not to invest in a car until we have better roads, and that when quick trips are necessary it would be far more economical to hire a car. I think this is the experience of many others, but we will purchase one as soon as our roads will justify. Pleased Witli the Caucasian Queens I bought Caucasian queens last September and succeeded in Kettingr 5 of them intro- duced. I watched with eaKerness to see the first bees emerse from their cells, but it was late in tlie season, and I did not see much of them until this spring. Although it has been tlie most unfavorable spring for be«s to build up I ever saw. they have built up at the most wonderful rate. The hives are boiling over with bees, and the combs are full of brood. I have just put the supers on. They had made no preparations for swarm- ing. They are so gentle I can handle them without smoke; in fact. I have to push them out of the way to handle the frames. I am well pleased with them so far. Newbern. Ala. F. A. J.'iMES. Plenty of bees and plenty of brood at the proper time means everything to the bee-keeper. We have a large num- ber of colonies of this variety of bees and their crosses that have 3 full-depth 8-frame bodies of brood, with some pollen scattered through the comb, but only a small amount of honey in the brood-nest, and each colony has enough bees to make good headway in from 5 to 7 shallow extracting-supers. We will have to bring up poles from the woods around the apiaries and prop these "sky-scraper" hives to keep them from toppling over in the strong winds. Has Dixie a Mild Climate ? Dear Mr. Wilder;— We people up here think of Dixie as a country of a sunny, mild climate, and we notice that you gravitate southward during the winter. How would you like to spend a winter up here such as this one with steady cold below zero for several months ? The ground is frozen sev- eral feet in depth. Dynamite has to be re- sorted to in order to die yraves. etc. Snow and ice are so deep that telephone wires can be touched from the drifts along the lines. What I set out to tell you is. that the Cau- casian bee is a poor one to cellar, as they close the entrances of the hives so much that they can not get the necessary air dur- ing coniinement. But out in the open air they winter well. I have 8 colonies in single-walled hives with no protection beyond what they had the summer before, and I took a peep at them yesterday, expecting to find them all fro/en or dean. but. to my surprise. I never saw bees wintering so well. .lAMEs W. Cowan, M. D. Geneseo. N. Y. As a whole, we do have a mild cli- mate in Dixie. In the mountainoui section the weather may be a little frigid for a few days during mid-win- ter, but usually the cold lasts but a few days at a time. We gravitate South at .luiie. 1!)12. American Bge Jonrnaij 175 »=i^ga^II] the approach of winter, not so much for the climate as for recuperation ; a period of rest, ami to "catch up" with our fishing, hunting, and to have a " good time " in general out in the open air. It does us good in many different ways. Our bee-business ties us fast to the stake of constant toil for 8 months a year, and from M to 20 hours a day. Bee-keeping properly carried on here is a proposition of toil, and we must resort to periods of rest. The best way to take this rest is to leave the business with an honest and industrious man and get away. I couldn't and wouldn't spend a winter up where you are. It makes my frail body and thin limbs quiver to think about what you have to stand these hard, cold winters. Di.xie bee-keepers are blessed with a good climate and great opportunities for their line of business. Northern Bee-Keepers' Appeal for Bees In Gleanings in Bee Culture for May 1st, we read an appeal to Southern bee- keepers, for the benefit of the North- ern apiarists, who have lost heavily during the winter. It reads: "There are many bee-keepers in the Southern States who doubtless will be able to do their brethren of the North the good turn of puttingtheni on the track of bees in box-hives." The editor offers to publish a free list of those who may lend a helping hand. Surely, when any one takes such a stand for our industry, its greatest good must lie very near his heart. Contributed Articles^ Stations for the Observation of Bees BV T. U. KR.\KENBUHL. The article on "Co-operative Apiar" ian Experiments in Canada," in the February issue of the .American Bee Journal, was to me of great interest. Mr. Morley Pettit is on the right road to fasten facts on bee-keeping, to cor- rect errors, to solve questions about locality, etc. The correspondence re- minds me of the "Stations for Obser- vation of Bees," as they have had them in Switzerland for more than 2."i years. I have before me the report by Mr. Juestrich, at St. Gall, about the work of the stations their first 2.") years. The aim of the stations is to investi- gate the condition of the nectar-flow, weather, life and activity of bees ; to examine technical questions and meth- ods, etc. When the motion was put before the bee-keepers to erect these stations, some greeted it with enthusiasm, and others had a doubtful smile. In 1885 there were 4 stations started; now there are 38 ; of this number, 8 are double stations. They are scattered through the German-speaking part of the country. They all range from 29.') meters (Basel >)80 feet), to 1468 meters (Davos 4890 feet) above sea level. Each station is equipped with ther- mometer and scale, and makes daily notes and reports monthly to the chief (Mr. Juestrich). He compares, sifts, corrects errors, gives hints, etc., and works out monthly and yearly reports for publication in the liee Journal. The yearly report fills the February number of the paper, and is in form and con- tents a masterpiece of lasting value. The climatic and floral conditions of this small country are very variable, and the reports of the stations vary also. Statistic and graphic tableaux show the differences, and are of great value to the thinking reader, especially for the bee-keeper around a station with the same climatic and floral conditions The observer further reports about the nectar-flow, source of pollen, the winter consumption, and shows the farmer and fruit-grower the great value of bees as pollenizers. He works for up-to-date rational bee-keeping, shows the best way of brood stimulation, win- tering, harvesting, reports diseases, etc. With the years they found out that the best bee for north of the Alps is the brown or native bee. By pure breeding and careful selection the Swiss suppress and eliminate the im- ported Italian and Carniolan blood. Foul brood insurance and inspection with the help of the Government, and breeding of the black race (Rassen- zucht), are on the way to great success. Bee-keepers' associations of the neighboring countries, Baden, Wurtem- berg, Bavaria, Monrovia, Bohemia, Thuringia, Tyrol and others begin to follow the Swiss. The observers work without com- pensation, for bee-keepers, as a rule, are an unselfish lot. ready to sacrifice a little time for the common good. They find satisfaction and reward in their interesting work. Spring Sta., Ky. [Switzerland is setting a good ex- ample to the rest of the world in many things. There is something for us to learn from the above information. — Editor.] Large Numbers of Queen-Cells By a Simple Method BY F. GRF.INER. There have been various methods in vogue to have queen-cells built in either queenless or queen-right colonies. Brood-combs containing young larv-T;, or eggs only, have been cut into narrow strips, and these have been fastened to bars flatwise. The bees have always been ready to accept them and build queen-cells from the larvae contained therein; artificial cells have been made, then provided with royal food, and larv.-E have been transferred into them. The first-named method was awkward and wasteful ; the second required good eyes and a steady hand. Both of these some of us do not possess any longer. No wonder Mr. H. L. Case's method, of which I wrote in another periodical a year or more ago, and which was again explained at a bee-keepers' meeting held in Syracuse, N. Y., Jan. 30 and 31, 1912, attracted the attention of many. Mr. Oscar Dines improved on the plan somewhat, inasmuch as he has made it applicable to the sectional hive, hav- ing the cells reared in the midst of the brood-chambers, or rather, between two of the sectional hive-bodies, by insert- ing a narrow rim the size of hive, be it a Heddon, Hand, or any other, and plac- ing the combs, or the comb, containing the young larvx to be transformed into queens, into this in a horizontal position, i. ('., flatwise. In order to make this plainer, I will add a photograph of the arrangement. The most important part, however, is the treatment and preparation of the comb to be used in this method. There will be no transferring of larv;e, or look- ing for those just hatched, etc., all of which requires good eyesight and steady hands. The comb which we select to have our breeding-queen fill with eggs should be a nice clean comb, not too old. This, to begin with, is placed in the center of the brood-nest of the breeding stock and left 4 or 5 days. At the end of this period the comb will be found full of eggs, etc., if the conditions are right. The bees are brushed off, and it is prepared as follows : Begin- ning at the upper end of the comb, hav- ing it lying flatwise upon a table, de- stroy 2 rows of cells with a knife, mashing down the cells and cutting to the midrib; leaving one row, and again destroying 2, thus following down to the bottom, or as far as there is brood, destroying 2 and leaving one alter- nately. Now, with a small chisel re- move those destroyed or mutilated rows of cells all over the comb in such a way that you will leave every third row of cells containing eggs or larvae uninjured. Now, we must not leave all this brood and give it to our cell-building colony, or we would have many queen-cells built and joined together. We want these cells separate, so that we may be able to cut them out conveniently. Therefore, we take a small tool, or a match, and knock out 2 cells in the row and leave one uninjured, continu- ing thus until we have treated each row of cells which had been left intact after the previous operation, in such a way that only every third cell is left untouched. The cells from which queen-cells may be made by the bees are now evenly distributed over the comb, and this latter is ready to be given to the cell-building colony, which, of course, must be queenless with no brood, or only sealed brood, in the liive. It is a disputed question which is best, sealed brood or none at all. There should be an abundance of young bees in the hive, for only such produce chyle or larval food. June, 1912, Amc^rican Hee Journal Mr. Dines dequeens about l! or 7 days before he gives the prepared comb, or combs, and at the expiration of this period destroys all queen-cells which the bees have started. He thinks the colony is then in an ideal condition to go to work on the prepared combs. Mr. Case dequeens only one or two days previous to giving the comb of eggs and larva;, then he takes away all brood, giving combs with some honey and pollen instead. The prepared comb, with the young larvie, is placed flatwise on the top- bars of the frames, with space enough under the comb to give room for the queen-cells. With the hanging frame having pro- jecting top-bars, a specially constructed arrangement to hold the prepared comb, and hold it in just the right in the operation of cutting out the queen-cells; whereas, if they do not have access, the brood does not de- velop, and the cutting out of the queen- cells is simpler. Apparently, Mr. Dines has allowed the bees to take care of the brood on the upper side of his prepared combs, as he places them be- tween two sectional hives with sealed brood in the one above and the other below, as well. Therefore, it would be difficult for him to shut the bees away from the upper side of the prepared comb. I hope that I have made this matter plain. Mr. H. L. Case told us that he had over 100 fine queen-cells built out on one comb, and after the queens had liatched from these cells, the amount of unconsumed royal food left in them would indicate that the queens did no. The illustration represejits Uscar Dines' device for lioldinE a brood-frame horizontally and supporting it in its proper place tor the purpose of rearing aueen-cells. It does not show the height of the rim. place, is very desirable. Mr. Dines showed such an arrangement at the Syracuse convention, mentioned be- fore, and the same received the en- dorsement of many distinguished bee- keepers present. It consisted of a nar- row rim, the same size as the hive he uses. We might call it a very low brood-chamber, '2'A inches high. The illustration will show how the prepared comb is supported therein by having a little notch cut in it to receive the projections of the top-bar; the other end of the comb rests upon two nails driven in the proper places. Without having tried such an arrange- ment myself, I believe it will be a good thing to use, and may be made for any style of hive and any size of frame. Mr. Dines uses a very shallow frame, requiring two to cover the top surface of his hive. After giving the prepared comb to the cell-building colony, in a hive with standard frames, the comb is covered with cloth and cotton batting, or other similar material. I am not sure that it will make very much difference whether or not the bees have access to the upper surface of the prepared comb. If they do, the brood therein develops, and when the queen-cells are ready to be cut out on the 10th day, the worker- brood is sealed and will be destroyed lack food at any time during the titue of their development. The honey-producer who desires to rear his own queens, particularly when he wishes to requeen towards the close of the honey season, may rear by the above method a large number of good queens, rear the cells duringthe honey- flow, the most favorable time to rear them, and have them ready to take the place of removed queens, too old, mis- mated or otherwise inferior. No one is better placed to select good breeding stock than the honey-producer himself, but it re«|uires close watching and keeping a correct and careful record. Herein the honey-producer often fails. Naples, N. Y. Judging Queens as to Their Value as Breeders uy G. M. nOOI.lTTLE. "Will Mr. Doolittle toll the readers of the American Bee Journal licnv queens are indeed regarding their value as breeders? .Slime of my heekceping neighbors claim that they are mostly judged as to color. But i can not think this is so. for the amount of honey produced by the offspring of any queen is the main tiling looked after by our best apiarists." -SriiscKiiiKK. Of course, color must have some- thing to do with the judging of queens', just the same as it does, of necessity, when poultry-men purchase White Leg- horn, Black Orpington, Barred Rock, etc., for perpetuating the kind of fowls they desire to use for egg-laying pur- poses. Does any one suppose that any man desiring to improve his White Leg- horn flock would be satisfied in using ing any bird which ga\e anything but white feathers ? I hear you all saying, "That is a fool question." Yes, but is it any more so than to receive a queen for pure Italian when, with a magnify- ing glass, she shows nothing but black on her abdomen .'' Any customer of a queen - breeder advertising Italian queens e.xpects to receive one having some (or more) yellow about her body. Otherwise he or she will be a " dissatis- fied customer." So color, of necessity, must play a certain part in judging queens of any race or variety. But this need be only a part. Probably the point looking toward the best results from any given queen, is the way or manner in which she de- posits her eggs in the cells. A really good queen attaches her eggs very nearly in the center of the bottom of all cells in which she lays. I would hardly be willing to use as a breeder any queen that did not do this. I have had queens which attached their eggs at any place in the bottoms of the cells, but all such proved of little value. Then I have had queens which deposited their eggs, fully one-fourth of them, on the sides of the cells, such proving themselves the least valuable of any. Again, a good queen, when putting her first brood of the season in the combs, should place an egg in nearly, if not quite, every cell in the circle in which these eggs are deposited. A queen which "scatters" may not be as poor as those spoken of above, but unless " hard pressed," I should hesitate to use such a one for the improvement of stock. Now, in all of the above I have been speakin.g of selecting a queen reared in my own apiary. Many things tend to complicate matters where a queen is purchased from abroad. Queens sent from one part of the world to another are, by this sending, thrown into an abnormal condition which has a ten- dency to destroy the regularity of their laying, and often their individual use- fulness ; but this may not have any effect on the usefulness of their prog- eny. If there has been anything in the past that has puzzled queen-breeders, and given many of them no end of worry, it has been to send out a fine tested breeder, and then have the pur- chaser condemn her in unmeasured terms. And, while there may have been a lack of proper judging with some, it is more likely than otherwise that the most of such complainers had the truth on their side, an(i that it was the journey, the method of introduc- tion, or something of that sort, that made the difference in the behavior of the queen, in the hands of the pur- chaser, from what it was in the hands of the breeder who sent her o\it. I have my doubts about any queen taken from her colony when she is in the height of her egg-laying, and kept from the same in a cage with a few bees from (I to 21 hours, ever doing Iiiiic, 1i)13. American Vee Journal ^=^^1^^^ the good work she would have con- tinued doing had she never been mo- lested. I remember of a man coming to my apiary some years ago, and after care- fully looking over 5 or (I of the colo- nies containing my best queens, he selected one which both he and I con- sidered as good as there was in the yard. This was in August. The next spring he complained that the queen was " no good," and it was with much difficulty that I persuaded him to give the queen a further trial, especially by the way of her daughters. The result was, that I sold him more queens from this same strain of stock than I did to any other person. If the minds of bee-keepers could, with proper understanding, grasp the thought of valuing a purcliased queen for the stock that can be secured from her eggs, rather than for what s/ic may do herself, a greater advantage would accrue to the bee-keeping world. As long as any purchaser is willing to test only the individual queen he buys, for the amount of honey /u-r worker progeny produces, there will be little advance along the line of improvement of stock. And this comes home to me with the more force, as it was a matter I had to learn many years ago. I bought many queens in the latter '70's and early '80's, but, like others, thought no further than that these queens bought must of themselves give better results than was given from the stock I already had, if th«;y were to be of use to me. Finally, I had a queen sent to me by a noted breeder, saying she was of the best stock in the world. I tested her by giving her every advan- tage possible, but when fall came she had not sufficient bees for wintering. I was about to kill her, when the thought came to me to try her another year. So I gave her brood and honey from other colonies so that her colony came through the ne.xt spring in fine shape. But she did no better than the year before. Getting exasperated, along the latter part of June, I went to her hive with the resolve to kill her, as nearly all my other colonies were doing good work in the sections, while her colony had not bees enough to cover the brood- combs, to say nothing about the sec- tions. As I was about to end her "mor- tal career," the thought arrested me that this noted breeder would not send me a queen that he did not consider good enough to breed from. And if she was good enough for him, she should be good enough for me. So, instead of killing her, I started a batch of queen-cells from her young larva; which were scattered about the combs to such an extent that I hesitated in the matter, even after I had begun. But before any of the young queens showed what they would be and do, the old queen died, and so I very nearly lost the use of a queen from the best stock I ever had in my apiary. In other words, had I killed this queen at either of the two times when I re- solved to do so, I would hare killed "the goose that laid the golden egg." Allow me to let the reader see what this "golden egg" was. One of these queens was the mother of the colony which gave me 5(16 pounds of honey the next year. This honey was sold as follows: 4t)(i pounds at ^0 cents, and 1(X) pounds at 15 cents. Result, $108.»). I never had a queen that centered her eggs any better than this one, nor one that put her brood in a more com- pact form when laying. And the others from the same batch of cells did good work, giving a better average than did the best queens I had before. I could In the above, I have given the readers of the American Bee Journal my ideas of how to judge queens reared in their own apiaries, and how the judging should be done of those procured from the dilTerent breeders of queens, and from the different apiarists throughout the world. Borodino, N. Y. S. A. NivER Picking Himalaya Blackber- ries AT W. A. Pryal's in California. hardly forgive myself for not breeding from the old queen during the whole time she was with me. However, this lesson made a more lasting impression on my mind than if it had been other- wise. And I gained enough by that one batch of queen-cells from her brood to give nie far more profit than was received from all the honey sold from the whole apiary that year; for these queens, and especially this best one, were used to lay the foundation for my apiary, used all the way up to the present time. Recognition of Bee-Keeping in Agricultural Colleges BY L. v. FRANCE. /iV,/(/ bi'l'ore the weetiiiu of the Wisconsin Bee- Keepers' Association Feb. 20. 1QI2. Last fall I entered the University in- tending to put in about a year and a half of other necessary work before be- ing ready for much work in bees and bee-keeping. .\ little investigation showed that apiculture might be recog- nized at the Wisconsin Agricultural College some time in the future. Soon after entering, in my visits to a number of bee-keepers in and about Madison, I learned that there were a couple of colonies of bees in the Uni- versity orchard, and that some men- tion was made in an entomological course, of the anatomy of the honey- bee. I investigated and found two, not up-to-date, but nevertheless colonies of bees, each with one super, in one cor- ner of the orchard. These two colo- nies were under the care of the Horti- cultural Department, and I found out little concerning them. Just before Thanksgiving, and a num- ber of times since, I have conferred with our economic entomologist, Prof. Sanders, who would have charge of any apicultural work when given, and I find that he is most an.xious to intro- duce work with bees. Prof. Sanders has probably done his /'«// share so far, in working for recognition of such work, and the State Bee-Keepers' Asso- ciation will find in him one of the greatest, if not the greatest, helper in securing apicultural recognition by the Wisconsin College of Agriculture. When recognition is accomplished — and the earliest work that would be offered would be given the last quarter of the ne.\t University year, probably from the middle of April to June, 1913, unless present conditions change — the instruction and apiary work will be along the line of practical essentials of the best Wisconsin bee-keeping. A number of students have inquired about work with bees, both this year and last. If a course in bee-keeping were offered, without doubt it would be well received, and would grow in popu- larity and strength. One result of Uni- versity recognition of apiculture that would directly benefit the bee-keepers of today, would be the publication of valuable material free for the asking. In addition, the University would be working with you in the study of the correct management and problems of Wisconsin bee-keeping. The association could hold its meet- ings in one of the Agricultural build- ings, where excellent accommodations are present for room, seating, lantern at any time, etc., and the College would gladly welcome you. About 3 weeks ago, during a period of about 2 weeks, June, 1912. American Vee Journal nearly 2(1 different associations held meetings at the Col'ege of Agriculture, help being given by tlie College in numerous ways. Even though bee- keeping were not recognized at the College to the extent of offering courses or maintaining an apiary, you would still be royally welcomed, and all assistance possible would be given. Yon may ask, do other State Agricul- tural Colleges recognize bee-keeping ? State Agricultural Colleges that do not re,ognizf apiculture and do not contemplate its recognition, are as fol- lows : Alabama Auburn Arizona Tucson Connecticut Storrs Delaware Newark Florida Gainesville Georeia Athens Idaho Moscow Iowa Ames Louisiana Baton Rouee course; a short course: and a correspond- ence course. Minnesota. Minneapolis— One course and an apiary. Nebraska. Lincoln — One hour course: api- ary contemplated. Ohio. Columbus— E. R. Root gives a course of lectures in winter. One course is offered. Oreeon. Corvallis— One course; the short course stutlents get lectures on bee-keepinn. 20 students in the course offered, in January. I9I2. Pennsylvania. .State College — "A rather imperfect correspondence course." Rhode Island. Kingston— Mr. A. C. Miller gives a summer course. South Dakota. Brookings— Summer School Course. Tennessee, Knoxville— A short course in bee-keeping offered; a spring course con- templated; there is sufficient demand for a year course; have an apiary of i6 colonies of 3 and 5 banded Italians. Let us note a few figures from the 1910 census concerning Wisconsin and our five close neighboring States: 1910 Census Farms Col's. Value State with Bees Value per Remarks concerning college recognition. Bees Repfd Col'y Iowa 28,035 160.025 $517,300 $3.23 No recognition, and none contemplated. Illinois 2Q.74I 155.846 487.700 3.12 Contemplates recognition. Michigan... i5,8g2 115.274 446,500 3.87 Recognized api. Contemplate elec. courses. Wisconsin. 10.301 05.6i8 360.500 3.76 Contemplate recognition. Indiana — 10.487 8o,Q38 230,500 2.84 A good part of Entomology No. 12. Minnesota. Q.S22 56.677 221.800 3.PI A two-fifths course and apiary. Maine Orono Conditions are somewhat similar in Missouri Columbia these fi States ML',u'fn^^''.'.:.\\\\''.'."."".'.'.""Boz° min You will note that the States are ar- Nevada Reno ranged in the order of the value of the NorthCarolina.. ...West Raleigh bees, Iowa being first. Also note that North Dakota Agncutural College .,,. -■ . ■ u . ■ tu u r New Jersey . .New Brunswick Illinois is highest in the number of South Carolina Clemson College farms reporting bees, but that she is Vermont..... Burlington second in colonies of bees reported, West Virginia Morgantown , 1 • c t 'ri, 1 1 Wyoming Laramie Iowa being first. The value, per colony, Washington Pullman is highest in Minnesota. Wisconsin Arkansas Fayettville stands fifth in farms reporting bees, State Agricultural Colleges that do fourth in colonies of bees reported, and not recognize apiculture, but do conlem- in value of the bees, and third in value plate its recognition, are as follows : per colony. Note that Minnesota stands Utah. Logan, sixth and Wisconsin fifth in number of Kentucky. Lexington— Already recognized farms reporting bees, and that, on the in entomology course. Have had experimen- average, practically ti colonies are found Ilfinois!u"brnr ''''''"■ on each farm reporting bees in Minne- Kansas'. Manhattan— Informal instruction sola, but in Wisconsin practically 9 to interested students. Contemplate elec- colonies, on the average, are found on 'Mar?h[nd: College Park. each farm reporting bees. For Michi- Michigan. E. Lansing— Have recognized gan the average number of colonies bee-keeping. Contemplate elective courses. reported per farm is practically 7, New Hampshire. Durham. c t i- i f _ r < .„ p ^„A («- Tii; New York. Ithaca, at Cornell University. lor Indiana 4, for loWa b, and for Illi- nois 5. We further note that the Min- State Agricultural Colleges that rcc- ngsota Agricultural College has a agnize apiculture in entomology courses- course in bee-keeping; Indiana has a Indiana, La Fayette-Part of entomology good part of entomology 12; Michi- course No. 12. . gan has had such work, and contem- ,w!l'nfr''/^^iA^'"^'°""' remarks in ,^j^^ further work; Illinois contem- New Mexico. Agricultural College-Rec- plates recognizing bee-keeping, and Denize bee-keeping in entomology course. Wisconsin, also. Can Wisconsin go a Oklahoma. Stillwater - Recognize bee- . (,,rtli^r nnrl U-pen nace with nnr keeping concretely in entomology, have a step lurtlier ana keep pace witn our small apiary, and often use bees in the ex- neighboring States .'' Shall we be like tension work of the College. lowa, with the greatest value of bees Texas. College Station - Recognize bee- , i ._„f number of colonies re- keeping in entomology course; some work ana W^pl niimDer ot colonies re- in apiary given, ported of the 0 States, and have no thought given to bee-keeping in the State Agricultural Colleges that do College of Agriculture ; or like Minne- recognize hee-keeping in bee-keeping ^^j^ ^jj^ the least value of bees and courses: least number of colonies reported have California. Berkeley— 3 courses, ist api- 3 course in bee-keeping and an apiary ? culture, 2d apiary, 3d research. Have had .1^0 1 i 1 j joi apicultural courses for nearly 20 years. 75 About i weeks ago I had some dlffi- students in loro loii. culty in making out a satisfactory pro- Canada. (Juelph—Morerecognition than in gram for the second semester, or see- any other North American Agricultural Col- jjj^j ^3,f ypg^.j ^Q^,. J j^jjj g j^j.g^ Tolorado, Fort Collins-Understood that fi^hs "r four-fifths course to secure in C, P. Gillette will give a course. i-a order to obtain my desired amount of Massachusetts, Anilu-rst One regularjlwork, and not finding desired courses available, I went to Prof. Sanders apd asked if I could not do a little research work in bees ? " I hardly see how you can do anything. We haven't a single thing for you to work with. It might be possible, however, for you to go on with your Agricultural College work and such work if you wished." So, S. A. NivER Capturing a Swarm at W. A. Pryal's, With a Niver E.xtension Swarm-Catcher. with that work, a study of Wisconsin bee-keeping conditions, and a study of the development of Wisconsin bee- keeping is being taken up, and I feel that the College of Agriculture here will secure the best and most correct information requested, from bee-keep- ers who are members of the State Bee- Keepers' Association, for I know, be- cause you are members, and are here at an expenditure of time and money, that you are sincerely interested in any June, inTi. American Hee Journal endeavor tliat works for the better- ment of Wisconsin bee-keeping. Wisconsin University is ready to recognize apiculture. Why is it not done ? A real demand for its recogni- tion is necessary, and who is more capable of voicing a real demand for such recognition, and more sincere in voicing that demand than the State Bee-Keepers' Association ? If your meeting had been held in January in- stead of this month, and such a demand as I mention, in the form of a request, had been handed in so that its influ- ence could have been brought to bear about two weeks ago, when Prof. San- ders conferred on this subject with Dean Russell, a trial course in bee- keeping, with a small apiary offered, in the Summer School this coming sum- mer, might have been secured. Madison, Wis. Convention ^ Proceedings Report of the New York State Bee-Keepers' Meeting The annual meeting of the New York State Bee-Keepers' Association was held in Syracuse, N. Y., Jan. 'SO and 31, 1912. The meeting was well attended. Mr. H. B. Tyrrell, editor of the Bee- Keepers' Review, gave an address on co-operation. It seemed to be the gen- eral sentiment that co-operation is a good thing, and a coming thing. H. L. Case and Oscar Dines gave a description and illustration of the plan they use in rearing queens. This plan greatly simplifies the labor of queen- rearing, yet it produces as good queens as the more laborious method. Prof. H. A. Surface, of Harrisburg, Pa., gave an address on, "Better Keep Bees, Keep Better Bees, Keep Bees Bet- ter, the Cause and Prevention of Swarm- ing." Among the points mentioned were, that orchardists should keep bees unless others kept some near them; that we should constantly seek to im- prove our strain of bees; that we should thoroughly ripen our honey on the hive; that swarming is caused by conditions that tend to make the bees uncomfortable, and is largely prevented by removing these conditions; that non-swarming strains are apt to swarm if these conditions are present. Mr. R. F. Holtermann gave an ad- dress on the control of swarming. This address contained a number of points worth knowing. The discussion on bee-diseases showed that since the nature of Euro- pean foul brood has come to be quite generally understood, it has lost most of its terror to the bee-keepers of this State. There was considerableanxiety mani- fested as to the nature of the Isle of Wight disease. The State Department of Agriculture was asked to investigate this disease to the end that they might be in a position to assist in its prompt suppression should it appear. The United States government was asked to take such measures as might be necessary to prevent the importation of this disease, even should it be nec- essary for a time to prohibit the impor- tation of bees or honey from places where the disease is known or believed to exist. A vote of thanks was given Dr. Har- vey W. Wiley, for his untiring zj»1 and unswerving integrity in the enforce- ment of pure food laws. Irving Kenyon, Sec. Camillus, N. Y. Wisconsin Association Meeting The 33d annual convention of the Wisconsin State Bee-Keepers' Associa- tion was called to order at 10:30 a.m., by Vice-President F. Wilcox, at Madi- son, Wis., Feb. 20, 1912. The minutes of the last convention were read and approved. The Secre- tary's report was read, followed by the Treasurer's report, and, on motion, both reports were accepted. The Question-Box was then taken up. Question— Considering the unusuallycold weather, what may be tlie results of outdoor wintering? Ans. — It all depends upon the preparation niade for outdoor wintering, and the condition of the colony. All colo- nies put in strong, with food near the clus- ter, and properly prepared, should winter all right; the weak colonies will probably perish. Continued cold is better than open winter weather. The entrances should be kept open, as the bees will worry when they find themselves shut in. QuEs.— Is it profitable to wrap hives with building paper in the spring, after being taken out of the cellar? Ans.— It was the decided opinion of those who are in the habit of covering theirhives in this way that it is a success, and well pays for the expense and trouble. Express paper was claimed to be better than building paper, as it will not break in folding. Mr. Allen showed asample of heavy paper that he used, that will not break in folding. QifES. — How much bisulphide of carbon should be used for a pile of comb-honey supers, piled 15 high ? Ans. — It depends upon the tightness of the pile. Mr. Ochsner uses burning sulphur in a closed room. Mr. Allen thinks 15 supers too high, and one ounce enough for a pile. Most of the mem- bers never find the need of any such treat- ment tor new comb honey. Store it at once in a place by itself, and away from the old combs, as moths will not get into comb honey, unless exposed near brood or ex- tracting combs. QifES. — Is it advisable to take bees out of the cellar NIarch ist. and leave them out if they are showing any signs of dysentery at this time ? Ans.— It depends upon what the weather is March ist. If favorable, give them a flight and return them to the cellar. Nlr. Chase put them out March 17th. cover- ed them with paper and left them out. He believes it saved his bees. A bee-keeper with many bees can not put them out and in as easily as one with only a few. and must necessarily take some chances. QuES — Is it necessary to feed strong colo- nies in the spring, for the purpose of stimu- lating brood-rearing? Ans.— Most of the members advised lettini; them alone, if they have plenty of stores. It might be advisable, in a case where there is no early bloom of any kind tor the bees to work on. Too much feeding creates suspicion of making sugar honey, and should be avoided. If one colony has honey to spare, give to the one short. The convention adjourned to meet at 1 :30 p.m. Afternoon Se.s.si()n. The convention was called to order by thf President, Jacob Huffman, at 1 Ab p.m. On motion, and by unanimous vote, the visitors who were present, consist- ing of C. P. Dadant, of Hamilton, 111., George W. York, of Chicago, 111., and Paul Hunten, of Colorado, were made honorary members of this Association. QuEs.— Is there any race of bees ahead of the 3-bandcd Italians? Ans.— Some claim a decided preference for the Carniolans, giving good reasons, but most of the bee- keepers favor the Italians. Oi'ES. — Do any of the golden Italians come up to the j-banded for honey or wintering? Ans.— The difference between the 3-banded and golden Italians is considered largely a matter of fancy. QuES.— Is the Jones system a sure control of swarming, when running for comb honey ? Ans. — This system finds no favor with any one here. It is too radical, too weakening, and the result not always sure. QuES— Which is better in a dry cellar, bottoms oft and covers on. or both bottoms and covers ofl with quilts on top? Ans.— Bottoms off, with tight covers. QuES.— How do you fill 00-pound cans? Gross weight (>o pounds, or do you put 60 pounds into the can ? Ans —It should be 60 pounds net weight in the can. if you sell it for bo pounds. Both the federal and the Wisconsin laws are stringently positive on this question; a seller must furnish the weight and measure claimed. QuEs.— Are the Carniolans any better for comb honey than the Italians? Ans.— Mr. C>chsner says they are better workers, also make a better and smoother capping, are very gentle, and are handled without a veil. He claims they are distinct from either the Italians or blacks. The conventipn then proceded to the reading of the papers presented by the following members : Gustav Gross, H. H. Moe, which was read by the Secre- tary, F. Wilcox, George W. York, E. D. Ochsner, A. C. Allen, Harry Lathrop. After the reading of the papers the President declared a recess, to give the awarding committee time to report on them. The committee on awards reported as follows : ist Premium, A. C. Allen $5 00 2d " E D. Ochsner 300 3d " Harry Lathrop 2 00 4th " Gustav Gross 100 The report was accepted, and the Secretary was authorized to draw or- ders for the several amounts. The following resolution was pre- sented by F. Wilcox ; Rtsolved. That the Wisconsin State Bee- Keepers' Association, in convention assem- bled, does hereby become a branch of the Na- tional Association, and ask recognition when 25 or more of our members shall have become members of the National Associa- tion. On motion the resolution was adopt- ed. Evening Session. The convention was called to order by the President at 8 p.m. QiEs— Which is the better way to get early increase, by natural swarminf or by dividing? Ans —Divide and furnish each with a young queen. Do not divide your strongest colonies, but let them alone. If you are bound to divide, use your medium colonies for that purpose, and let the weak ones alone. Oi'ES — What feed is the best for fall and spring feeding ? Ans.— Honey is always the best, and sugar syrup is the next best. In the spring Is the only time for stimulative feeding. OtE.s.— Is a steam-heated knife practical Tune. I'llJ. American ISee Journal for a small bee-keeper, and if so. in what way? Ans.— You can not afford to be with- out one. if you have only lo colonies. It costs somethinr. but the money expended saves time, and it does better work. QuE.s.— Wliich is the better can for ship- ping, the square or tlie round? Ans.— The square can is preferable, because it packs better and closer in the box, and is conse- quently better for shipping. QUES.— Should cement coated nails be used in nailing covers on shipping-cases? Ans.— They are very objectionable, as they split and break the cover in pulling them out The attention of the manufacturers should be called to this matter. QuES.— What can I do to prevent bees from getting moldy and damn, wintering in a damp cellar? Ans— Put bundles of dry straw on the cellar bottom before putting the bees in. The straw will gather moisture and may help you. QuES.— What is the best way to prevent all increase ? Ans— Shake the bees or swarm into an empty hive or box. and keep them there for 48 hours, and then shake them into the old hive, after having first de- stroyed all queen-cells. QuES— Is too much pollen detrimental to successful wintering? Ans— It will not hurt them if they do not cat it. But they will winter better without any pollen in the hive. QuES.— Is it practical to use a capping melter at all times, when extracting honey ? Ans — It may be practical, but it is not ad- visable, as It will usually darken the honey. QuES.- Does clipping affect a queen in laying? Ans.— If properly clipped it will not affect her in any way. Ql'ES.— Will the Kretchmer wax press do as good work as any other? .^Ns.- Mr. France and others think it as good as any other, and possibly better than some, ex- cepting the Hershiser. The convention adjourned itntil H a.m. Wednesday. WEDNESDAY— Morning Session. Jacob Huffman's bill of $8.65, travel- ing expenses for attending the National convention at Minneapolis as a dele- gate, was read, and, on motion, or- dered paid. On motion, the convention pro- ceeded to the election of officers by- ballot for the ensuing year, and the following were declared elected ; President, Jacob Huffman ; Vice- President, F. Wilco.x; Secretary, Gus Dittmer; Treasurer, A. C. Allen; dele- gate to National, A. C. Allen; alter- nate, Harry Lathrop. On motion, F. Wilcox was selected for judge of the apiarian exhibits at the State Fair, to be recommended for appointment by the State Board of Agriculture. On motion, F. Wilcox, E. D. Ochs- ner, and A. L. Kleeber were appointed as a committee for revising and recom- mending premiums on apiarian ex- hibits. Mr. Lloyd V. France addressed the convention on " The introduction of an apiarian course in connection with the agricultural course at the Wiscon- sin University." Mr. France then asked the opinion of the Association as to the advisability of establishing such a course, and the prevailing opinion being in favor of such a proposition, a committee com- posed of Lloyd V. France, Herman E. Gloege, and L. W. Parman was ap- pointed to consider the matter, draft resolutions, and report at the afternoon session. Said committee to be perma- nent, and with power to act in any manner necessary to obtain the course. The convention adjourned until 1 :30 p.m. Afternoon Session. The Committee on Apiarian Course at the Agricultural College, reported the following resolution, which, on motion, was adopted by a unanimous vote of the ccjnvenion : Resolved. That the Wisconsin State Bee- Keepers' Association request the Agricul- tural College at Madison, to introduce and add bee-keeping to its regular work as soon as possible, and that we assure tha College of our hearty cooperation and support as an association, and as individual bee keep ers. And in the event said College shall ac- cept this resolution, the State Bee-Keepers' Association will i;ladly donatea few colonies of bees and supplies to introduce the same. Signed. I.. V. France. Hkkman K. Gi.oege. L. W, Parman. The above resolution was ordered countersigned by the President and Secretary, and officially presented to the proper authorities of the Agricul- tural College. The committee on resolutions pre- sented the following; Resolved. That the Wisconsin State Bee- Keepers' Association deplores the loss by death of one of its oldest members. Mr. A. J. Ochsner. of Prairie du Sac. who. from the earliest days of its organization, did all that he could to foster whatever was best for Wisconsin bee-keeping, and that we ex- tend to his family our sincere sympathy in their loss. Resolved. That we as members of the Wis- consin State Bee-Keepers' Association con- sider it the paramount duty of each one to attend all the sessions of the annual meet- ings each year, unless prevented by some unavoidable cause, and that it is the duty of each one to encourage other bee-keepers to become members. Resolved. That this Association is thankful for the kindness of the officials of Dane county in allowing us the use of a room in the Court House for our convention. Signed, Harry Lathrop. Herman F. Gloege. L W. Parman. The above resolutions were adopted unanimously. Mr. Ochsner spoke at length on the subject of a better and more satisfac- tory grading of honey, to be established by the next National convention, and suggested that our delegate work to that end. Prof. Sanders, of the Agricultural College, being present, addressed the convention on the subject of adding apiculture to the agricultural course. His talk was well received, and pleased the members. After an informal discussion of pa- pers that had been read at this conven- tion, the convention adjourned at 3:15 p.m. Girs Dittmer, Sec. Dr. Miller*s Answers^ Send Questions either to the office of the American Bee Journal or direct to Dr. C. C. Miller. Marengo, fLi,. He does not answer bee-keeping questions by mail. What to Do for Wax-Worms What can I do for worms in bees ? Cuba. Answer.— The best remedy for wax- worms, as the larvae of the bee-moth are called, is a big lot of bees. The worms are not likely to get much of a start in a rousing colony, but a weak, discouraged colony is their proper prey. If your bees are blacks, you will find that changing to Italian blood will be a great help. Indeed a colony of good Italian blood, even if quite weak, will keep the worms at bay. If the worms have made a fair start, it may be worth while to give the bees some lielo. At least you can dig out the big fel- lows. Take a wire nail and dig a hole into one end of the gallery that the worm has built. Now start at the other end. and as you dig the gallery open the worm will crawl along and come out of the hole you first made, when you can dispatch it. first swarming. But if a colony is not very strong, it will be better not to shake until it becomes pretty strong. All this is rather indefinite. Better be definite. Look in the hive and see if the queen-cells are present. If not. wait a week or 10 days and look again. If you never find any started by looking every week or lo days, let them alone and be thankful that you have such an unusual thing as a colony that has no desire to swarm. If you find queen-cells started, shake— or at least shake before any cells are sealed, for the colony will swarm about the time the first cell is sealed. Preventing Swarming With Alley Queen-Trap and by Shaking 1. Can I use an Alley uueeii-trap to catch the queen in swarming-time, or will the bees kill her? 2, How can I tell when to shake a swarm to stop it from swarming ? New York. Answers.— I. You can use an Alley queen- trap, and when the bees swarm the queen will be caught in the trap, and when the swarm discovers the lack of a queen it will return. But that leaves you still to attend 10 the case. You may take all but one frame of brood, put it in a new hive with enough bees to keep the brood from chilling; set this on a new stand {only be sure not to shake the combs so as to kill the queen- cells 1. and leave the rest of the bees with the queen on the old stand with the one frame of brood, filling up the hive with drawn combs or frames filled with foundation. If you prefer no dividing, you may remove or kill the old queen and kill all queen-cells but one, leaving brood and all on the old stand. 2. If you can tell when swarming begins in your neighborhood, shake at time of very Prime and After-Swarms— Entrances at End tr Side of Hive 1. What do you do when you have a prime and after-swarm unite; or don't you have them do those tricks ? They do so with me, and then they kill both queens. The bees liave been swarming more than usual. My first one issued April 2d. and 1 have had from one to 10 swarms every day for a week — not less than 5. and some days 7 or H May- be there wasn't some humming around here. 2. One man from Texas said that it was generally understood and believed that bees get more air with an opening in the end rather than in the side of the hive. I don t believe they get more air-from the end than fromtheside. I make myown hives, and they open at the side, except a few that I have • gotten of other people, which have their entrances at the end. The bees in hives opening at the side do better, and we have some warm weather down here. Louisiana. Answers.— I. Where much swarming is going on it is not a very uncommon thing for two swarms to unite, sometimes more than two. and they may be prime swarms or after-swarms, or both. It may happen, as in your case, that both queens arc killed 'I'he usual thing, however, is tiiat one of the queens is left, and in the case of a laying and a virgin queen, the laying queen is more likely to be left. If the after-swarm is small there may be no loss in having the two unite. Neither queen is likely to be killed immediately, but both balled for some time. luiic. 1013. American IBee Journal So the bees may be divi'ded. nart put in one hive and part in another, ana a queen given to each. But it is better to prevent all after-swarms in the way so often described. I-five the prime swarm and set it on the old stand, placint; tlie mother colony close beside it, facing the same way; then a week later move the mother colony to a new stand some distance away. 2. In this country it is almost the universal custom for hives to be made with frames running at right angles to the entrance, or. as you call it, with the hives opening at the end. In l*'.urope it is quite common to have the frames run parallel to the entrance. The latter is called the warm arrangement, and the former the cold arrangement. With the cold arrangement it looks as if the air has the same chance at all the frames, and so it is supposed that it is colder. The probability is that the difference is not so very great either way. At any rate, it is the right thing for you to use the kind that does the best with you. Does the Catalpa Blossom Yield Honey ? I wrote to an experienced bee-keeper in New .Jersey, asking if he had had any suc- cess in securing honey from the catalpa- tree ? He replied thus: "So far as my ob- servation extends. I can not recall a single instance where bees were seen on catalpa blossoms, and I have looked for them time and time again in these monstrous flowers. What a pity that they are as dry of nectar as bleached sawdust!" Noting that the "A B C of Bee Culture" classes thecatalpa-tree among honey-plants, will you kindly let me know whether you think my New Jersey correspondent is cor- rect in his belief? Connf.cticut, Answer.— It is entirely possible that your correspondent and the "A B C " are both correct. Bees are discriminating in their tastes, and have decided preferences. This year dandelions were in bloom abundantly, and scarcely a bee was to be seen on them. A few days later bees were on them a-plenty. 1 suppose that at first they had fruit-bloom enough to occupy them, and cared less for dandelions. When fruit-bloom became scarce dandelions had their full attention. Strawberries have always been plenty on my place— some years by the acre— so I had good opportunity to observe them, and for years I never saw a bee on them;- but after- ward I did see bees on strawberry-bloom. So it may easily be that your correspondent never saw bees working on catalpa while they have been seen elsewhere; and it may also be that your New Jersey friend will yet see catalpas humming with bees. Keeping Out-Apiaries — Clipping Queens Protect- ing Combs 1. Suppose you wanted to keep as many as wo colonies of bees, but did not want to bother with much work in out-apiaries, how would this plan be: Have about 150 colo- nies in your home yard, then in 2 or 3 out- yards have 20 to 50 nuclei, or 10 colonies in each, and increase to ab«ut 40 ? There would then be no swarming and few trips. 2. Would it be advisable to clip the wings of golden untested queens before releasing in queenless nuclei for fear the queens might fly away ? \. If empty drawn combs remain in the hives all summer, and the hives are clean, is there danger of the combs becoming moldy ? If such hives were not to be used, would you close up the entrances to keep out moths ? Illinois. Answers.— I. I don't understand lust what the details are. but it seems you depend upon the home apiary for honey crops, leav- ing the out-apiaries to grow colonies from nviclei. That will work all right for tfie out- apiaries: but when you talk about 150 in the home yard, it raises the question whether you have pasturage for them. I suspect that in most places in Illinois, in an average year. 75 colonies will yield more surplus than 150. Stop and iigure a little. Suppose we have 75 colonies in a locality so good that by using up all the honey within reach they will give a surplus of 100 pounds per colony. Instead of 75 colonies, make the number 150, and see how we come out. It is estimated that 200 pounds of honey is con- sumed by a colony in a year for its own use. When we had 75 colonies we got 100 pounds of surplus beside the 200 pounds needed for self-support of each colony. That made 300 pounds gathered by each colony, or 22.500 pounds in all. and that cleaned the field. \\ hen wc keep 150 colonies, and allow 2aKe 12 as sayinii lighter- colored queens. If I wrote that I made a mi-^take. as I intended to say le;ither-col- ored. I think no more of the goldens than I do of black queens. I think they will have foul brood just about (he same. I shall have to lock horns with .1, 1- Byer. also with the Kditor of (jleanings in Hee Culture, if they refer to leather color. .Not one of my leather- colored bees caught foul brood. While I had a few blacks in my own yard, every one that I bought and all my other blacks and goldens had foul brood that fall, and I de- stroyed them, which I would not do now. Oneof my neighbor'sbeeshad foulbrood the same time, and I let him have some (jueens. That was s years ago. and he has not seen any signs of it since. I have lost quite a lot of colonies by foul brood, but in all it does not make me feel very bad. as it has cleaned up every black colony within several miles of my place. I offered to give queens, but they said black bees were good enough for them. Along in 1800 to 1.S75 this town had about 2500 colonies. Most every farmer kept from one to 100. Now itto will cover all of them. I have most of them. As nearly as I can learn, the farmers within 20 miles have lost about 50 percent. I lost about 20 percent. C. M, Lincoln, West Rupert. Vt. Saved 4 Out of 8 Colonies I secured 8 colonies of bees during the winter, and have saved 4 of them, mice killed off one. and the others starved or froze to death. I do not know a drone from a worker-bee. nor what the queen looks like. I do know that I enjoy eating honey, and that the work of the bee is. to me. very fascinating as I watch them, seemingly so wise and exceed- ingly industrious. I am past 50 years old. I always wanted to keep bees, but hitherto have not been sit- uated so it were possible. I am now on a little is-acre farm 14 miles from Omaha. I am trying it. W. D. Stambaugh. Richfield. Nebr.. May 10. Bee-Culture in Missouri I have had several letters from parties liv- ing in the North, asking about Missouri as a bee-country. Our State now ranks fourth; it has ranked third in the past, there are said to be over 40.000 bee keepers in the State: the last census did not give quite so many, but I deem the statistics very unreliable, as the bees were not count- ed in the cities and towns, and there are a great many so located. Over 200.000 colo- nies of bees have been enumerated, gather- ing over n. 000.000 pounds of honey in a year. But to count a part and leave out a part is of very little value as to our resources. The State is not as well developed in bee- culture as it could be. while I am sure we have many bee-keepers who are up to date. Souvenir l?ee I'o.stal Cards We have 4 Souvenir Postal Cards of interest to bee-keepers. No. 1 is a Teddy Bear card, with stanza of poetry, a straw bee-hive, a jar and section of honey, etc. It is quite sentimental. No. 2 has the words and music of the song, "The Bee-Keeper's Lullaby ;" No. 3, the words and nuisic of " Buckwheat Cakes and Honey;" and No. 4, the words and music of "The Humming of the Bees." We send these cards, postpaid, as follows: 4 cards for 10 cents, 10 cards for 20 cents ; or 10 cards with the American Bee Journal one year for $1.10. Send all orders to the office of the American Bee Journal. thousands keep bees in a crude way. If they used good methods they could make it pay. I have missed only one season in 22 years in securing any honey at all, but in 3 different seasons I have secured 200 pounds of extracted honey per colony. Fruit bloom in early spring, white clover coming soon after, and the Spanish-needles in the fall, are the best sources of honey crops, although there are many blossoms coming between these. I have secured two small crops from corn-tassels, one from heartsease, or the short jointed smartweed: then we have considerable golden-rod and other plants, but these honeys are mixed throughout the season. Of course, we have red clover; sweet clover is yielding largely in places and spreading, and alfalfa is be- ing largely grown. While at the Kansas City meeting of our association last September. I went into Clay county to visit our new sec- retary. Mr. J. F. Diemer. at Liberty, and while there sampled some honey gathered from alfalfa by his bees. I had several letters asking about the Ozark country. Some of our best bee-keep- ers are there and secure good crops of honey. Some parts of that country are vet unoccupied, or. in other words, much of it is still wild and rough, but many large or- chards are located there, and it has a much milder climate than northern Missouri. We had at one time over 250 members of our State Association, but many are neglect- ing to keep up their membership; it works quite a hardship upon those who remain faithful, to carry on the work. The State is capable of much improvement, and could yield much greater crops than ha\'e ever yet been secured. J. W. Rol'se. Mexico, Mo, Weather Conditions in Southern California The following letters will show how quickly conditions may change in Cali- fornia: First Letter, I presume I am giving you no news when I tell you .Southern California has been hit harder this winter than ever before that I know of. November and December were very cold, and for 8 or 10 nights it was impos- sible to keep the frost out of the citrus or- chards, and the result is over one-half of the fruit is worthless. Loss up into the mil- lions. Then the rains refused to come, and today our grain-fields are dry, and the grain that came up with the less than 2 inches of rain to date stands ready to die. Our honey- plants that started 2 or 3 times to grow a lit- tle, are now so far gone that it is probable five-sixths of the bees will starve next sum- mer. We intend sending a lot over to the fields in Imperial county, but the majority can not be taken there. P'armers are in a panic over no prospects of pasture— for not a green blade of grass is to be seen, and the skies areas blue as in August. G. F. Merriam. San Marcos. Calif.. Feb. 27. 1012. Second Letter. February came a^id went without a drop of rain. The first one in 63 years. March was only 1 hours old when it began to rain, and has kept it up ever since, giving all Cali- fornia a good soaking, and changing the whole aspect of affairs. We have had over 1 inches. A telephone an hour ago says the barometer fell this forenoon to 20.60. The lowest seen here. G. F. Merriam. San Marcos. Calif.. March 12. Third Letter. Still it rains, and the soil is full of water, but the air is cold, and so little sunshine that things do not grow very well. But it is sure to get warm later, G. F. Merriam. San Marcos, Calif., March 30, The Sneeze-Weed or Bitter-Weed of the South The weed referred to on page iw. May. iQt2, is commonly known as sneeze-weed or bitter-weed. I give the following from the Bulletin on Texas honey-plants, issued at College Station. Tex., by Louis H. Scholl: " Sneeze-weed, bitter-weed. Ilelenium tenui- folium. \'ull. Composite family. CompositEe." "River bottoms, etc.. extending from the Gulf of Mexico and Mississippi States to Western Texas iCoulter). abundant on open woodland prairies of Eastern Texas. Honey- yield good in favorable seasons; pollen; honey tolden yellow, heavy body, but very luiic, 1913. ■"^^£gE^=<( Ara^rican Hee Journal bitter, as if 50 percent uuinine. and some pepper were adiieci. June to October." I liave had considerable of this lioney my- self some seasons, and am sure it does yield honey. The writer of the article says bees never work on this until Sept. 15th. while tlie above k'ives it from .June to C>ctober. I have found that bees never work on this in my locality when tiiere is anything else to do. so this, perhaps, accounts for the differ- ence. H. L. Russell. Whittaker. Tex.. May 20. Why I Like the Caucasian Bee A number of years a^o. when the United States Government distributed Caucasian queens among apiarists. I wanted one, and made application for it. They sent me one imported, and two home-bred for drone mothers. 'I'he first season showed them to be very different from the Italians. So, through a friend in Russia. I got two queens from the shores of the Caspian Sea, but they proved to be mixed with too much yellow, and. therefore, tfie iiueens bred from tiiem were not desirable; they sported. Later I found the pure gray Caucasian bee. which proved to be non-sporting, and true to color. I. therefore, contracted to have my queens bred for me exclusively, and for =; years have received ciueens direct. 1 have been experimenting with bees since 187H !l have more experience than wealth , and have now concluded that the Italian and Caucasian bees are the best. The Caucasian bees come across the sea. at times, with not a dead bee in tlic cages, never more than a half dozen; not so with the Italian, although it may be in the line of transportation. I have had Caucasian queens 31 days on the voyage with hardly a dead bee.: Where I have introdpced an Italian queen early in the season, I find Caucasian bees very late in the summer, showing them to be very long lived. In wintering, the other races do not compare with them; they live under very adverse circumstances if they have plenty of stores. They are extra pro- lific, and build up very fast. They never loaf nor lie out in great bunches as the Ital- Several Swarms of Bees Clustered Together. I am sending a picture of a swarm of bees. They were a beautiful sight to a bee-keeper, even if he were not desiring swarms. There were 3 {perhaps 4) swarms in the bunch, and they were hived in 2 separate hives, with 59 honey-sections placed on each. I should think there must have been 3 pecks of bees. Bees in the cellar seem quiet so far. and I am hoping for an early spring, as the winter has been cold and the snowfall light, with the ground frozen but little. Caribou, Maine. Feb. 15. O. B. Griffin. ians do, but are busy either in the hive or in the field. They are very gentle, and when I kill a saucy bee it is never a pure Caucas- ian. The color may not appeal to every one, for they look like the common black bee, but, upon close examination, they differ. When first hatched they are beautiful little lumps of gray. The queens are very long lived. 1 have some doing service that were imported 3 years ago. There is less supersedure, and tlie queens hold out their egg production longer than any bee I have tried. They are are not excessive swarmers. as some claim, but they require larger hives. An ordinary queen will fill two lo-frame Langstroth bodies. Clias. W. Quinn. of Houston Heights, Tex., reports that a breeding-queen bought last year filled two Jumbo bodies with brood. As honey-gatherers they can not be ex- celled, if even equaled. They are very fine comb-builders, and never show that watery color in cappings as is quite often the case with the yellow races. They have one fault; their excessive gath- ering of propolis, which is used for closing cracks and sealing covers, and if the colony is weak they will diminish the entrance to a small opening, no doubt to repel robbers and keep out the cold. For the city apiarist who has neighbors near, the Caucasian is superior to any other kind. They can be handled by lamp-light, and never leave the comb to cawl and annoy you. They do not stop from field-work while handled in the daytime, as they will " zip. zip " away while you are examining the comb; the queens are a little more shy than the Italian. They are excessive bur comb builders if the bee-space is not to their liking. All light must be excluded to get the least bur- combs and propolis. There is no bee equal to them in a fall flow, for the hive is filled with brood at all times except when in their winter quarters, A. D. D. Wood. Lansing. Mich., May 10, Mk. In ATA, Japanese Bee "Bee-Keepers' Guiile" Tliis book on bees is also knowti as the "Manual of the Apiary." It is in- structive, interesting, and both practi- cal and scientific. On the anatomy and physiology of the bee it is more com- plete than any other standard Ameri- can bee-book. Also the part on honey- producing plants is exceptionally fine. Every bee-keeper should have it in his library. It has 544 pages, and 295 illus- trations. Bound in cloth. Price, post- paid, $1.20; or with a year's subscrip- tion to the American Bee Journal — both for $1.90. Send all orders to '■'■» office of the American Eee Journal, June, 1013. American Hee Journal Wants, Exchanges, Etc. (Advertisements in this department will be inserted at I5 cents per line, with no dis- counts of any kind Notices here cannot be less than two lines. If wanted in this de- partment, you must say so when ordering.] BEKS AX1> QUEENS. Ni'TMEG Italian Qveens. leather color, after ,Iune i.Si.oo. A. W. Yates. Hartford. Ct. ViRciNiA Oi'EENS now ready. Untested 75c Tested $1.00. All dead ones replaced. 6A3t S. Click. Mt. lackson' Va. Front line Italian Queens, well bred and hardy. After lune i. '> for $4 so. Satisfaction guaranteed. J. B. Hollopeter. Pentz. Pa. Golden Italian Queens, Nuclei, and Full Colonies. See price-list in May number, page I3L Isaac F. Tillinghast. Factoryville. Pa. Wanted — A man to work an apiary on shares, or will sell fine location near Trinidad. Address. 6A2t R. S. Cotton. Trinidad. Cuba. My System — Union bee-hive and Queen. Will increase both your colonies and honey crop, and improve your stock, making bee- keeping a real pleasure. Cash orders Sio.oo. lAtf Joe Egner. Box 552. Lavergne. 111. Queens — Italians and Carniolans. Will exchange choice queens for bees by the pound, frame, or hive. Write, stating what you have. Frank M. Keith. 3Atf 8.3/4 Florence St.. Worcester. Mass. Quirin's famous improved Italian queens nuclei, colonies, and bees by the lb , ready in May. Our stock is northern-bred and har- dy: five yards wintered on summer stands in IQ08 and iooq without a single loss. For prices, send for circular. 3A5t Quirin-the-Queen-Breeder. Bellevue, Ohio. For Sale— Italian queens bred from the best honey-gathering strains obtainable. Untested. 75c; Select. Sloo; Tested. $l2S; Select Tested, $1.50: Nuclei without queen, i-frame. $1.50; 2-frame. $2.00; 3-frame. 82.75. For queens and nuclei in quantity lots, and bees by the pound, write for prices and cir- cular. Robert B. Spicer. Wharton. N. . J. Golden and 3-band Italian Queens (strict- ly free from disease). Tested Queens. $1.00 each: 3 for te.75; 6 or more. 8s cts. each. Un- tested. 7.50 each; 3 Queens S2.00: from 6 to 50. SS cts. each. Bees by the pound. Si. 00. Nu- clei, per frame. $1.25. Safe arrival and satis- faction guaranteed. C. B Bankston. 2Atf Buffalo. Leon Co.. Texas. For Sale— North Carolina bred Italian Queens, bred up for business: none better for honey gathering. Good recommenda- tions coming in almost every day. I have Root's. Moore's, Davis', Quirin's.. and Laws' strains, and choice Imported Breeders to get my fine honey-gathering strain from. I breed all Queens in full 2 story colonies runningover with bees at all times. I keep nothing but the very best Red Clover Ital- ians and the Golden in my yards. 'I'ry them and see for yourself. Untested. 7Sc: doz.. $7; Tested. Si. 25; Select Tested. $i..so; extra Select Tested. $2: Select Breeders. $3: ex- tra Select, Ss. H. H. Murray, Liberty. N. C. MISCELLANEOUS Make Pure, delicious fruit acids from honey. Cures all diseases, man or beast. Patent allowed. Mailed. 25 cents. lAiy C. W. Dayton. Chatsworth. Calif. F(ii< Sale — 100 perfect worker-combs in Hoffman frames. S12..50 for tlu' lot. Will sell 20 10-frame hive-bodies with hive-liooks and rabbets; 14 of them tilled with Hoffman frames. 7 of them with bottom-boards— all new and made of soft white pine. Sio.oo buys the lot. On account of winter losses will also sell 35 lbs. of Dadant's I'.xira Thin Sur- plus Foundation. Make your offer. I have many volumes of Gleanings in Bee Culture and American Bee Journal. Let me know what you want, and I will make a price. ti.Ail Edwin Bevins. Leon. Iowa. SUPPLIES. Fine Tempered Steel Hive Tools (enam- eled handlei. Price 20 cents, postpaid. Henry Benke. Pleasantville Station. N. Y. For Sale— Bees, honey, and bee-supplies We are in the market for beeswax and honey sAtf Ogden Bee & Honey Co., Ogden Utah. For Sale— a full line of Bee-Keepers' Supplies. Agents' prices. Save freight. Dreamland Farms. Buckingham. Fla. For Sale— Two-frame Cowan Extractor, used only half a day. Good as new. Will sell for Ss. 00 f. o.b. here. b.Ait C. W. Todd. Golden City. Mo. Honey Cans for Sale— Five gallon. 60 pound, square, screw-top cans, used only once. Good as new. in crates. Send quick; best cash offer; any number delivered. Hilltop Pure Food Co.. Ltd., Pittsburg, Pa. Wanted— All Southern Idaho bee-keepers to know they can get all kinds of Bee-Keep- ers'Supplies at home. Write for catalog. I have my own factory. C. E. Shriver. 2A4t 1623 Bannock St.. Boise, Idaho. HONEY Wanted— Comb, extracted honey, and beeswax. R. A. Burnett & Co., (iAi2t 173 S. Water St.. Chicago. III. Wanted — Choice extracted white and amber honey in barrels or cans. Send sam- ple, and price delivered f. o. b. Preston. iiAtf M. 'V. Facey, Preston. Minn. American Bee Journal for 1911 We have a number of complete volumes of the American Bee Journal for 1911, which we offer for 60 cents for the 12 numbers, as long as they last. Or, should there be among our subscribers those who would like to have any copies of the American Bee Journal for 1911 to complete their volume or other- wise, we will fill such orders at 5 cents per copy. Address this ofiice. The Opfer Hive-Entrance Bee-Feeder In the spring we must feed the bees to have them strong for clover-bloom. With all the present feeders this is a troublesome job— either the hive-bottom or covers have to be taken off every time we feed. With the Entrance Feeder shown herewith, all you have to do is to push it in at the hive- entrance and leave it there until there is no more need of feeding. It contracts the en- trance, and that is what you want in spring. The size of this feeder is 7x8 inches, and ^* inch deep, and holds 5 ounces of feed. You can feed 100 colonies in about 25 minutes. In case of foul brood you can feed medi- cated syrup and your bees will build up strong and healthy, and be in good shape when clover starts, ready to shake on foun- dation. I have used 75 of these feeders about 8 years, and today they are as good as ever. With proper care they will last a life-time. In spring or in fall most bee-keepers nee- lect to stimulate brood-rearing— one of /he most important things in having strongcolo- nies and good wintering. It does not de- pend so much upon the amount of feed as it does upon regularity every night (unless the weather is too cold), and you will won- der where your strong colonies come from. Some of the many good points of this En- trance Feeder are these: 1. It is made of heavy galvanized iron and will last a life-time. 2. It reduces the hive-entrance. 3. It reaches where the bees can get at the feed even in cool weather. 4. It feeds the right amount. .S. It will not cause robbing. 6. It will not disturb the colony while feed- ing. 7. It permits quick work. 8. The bees will not drown in it. I am in position to furnish all demands for these feeders at the following prices, f. o. b. Chicago: One for 20c: 5 for i8c each: 10 for i6c each. If ordered by mill, add loc each for packing and postage. Address all orders to— A. H. OpFER. 6251) Patterson Ave.. Chicago, III. WANTED BEESWAX Will Pay the Highest Price CASH ON ARRIVAL Drop Us a Postal HILDRETH & SEGELKEN, 265-2(7 Greenwich SL, NEW YORK, N. Y. Pleaae mention Am. Bee JounuU when To The New Century Queen-Rearing Co. FOR Goldens, Caucasians, Carniolans, 3-b'd Italians Untested, $1.00; Tested, $1.50. Write for prices in large quantities. "Right Treatment and Quick Service" is our motto. .Xddross as above, or JOHN W. PHARR, Propr. BERCLAIR, TEXAS. Pleaae mention Am. Bee Jonmal when irritin(. June, 1912. American Bee Jonrnal j STUDY AGRICULTURE AT HOME The Campbell Correspondence School Has a course of thirty subjects and sixty lessons in Intensive Farming. This Course is the result of tliirty years experience and demonstration by Prof. Campbell and associates. It applies to Irrigation, the humid regions, and the semi-arid country. It brings results. Send us your name and address and we will mail you a sample copy of the Scientific Farmer and a catalog of the Correspondence School. DO IT NOW. CAMPBELL SOIL CULTURE CO. LINCOLN, NEBRASKA. IT DOES NOT PAY TO USE ANY OTHER KIND BUT THE BOYUM FOUNDATION FASTENER Patented August 1st, 1911. MERITS AND CLAIMS. ^Takes four sections at one time, while in section-holder or not. Can put in corner starters. Can put in top and bottom starters, or corner starters at the same operation. Fasten the starters by "soldering" them to the wood. No handling of the sections separately. Simple, easy and handy to operate. Does better and faster work. Never too warm for the starters. No fastening to table, wall or Hoor. No treadle. No levers. No smoky blade. No dripping of wax on lamp, table, tloor or clothing. Saves time and work. Insures better built combs. It is strictly up to date. Price com- plete with lamp 25c burner). $1.30. Without lamp. 85c. Sizes other than 4XS. and 4!! square. 20c extra. State for what style sections wanted. Remit by Money Order. Manufactured by THE BOYUM APIARIES CO., RUSHFORD, MINN., U. S. A. HOW TO PAINT Bugg^ies, farm wagons, fanning' tools, barns, outbuildings and houses often need painting. "Everybody's Paint Book," written by a thorough- ly practical painter, will be found a complete guide to the art of outdoor and indoor painting, It is designed for the special use of those who wish to do their own painting. It gives practical lessons in plain painting, Tarnishing, polishing. Staining, paper hang- ing, kalsoniining, etc. It also tells how to renovate furniture and gives many hints on artistic work for decorating a home. Precise directions are given for mixing paints for all purposes. If farming tools and farm vehicles are kept painted, they will last twice as long, and anybody can do the work with the aid of this book. It is handsomely and substantially bound in cloth. A copy will be sent postage prepaid on receipt of price, 9^«(^^ We club the book with the American Bee Journal for one year — both for $1.70; or mailed free as a premium for sending us 2 New subscriptions for one year at $1.00 each. Address, American Bee Journal, Hamilton, Illinois. CHOICE HOME-BRED and Imported Stock. Queens reared in Full Col- onies. Price* for May One Tested Queen $1.75 " Select Tested.... 1.85 " BreedingQueen.. 3.10 Can furnish UNTESTED Queens. Bees by the pound and Nuclei, in June, owing to the lateness of the sea- son. Safe arrival guaran- teed For description of each grade of Queens send for Free Catalog. J. L. STRONG, 204 E. Logan St., Clarinda, Iowa. Ak. B«c JearuU whca wiitiac. icooosoocoooocoeooeccoooooc EW BEE- S ENQUAND D KEEPERS Everything in Supplies. New Goods. Factory Prices. Save Freight & Express Charges Cull & Williams Co. lAtf PROVIDENCE. R, I. >6oecooQooooeooeooeoe>eio«)l Mott's Strain of Italians— AI«o Carnlolans lo-pige Descriptive List free. Untested. $1.00 each: Jo. 00 per doz. Natural R. C. Golden from Imported Stock. Sel Untested. $1.10 each; Tested, ti.so. Bees by pound and Nu- clei. Leaflets. " How to Introduce Queens." ISC each: on ' Increase." 15c, or both for 25c E. E. MOTT, Glanwood, Mich. Missouri- Bred Queens! My strain of bees is the result of many years' breedini; and selection. I believe ihey are equal to any. and surpassed by none. They are lone lived, winter well, breed early, and are unexcelled honey get- ters. The workers are lontbodied. good- sized bees, uniformly marked with bands of orange yellow. They are good comb-build- ers, gentle and easy to handle, and yet pro- tect their homes from robbers. You will make no mistake in introducing these queens into your apiary. I guarantee safe delivery at your post-office, and make a speciality of long and difTicult shipments. I endeavor to keep a large supply of queens on hand. Prices sent on application. sA6t L. E. ALTWEIN, St. Joseph. Mo. Please mentkm Am. Bee JoamAl vfaen Michigan Established in 1878 Texas Pioneer Establishment (or the Breeding of Pure Caucasian Queens. All Imported 8ueens bred under my instructions in the aucasus Mountains. Tested two years be- fore breedingfrom. The whitest comb-build- ers on earth. Will work while others starve. Gentle as tlies. Hive full of brood all through the season. My Italians need no commenting on— the thousands I have sold tell the tale. Send for prices. 5A6t A, D. D. WOOD Box 82. Houston Heights, Tex., or Box 61, Lansing, Mich. Ple«ae mentioii Am. B«e Journal when writins. I Breed Golden Queens and Bees by the best known methods, and best apiarist: in full colonies in prime con- dition for rearing Queens. Untested. $i. 00: Full 8-frame Colonies. $5.00 each. Guaran- teed no disease. sAtf 2^M. Bates, Rt. 4, Greenville, Ala. Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. FINEST QUALITY of 3-band Italian Qu»«na reared in the SQth latitude. Tested — June. $3.00; July. $2-50: Auiust. $2.00. Breeder — June. $6.00; July, $5.00: August. $4.00. Doz.. 25% discount. Alexander Lundgren, jAjt 12 Totntaboeatan, STOCKHOLM. SWEDEN. Langstroth *"«Honey-Bee Revised by Dadant. Latest Edition. This is one of the standard books on [5e«-culture, and ought to be in the library of every bee-keeper. Bound in substantial cloth, and has nearly 600 pages. Revised by that large, practical bee-keeper, so well known to all bee- dom — Mr. C. P. Dadant. Each topic is clearly and thoroughly explained, so that by following the instructions of this book one can not fail to be won- derfully helped on the way to success with bees. We mail the book for $1.20, or club it with the American Bee Journal for one year^hoth for $2.00. This is in- deed a splendid chance to get a grand bee-book for a verv little money. AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, HAMILTON, ILLINOIS. June, 1912. American l^ee Journal TEXAS HEADQUARTERS Root's Supplies for Bee-Keepers. Makers of Weed New Process Comb Foundation. Buy Honey and Beeswax. Catalogs Free. Toepperwein & Mayfield Co. Cor. Nolan & Cherry S«s., 4Atf San Antonio, Texas. Pkasf mtntion Am. Bee Tournal when writing. Mexico as a Bee-Country B. A, Hadsell. one of the most experienced and largest bee-keepers in tlie world— has made six trips to Mexico, investigating that place as a bee -country, and is so infat- uated with it that he is closing out his bees in Arizona. He has been to great expense in getting up a finely illustrated 32-page book- let, describing the tropics of Mexico as a Bee-Man's Paradise, which is also superior as a farming, stock-raisingandfruit country. Where mercury ranges between 55 and g8 Frost and sun-stroke is unknown. Also a great health resort. He will mail this book Free by addressing. yAiat B. A. Hadsell, Lititz, Pa. Early (FROFALCON ) Queens "ITALIANS" February and March deliveries— for Untes- ted, $1.50 each; April. $1.25. Tested Queens. SO cts. additional; Select Tested, $t.oo extra. Breeders, prices on application. JOHN C. FROHLIGER, 257-0 Market St., San Francisco, Cal. Or Berkeloy, Cal SUPERIOR BEE-SUPPLIES Specially made for Western bee-keepers by G. B. Lewis Co. Sold by Colorado Honey-Produc«rs' Association, Denver. Colo. Pkue mention Am. Bet Jonmal when writing. WEBSTER'S . YOU NEED This New Creation Dp.-,,.- it is the only new una- uci-ausc tjridged dictionary in many yearB. Covers every tield of the world's thought, action, and culture. D..-„,- it defines over 400,000 oecause ^yonis. 2700 rages. 6riiigncld.M>H. Hame this paper, recelvoFR££, Bet of pocket rnnpB. Muth Ideal Bee-Veil Free as Premium. The Muth Veil is made of light-weight indestructible wire and strong cambric, and will 'last a lifetime. Fits nicely around either a straw hat or a derby, and is easily put on or ofl in a jiffy. It is comfortable, and there is no chance for a bee to crawl up under it when properly adjusted, The Muth Ideal Veil cannot be blown in- to your eyes, nor stick to your face, and does not obstruct your view in the least. When catching a swarm in a tree or bush, it cannot hang on the twigs to be torn to shreds as some other Veils do. Price, postpaid, 7.5 cents; or with the American Bee Journal a year — both for $1.60 or Free as a premium for sending us 2 new subscribers at $1.00 each. AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, Hamilton, ill. ECONOMY: ECONOMY TO YOURSELF ECONOMY TO YOUR BEES Are Two Es.seiitial Points Gained by Using Dittmer Process Comb Foundation Because it is the same TASTE, and the same SMELL, and the same FIRMNESS, as the COMB the Honey-Bees make themselves. It is the more acceptable to them because it is not like their OWN COMB. Remember, Mr. Bee-Keeper, that to you HONEY IS MONEY— then use Dittmer Process Comb Foundation Work for a Full-Capacity Honey-Crop. Send for Samples. All Supplies at Prices you appreciate. Gus Dittmer Company, - Augusta, Wisconsin. DOOLITTLE'S "Scientific Queen-ReaLring" This is G. M. Doolittle's master-piece on rearing the best of queens in perfect accord with Nature's way. It is for the amateur and the veteran in bee-keeping. The A. I. Root Co.. who ought to know, say this about Doolit- tle s queen-rearing book: ■ It is practically the only comprehensive book on queen-rearing now in print. It is looked upon tiy many as the foundation of mod- ern methods of rearing queens wholesale." Mr. Doolittle's book also gives his method of producing comb honey, and the care of same: his management of swarming, weak colonies, etc. It is a book of 12^ pages, and is mailed at the following prices : bound in cloth. $1.00 : bound in leatherette,;75;cents. Special Clubbing Offer We offer a cloth-bound copy of this book with the American Bee Journal one year— both for $1 w; or a copy of the U-atherettebound edition, with the American Bee Journal one year— both for $1.25- The cloth-bound book given free for getting 3 new subscribers at $1. each : or the leatherette-bound copy given for 2 new subscribers. Every beekeeper should have a copy of Mr. Doolittle's book, as he is one of the stan- dardauthorities 01 the world on the subjectof queen-rearing and everything else connected with bee-keeping and honey-production, American Bee Journal, Hamilton, Illinois. June. 1912. Amei^ican ISae Joarnal Established 1885 We carry an up-to-date line of Bee-Keepers' Supplies Send for our 64-page catalog that has been greatly enlarged and many new features added. The fifty questions that are asked for so often by mail are answered on page 60, and will be most valuable to the beginner. Alsosome in- formation is given on foul brood. We carry a full line of hives, sections, and all supplies commonly needed in an apiary. Our shipping facilities are good — we can fill your orders promptly. Do not fail to write us, or drop us a card for our catalog, FREE. Beeswax taken in exchange for supplies. JOHN NEBEL & SON SUPPLY CO. High Hill, Nontg. Co., No. Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. Laws Will be ready to take care of your Queen orders, whether large or small, the coming season. Twenty-five years of careful breeding brings Laws' queens above the usual standard; bet- ter let us book your orders now. Tested queens in March; untested, after April ist. About so first-class breeding-queens ready at any date. Prices: Tested. $1.25. 5 for $5.00; Breeders, each $^ 00. -Address W. H. Laws, Beeville, Texas. Names ol Bee-Keepers Wanted — We desire very mucli to have the names and addresses of all the bee-keepers who are in your locality who do not now take the American Bee Journal. We would like to get every one of them on our list of regular readers. If you will send to this office the names and ad- dresses of such bee-keepers, we will be pleased to mail each a sample copy of the American Bee Journal. Perhaps you could send in their subscriptions, and thus earn some of the various pre- miums that we offer from time to time for getting new subscriptions. We feel that every bee-keeper ought to read the Americari Bee Journal regularly. He would not only be more successful, but would be less of a competitor of his neighbor bee-keepers, if he were more enlightened on the subject of bees and honey. We would appreciate it very much if all who can do so will send us the names and addresses of their bee-keeping neighbors who do not at present receive the American Bee Journal. BOOKS FOR BEE - KEEPERS FDK SAI.F ]1V AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, HAMILTON, ILLINOIS. First Lessons in Bee-Keeping, by Thos. G. Newman, levlHCd by C. P. Dadant.— Intended mainly for beg"lnner8. Nearly "iOO pagree. and over 16(1 pictures. Bound In strong: paper cover, Bhowlne bee-brood in all BtagreB of development from the newly-laid egg. This book contains tbe foundation principles of bee-keeping-, as its name Indicates. Price, postpaid. 50 els. ; or free with the American Bee Journal one full year If paid strictly In advance— by either new or re- newal subscription at f 1.00. Fifty Years Among the Bees, by Dr. C. C- Mlller.^-a40 pag-ea. boUnd in cloth, and illustra- ted with 112 half-tone pictures taken by Dr. Mil- ler himself. It is a groud. live story of success- ful bee-keeping by a master of the subject, and shows with clearness just how Dr. Miller works with bees and produces tons of honey. Price, $1.00. postpaid ; or with the American Bee Jour- nal a year, $l.S(i: or erlven Fhke as a premium for sending' it New subscriptions at $1.00 each. Scientific Queen-Rearing, as Practically Applied, by G. M. Doolittle. — It tells how the very best Queen-Bees are reared in Nature's Way. A Efood authority says: " It is practically the only comprehensive book on queen-rearlngr now In print. It la looked upon by many as the foundation of the modern methods of rearlne: queens wholesale." Price, bound In cloth. 75 cts., postpaid; or with the American Bee Jour- nal a year— both for $i.50. The same book bound in leatherette. 50 cts.. postpaid : or free with the American Bee Journal one full year If paid In advance strictly, by either new or renewal sub- scription at $1.00. Langstroth on the Honey-Bee, revised by Dadant.— This classic on bee-culture has been entirely rewritten. Fully illustrated. No apia- rian library Is complete without this standard work by the " Father of American Apiculture." Over 500 pagres, bound in cloth. Price. $1.30; or with the American Bee Journal a year, $2.00; or griven Free as a promlum for sending- 4 New subscriptions at $1.00 each. Bee-Keeper's Guide, or Manual of the Apiary, by Prof. A. J. Cook.— This book is very instructive, interesting-, helpful, and thorouerhly practical and scientific. It is perhaps the most complete of any bee-book on the Anatomy and Phystolog-y of bees, and also the Botany of bee- keeping-. Bound in cloth, 544 patres. '.iys Illustra- tions. Price, postpaid, $1.20; or with the Ameri- can Bee Journal a year— both for $1,90; or erlven Fkke as a premium for sendlng-S New subscrip- tions at $1.00 each. ABC&XYZof Bee Culture, by A. I. & E. R. Root.— Over 500 large pa&es describing: ev- erything- pertaining to the care and manage- ment of honey-bees. It is a veritable encyclo- pedia on bees. 4U0 engravings. Bound In cloth. Price, postpaid. $1.50: or with the American Bee Journal a year— both for $2.25; or given Fkbe as a premium for sending- 5 New subscriptions at $1.00 each. Advanced Bee Culture, by the late W. Z. Hutchinson.— The author was an extensive bee- keeper, and a practical, helpful writer on bees and bee-keeping-. Over 2U0 pages, cloth bound. Price, postpaid. $1.00; or with the American Bee Journal fur a year—both for $1.80: or eriven Free for sending '6 New subscriptions at $1.00 each. Southern Bee Culture, by J. J. Wilder, of Georgia, perhaps the most extensive bee-keep- er in the State. It is a real hand-book of South- em bee-keeping. Bound in paper. 145 pages. Price, postpaid, 50 cts.; or with the American Bee Journal a year— both for $l.;iO. Amerikanische Bienenzucht, by Hans Buschbauer.— A bee-keepers hand-book of 138 pages, which is just what German bee-keepers need. It is fully illustrated and bound In cloth. Price, postpaid. $1.00; or with the American Bee Journal a year— both for $1.70. The Honey-Money Stories.'-64*pag:e book- let of short, bright items about honey. Has 33 fine illustrations, and 3 bee-songs. Its main object Is to interest people in honey as a daily table food. Price, postpaid, 25 cents; or with a year's subscription to the American Bee Jour- nal—both for $1.10. Two copies for 25 cts. The Emerson Binder.— It has a stifF board outside like a book-cover, with cloth back. Will hold easily ;i volumes (SO copies! of the Ameri- can Bee Journal. Makes reference easy, and preserves copies from loss. dust, and mutila- tion. Price, postpaid, 75 cts.; or with the Amer- ican Bee Journal a year— both for tl.OO; or given Free aa a premium for sending 2 New subscrip- tions at $1.00 each. Anderson's Famous TexasQueens Italians Carniorns Banats The best to be found of each. Will be ready as soon as you can use them. Let me book your orders now. My Queens are Guaranteed Pure, Vigorous & Healthy PRICES : Untested, each. 75 cents; per dozen. $8.00. Tested, each. ti.2S: per dozen. $12 00. Circular Free. GRANT ANDERSON, San Benito, - Texas QUEENS! QUEENS! Italians AND Carniolans The Keith System ^Ll?s'i'^"ulel''s"i^Tt can be produced. My Strain is the result of 20 years of careful breeding and selection. I feel confident that few. if any. can surpass them. Color has not been my special object; but to produce bees that will bringr in honey, and store it in supers where it is wanted. I am also paying a great deal of attention to Gentleness among my bees, so that almost any one can handle them. Annual importations of Queens has kept my stock absolutely pure. Prices as follows ; 1 6 12 Virgins ( .65 Ss.W S 6.00 Untested i.oo 4.00 7.00 Warranted... 1.25 5.50 n.oo Tested... .... 1.50 7.50 13.00 Select 1 ested. $2.00 each. Breeder. 83. 00 and up. Nuclei and Full Colonies. Bees dy the Pound. Write for Circular, Apiaries inspected for brood-diseases. FRANK M. KEITH, 83}4 Florence St. Worcester, Mass. CARNIOLAN QUEENS! Superior Line Bred Strain. Prices (or U. S.. Canada, Hexico. Coba. Select ontejted. June. July, Aaj. Sept . Jl 00 eich. 19 00 in Select teited. June, July. A«|., Sept., $1.50 tick. tl2 00 in Ask for prices on lots of 50 or more Write for our paper "Superiority of the Carniolan Bee." giving description, best methods of management, system of breeding, ets. ITS FREE Albert G. Hann, SdeitUlc Qleen Breeder. PiltttOWn, N.J. For Sale ~'" L^^'etiShallow Extracting Su- ■ ui ware pers. 20 Pull Drawn, 10 with inch starters— never used. Will K. D.. crate and sell one or more at Ji.oo each. sAtf S. A. Peck. Northumberland, Pa. June, 1912. American Hee Joarnal LEWIS BEEWARE andpADANT'S FOUNDATION ! ! — SJiippe*! I'roinptly ARND HONEY & BEE-SUPPLY CO. ^'^Z Successors to the York Honey & Bee-Supply Co.) Send for Catalog. 148 West Superior St., CHICAGO, ILL. Enough sard ! PleRse mention Am. Bee Journal wbcn wrttins. THE SECRET OF Success in Bee- Keeping Is to Keep Your Colonies Strong ; to do This You Must Have GOOD LAYING OUEENS Which We Guarantee at the Following Prices : Golden 3-Band Italian Carniolan Unte*ted-i for $i.oo-. 6 for $5.40; 12 for $q.6o; 25 for $17.50 To»ted-i for Si.sa; (. for J8.40: 12 for $15.60; 25 for $30.00 Nuclei with Untested Queen-i-frame. $2.50; six iframe, I15.00 •• " " " —2 frame. $1.50; six 2-frame, $20.40 " " Tested " — i frame. S3.00; six i-frame. $17.40 " " " " —2 frame, $4.00. six 2-frame, $23.40 will be mailed to you for 10 cents. ,,„v,r.io The above Queens are all reared in Separate Yards. 2Atf W. J. LITTLEFIELD, R. F. D. No. 3, LITTLE ROCK, ARK. Pksaie mention Aaa. Bee Jottmal when wrilinf. Dr. Peiro will continue to give the readers of the American Bee Journal free advice regarding the subject of Surgical and Medical treatment. Many have availed themselves of this offer. Return postage is all you need to send. Address, Dr, Peiro, 2148 Sun- nyside Ave., Chicago, 111. Italian Queens for Sale ! Untested Queens, $i.oo each; 6 for $5.00. All Queens reared from Imported Stock. Circular Free. 0. F. Fuller, Blackstone, Mass. Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. Red Clover and Golden Queens Are the Best Honey-Gatherers. Untested. 50c; Select. 75c; Tested. $1.00. Nuclei. $1.00 per frame. Evansville Bee & Honey Co., Evansvilie, Ind. P*ease mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. Bee- Supplies We are Western Agents for lAtf "FALCONER" Write for Fall Discounts— we can save you money. C. C. demons Bee-Suppiy Co. 128 Grand Ave., Kansas City, IMo. I FieURE THIS OUT FOR YOURSELF If you buy Bee-Supplies NOW that you will need in April, you save money at the rate of 12 percent on the $. THREE PERCENT is the amount of our early order discount on cash purchases in January. January to April is just three months— X of a year. Now 3 percent for .3 months is interest at the rate of 12 percent per year— so you see why we urge early orders accompanied by cash this month. ANOTHER reason is that we can serve you better now than three months hence. In a few weeks we will be putting up carload shipments for our dealers and distributing centers, and every effort in our big plant W —the largest establishment in the world devoted to the manufacture of bee-supplies— will be directed to filling W rush orders. You will be just as anxious for your goods as our other patrons, and will deserve and receive the 9 same attention— no matter what the amount of your order may be, but ^ We can Serve you Better Now • and we want to make it worth your while to place an early order. Try this on a part of your list anyway. ^ Saving at the rate of 12 percent per year ought to interest everybody. X We Manufacture Everything in Bee-Supplies { Get our li)12 catalog which gives descriptions, illustrations and prices on everything from bee-hives to bee- books, from frames to comb foundation. Get this Catalog NOW. THE A. I. ROOT COMPANY, 213 Institute Place, Chicago, Illinois K. W. BOVDEN, Mgr. (Jeffley Building) Tel. 1484 North. hiiie. 1913 American Hee Journal i i i i i i Use this Coupon M. H. HUNT & SON, General Agts. for Root's Goods. Lansing, Mich. Dear Sirs: — Please quote me your prices on the attached list of bee-supplies I need. Also send me your 64-page catalog, and a complimentary copy of "The Bee-Keepers' Dictionary." Name .'\ddress Bargains in Bee-Supplies The recent death of James Heddon leaves us with a large amount of Bee-Fixtures and Supplies of almost every description, which will be sold at a great sacrifice. Write us for an inventory, and write at onc«, as these goods will not last lony at the prices we are closing them out. 5A2t JA3IES HEDDON'S SONS Dowag-iac, Mich. Pkasc mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. We Make a Specialty of Manufacturing SECTIONS They are the Finest tn the Land- None Better. Our Prices will make you smile. We want to mail OUR BEESUPPI.Y CATALOG to every bee-keeper in the land. It is FREE. Ask for it. H. S. Duby. St. Anne, III., carries a full line of Our tioods. ond sells them at our regular catalog prices. AUG. LOTZ & CO. Boyd, Wis. Plea»e mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. ** Griggs Saves You Freight" TOLEDO FOR ME! Is Every Man's Guide Who Wishes Goods QUICK. BIG STOCK ROOT'S SUPPLIES. Ready to ship day order is received Wholesale prices on (.'hick Feed. Beef Scraps. Grith. Oyster Shells. Etc. Honey and Beeswax wanted. Catalogue Free. S. J. GKIGGS & CO. 24 N. Erie St., Toledo. Ohio P-O-R-T-E-R _ ( TIME ) Af All SAVES \ HONEY i ^^ ,^'^ I MONEY i Dealers Each, 15c.; Dozen, $1.65, postpaid. If your Dealer does not keep them, order from Factory, with Complete In- structions. R. & E. C. Porter, Mfrs. Lewistown, III. t lease mention Am, Bee Journal when writinf. Bee-Keepers' Supplies, Berry Baskets, Crates, Etc. Sold at Rock Bottom prices. From Factory to Consumer. Send for prices. W. D. SORER, Jackson, Mich. 12? to .)25 Park Ave., on L. S.'& M. S. R. R. ^'i''%9r mention Am. Bee Journal when wrltlag. The Ideal Hive-Tool Free as a Premium Exactly half actual size. Price, postpaid. 35 cents: or with the American Bee Journal one year — both for $1.15; or mailed Free as a premium for sending us one new subscription at Ji.oo. This is a special tool invented by a Minnesota bee-keeper, adapted for pry- ing up supers, and for general hive and other work around the apiary. Made of malleable iron, 8>2 inches long. The middle part is 1 1-16 inches wide, and 7-32 thick. The smaller end is \J-i inches long, K inch wide, and 7.32 thick, ending like a screwdriver. The larger end is wedge-shaped, having a fairly sharp, semi- circular edge, making it almost perfect for prying up hive-covers, supers, etc., as it does not mar the wood. Dr. C. C. Miller, who has used this tool since 1903, says: "I think as much of the tool as ever." Address all orders to, 50,000 Copies "Honey as a Health-Food" To Help Increase the Demand for Honey We have had printed an edition of over 50,000 copies of the 16-page pamphlet on Honey as a Health-Food." It is envelope size, and just the thing to create a local demand for honey. The first part of it contains a short article on " Honey as Food," written by Dr. C. C- Miller. It tells where to keep honey, how to liquefy it, etc. The last is devoted to "Honey Cooking Recipes" and "Remedies Using Honey." It should be widely circulated by those selling honey. The more the people are educated on the value and uses of honey as a food, the more honey they will buy. Prices, prepaid— Sample copy for a 2-cent stamp : 50 copies for 90 cents : 100 copies for $1.50 ; 250 copies for $3.00 ; 500 for $5.00 : or 1000 for $9.00. Your business card printed free at the bottom of front page on all orders for 100 or more copies. Address all orders to American Bee Journal, Hamilton, Illinois. 3-B AND ITALIAN QUEENS For Sale— All Queens bred from improved long-tongued Red Clo- ver stock, as good honey tjathevers as money can buy. Reared by the Doo- little or Miller plan. One untested Queen. 75 cts.: 12 for $7.50; 50 for S2500. 100 to 500. $45 00 per 100. One Tested Queen. Si. 50; 12 for $15.00. No nuclei or worker-bees for sale. No brood-dis- ease in my bees. Safe arrival guarranteed. J. B. ALEXANDER, Cato, Ark. 6Atf FOR SALE Golden Untested Queens at 75 cents each; or 58.00 per doz. Tested Queens. $i.2S each, or si.\ for S6,oo. Select Tested, $2.00 each, or six for $10.00. Safe arrival and perfect satisfaction guar- anteed. iAt' R. O. Cox, Box 8, Garland, Ala. Italian Breeding Queens at a bargain. I am offerins just a few of my very finest breeders at $2.50 each while they last. Untested queens. $100: Select Un- tested J1.25 6.Mf H. A. JETT, Quaen-Breeder, Brooksvills, Ky. Have You Bees for Sale? Owing to winter losses there is a considerable demand in the country for colonies of bees. Those having bees for sale should write at once to the .Ainerican Bee Journal, Hamilton, Illinois. 1 90 June, 1913. American ISae Journal " If goods are wanted quick, send to Pouder." Bee-Supplies Standard liives with latest improvements. Danzen- baker Hives. Sections, Foundation. Extractors. Smok- ers; in fact. everythiUK used about tiie bees. My equipment, my stock of goods, the quality of my goods and my shipping facilities can not be excelled. PAPER HONEY-JARS For extracted honey. Made of heavy paper and paraf- fine coated, with tight seal. Fjvery honey-producer will be interested. A descriptive circular free. Finest white clover honey on hand at all times. I buy bees- wax. Catalog of supplies free. WALTER S. POUDER, Indianapolis, Ind. 850 Massachusetts Avenue. Protection Hive Bingham Smokers The best and lowest-priced double • wall hive on the market. This hive has ^B-in. mat e r i a I in theouter wall and it is not cheaply made of J« material as are some other hives on the mark- et. Send for CIRCULAR showing 12 large illustra- tions. It will pay to inves- tigate. Manufactured only by Insist on "Old BINGHAM Reliable Bing- ham Smokers. Ol.E*^ for sale by all BEE SMOKER dealers in Bee- keepers'supplies For over 10 years the standard in all countries. The smoker with a valve in the bel lows, with direct draft, bent cap. inverted bellows and soot-burning device. Smoke Engine. 4-inch, each, $1.25; mail. Si so- Doctor. i'A-inch, each. 8sc; mail, $1,10. Conqueror. 3-inch, each. 75c: mail. $1,00. Little Wonder, 2-in.. ea.,5oc: mail, 65c. Honey Knife, 60 cents; mail, 80 cents. A. G. WOODMAN CO., Grand Rapids, Mich. Famous Queens! From Improved Stock. The Best That Money Can Buy ^fot inclined to swarm, and as for Honey- Gathering they have few equals. Three -band. Golden, and Carniolans— bred in separate yards; ready March 20th. Untested. $1.00; 6 for Js; 12 for $5. Tested, $1.50; 6 for $8; 12 for $_i5.oo. Breeders of either strain. $5.00. X_ __ Nuclei, with Untested Queens — i-frame. $2 50; six i-frame. $15: 2-frame. $3.5o;!six'2-fr. $20.40. Nuclei with Tested Queens— i-frame. $3.00; six I-frame. $17.40; 2 frame. $4.00; six 2-frame, $23.40. Our Queens and Drones are all reared from the Best Select Queens, which should be so with the Drones as well as the Queens. We guarantee safe arrival and satisfac- BROTHERS, Jacksonville, Ark. Am. Bee Toamal wh^.r writin* tion. D. E. 2A9t n A n y PA' Foot-Pow«r DAnllCO Macliinery Read what J. 1 Pabknt, ot Chaxl- ton, N. Y., says; ''"VVe cut with on* of your Combined Machines, last ■winter. 60 chaff hives with 7-ln. cap, 100 honey-racke, 680 bnxid-framea, 2.000 honey-boxes, and a preat deiu of other work. 'Ebls winter wo hare :loabtetli9amdnBt »f bee-hiTe0,eto.4 io Biake, and we expect to do It with ^.hJ6 Saw. It will do all y*a say It will." Catalog and price-list tree fuXdHTMi. W, r ft ^Ofilf BARKS8. Please mention Am. Bee Joamal when writing Myers Famous Lockstitch Sewing Awl Is designed particularly for farmers' use. but it will be found a time-saver and money-saver in nearly every household. It is not a novelty, but a practical hand-sewing machine for re- pairing shoes, harness, belts, carpets, rugs, tents, awnings, canvas of all kinds, gloves, mit- tens, saddles, etc. ; you can also tie comforts. The Awl proper is grooved to contain the thread or waxed end. and the point being diamond shape will go through the thickest of leather, green or dry, any thickness. The " Myers Awl " can be used with either straight or curved needle, both of which come with the outfit, and veterinarians will find it indispensable for sewing up wire cuts in stock. The " Myers Lock-Stitch .Sewing Awl " is a necessity for the people; can be carried MYERS Famous Lock Stitch SEWING AWL Sews Le Quic tn pocket or tool chest: nothing to lose, always ready to mendaripor tear. Better than rivets because it is portable. Can be carried in mower or harvester tool-box, threshing kit. or anywhere. If you save one trip to town for mending, you are money ahead. Every farmer needs one. every man who teams needs one. It is the most practical hand-scwing machine for actual use ever devised. Put up with straight and curved needles, waxed thread, illus- trated book of directions, and everything ready for use. Our Special Offers of this Famous Sewing Awl. We mail tlie Myers Lock-Stitci! Sewing Awi, for Smm; or rliib it with the American Bee Journal for one year— both for only $i.6o; or we will mail the Awi, >n;- as a premium for sending us only /wv AViw Subscriptions to the American Bec.Iournal for one year, with $2.00. Surely here is an article that will be very useful in every home. Address all orders to— American Bee Journal, Hamilton, Illinois. 2sv»arjhmore.o 'T^ If YOU want them YELLOW try the GENTLE strains of of Swathmore pedi- greed GOLDEN QUEENS. Swathmore, Pa. Pkase mention Am. Bee Journal when EVERY BEE-KEEPER KNOWS The Worth of A Good Queen Knows the worth of a good strain of bees and also knows how worthless is a poor queen and inferior hces. Try our strain of three banded Italians, they will not disap- point you. Tested queen. $100 each: Un- tested. 75c; $7.00 per do/. No disease. Send for price-list. oAtf J. W. K. SHAW & CO., Loreauviile, Iberia Parish, La. I'kasc mention ,\m. Hit- Jninnal when writing. English Honey-Spoon. 1 liis:tin. .joc Honey-Spoon and the Ameri- can Bee Journal for one year— bothfor only $1.75. Send all orders to the American- Bee Journal, Hamilton. 111. Please mention Am. l^ce Journal when writing. [line. 1012. [American Hee Jonrnal j Chicago. May 20.— The trade in honey diir- ine the past week has been of a very limited character. A \o. i to fancy comb is iinob tainable. and very little that will pass as No. I appears on sale. The prices for that are ranging from I5@'i6(-. Extracted has not been selling in quantity lots, and the prices for it range nominally the same as for some time past, being from ft(«gc for the white, and 7@ftc for the various kinds of amber. Beeswax has been in fair supply, and brines from 3o@32c per lb. according to color and cleanli- ness. R. A. Burnett & Co. Cincinnati. May 22.— This market is now clean and bare of comb honey, and we are pleased to note this fact, for it gives the consumer an opportunity to refreshen his appetite for the big. tine crop that is sure to come this season. The demand for ex- tracted has slackened somewhat, and we are awaiting the arrival of the new crop. We are selling amber honey in barrels at fi!^(«"7!4c a lb., and the finest quality at 8'i@- loc a lb., according to the quality and quan- tity purchased. For bright yellow, choice beeswax, we are payint; ioc a lb. delivered heie. in cash, and 2C a lb. more in trade; for darker grades than the above, we are paying 28@2gc. The Fred W. Muth Co. Boston. May 20.— Fancy white comb, i7@- i8c; light amber, isc; amber, 14c. Fancy white extracted. logiic; light amber, o^ioc; amber, oc. Beeswax. 30c. Blake. -Lee Co. Cincinnati. May 2o._The market on comb honey is about cleaned up. and there is practically no demand. Extracted honey has fallenoff considerably, fancy white table honey in (10-pound cans at loc. light amber in jopound cans at 8c. Amber in barrels^'';@7c. according to quality. Beeswax in fair de- mand at $33 per 100 lbs. The above are our selling prices, not what we are paying. C. H. W. Weber & Co. San Francisco. May 20.— Comb honey is I5®i8c; water-white extracted. gEioc; light amber. S<^i'Ac: lower grades. 5®6;4c per lb. Beeswax 28c for nice yellow wax. and 23@2fic for dark. I am paving 2c higher for beeswax in trade. The new crop of honey will arrive here by the time the report goes to print. Have brigher prospects lor the season than at first reported. J. C. Frohliger. Indianapolis. May 18.— White comb honey sells ai i8c per pound in lo-case lots. Amber grades in slow demand and at lower figures. Best extracted sells at II@I2C per pound in 5-gallon cans. Jobbing houses are well sup- plied, but producers are not now offering any honey. Beeswax is in good demand, and producers are being paid 31c per pound. Walter S. Pouder. Kansas City. Mo.. May 20.— No new comb honey on our market, and no old comb in jobbers' hands. Some little extracted which we quote at 8@qc a lb. We quote beeswax at 2;@28c per lb. C. C. Clemons Produce Co Denver. May 20.— This market is entirely bare of good comb honey. Extracted honey in fair supply at following jobbing figures: White, gc. light amber. «c; strained, 6K@7}4c. We pay 26c in cash and 28c in trade for clean, yellow beeswax delivered here. The Colo. HoneyProduc eks' Ass'n. F. Rauchfuss. Afirr, New York. May 2u.— Since our last there has been no materialchange in the condition of the honey market; we really have nothing new to report. It is rather early as yet for a new crop from tlie South. It may be a couple of weeks longer before we will re- ceive any. .Some little lots of comb honey are still coming in. and find ready sale at former prices. The market on extracted is very quiet, and prices have a downward tendency all along the line. The new crop from the West Indies is now arriving quite freely, and no doubt shipments will increase in quantity as the season progresses. Bees- wax steady at from 3o@32c per lb., according to quality. Hildreth & Segelken. AQUASUN The flavor of richest apple cider. A table delicacy that has no equal. A beverage that refreshes and invigorates. The strongest health-germs in Nature. Made from Honey&Water In any kitchen, at any hour, at a cost of 2 to 4 cents per gallon. Process and right to make it. 25c. Circular Free. 5Ai2t C. W. Dayton, Chatsworth, Calif. Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. FOR SALE A first-class apiary at a bargain. Reason for selling, death of principal owner. Address. H. C. ADLER, Victoria, Tax, ^♦^^ The season has opened up more favorably, after all, than many bee-keepers anticipated, and many find themselves unprepared for the swarming period and honey-flow which is.just before them. Extra hivts just now may mean almost a double output of honey, and we can get these hives to you at once. We have a large and complete stock of all kinds and combinations, and can fill your order the day it is received. If you are producing comb honey the Danzenbaker hive will give you most excellent satisfaction. Re- ports from large users of this hive show that with it a very large percentage of fancy comb honey may be produced; and with a little extra protection it is an excellent wintering hive. Another comb-honey hive that is very popular this season is the Buckeye double-walled hive. This is the new movable-bottom pattern, and the double-wall feature offers protection, not only in the winter, but at all seasons. This is particularly valuable in the early part of the season when sudden changes of temperature are apt to have disastrous results. For the production of extracted honey there is no better hive than the regular ten-frame dovetailed pattern. This has been a standard for years, and will admit of a number of changes and combinations to suit local conditions and the season. We have also, of course, our usual stock of all other supplies, and you can handle your order for any item listed in our catalog with our usual promptness and dispatch. We are better equipped than any other dealer in this section to give special attention to hurry orders, and solicit a trial of our goods and our service. C. H. W. WEBER & CO. 2146 Central Avenue. CINCINNATI, OHIO. N W M M H n ■ H N N H N N ■ ■ M H KKKX^WyyyyyWWXXW^WWMWWMMMWWWWMWWWWWWYi RUSH orders for ^^ J^^lcOtl^^ Beekeepers' Supplies Quick Price-list For Those who do Not Have a Red Catalog. Heewav sections. 250 500 1000 5000 No. I mialitj'. $1.60 2.75 5.50 23.75 No. 2 quality. $1.40 2.50 5.00 21.25 Plain sections 2."iC per M less. Price per lb. 1 lb. 5 lb. Light Section Foundation 65c 64c Brood " 58c 57c Hoffman Brood Frames, 10, 35c; 100, $3.00. No. 11 1-story Dovetailed Hive, cover,body, bottom and frames: 50 lb. 5'Jc 52c 10-frame 1 8-frame 5 10 1 5 10 $1.50 $7.00 $13.50 $1.60 $7.50 $14.50 Dovetailed supers complete without sections and starters: 8-frame 10-frame No. 2, 4'4xl% " 5 10 5 10 2B4!4xl>i sections $2.50 $4.80 $2.75 $5.30. 2C3 1^x5 2F 4x5 Ideal Hee-Veil. (i.jc ; by mail, 75c. Standard Smoker, 85c; by mail, $1.10. Dewey Foundation Fastener, $1.25; by mail, $1.,50. Untested queens. Tested $1.00, 1..5II, (i, $5.50 6, 8.00 Condensed RUSH ORDER directions: Sections and supers — give dimensions of sections; hives and supers — state whether eight or ten frame. Order any article not mentioned, send what you think the price (better a little more money"), and we will even up with foundation or sections, or re- turn money. You can rest assured of lowest price and " Falcon " guarantee of satisfac- tion. W. T. Falconer Mfg. Company, Falconer, N. Y. U'heif the good bet-hives come from C. C. demons Bee-Supply Co. ■■ q Hnkw Q4 Ann^ ill 130 Grand Ave., Kansas City, Mo. "■ ^- l/UOy, Ol. MnnC, III. N N M N N N N N M N Ni M N N N N N W M N c: IN N N M N N N N W N N N N N n n N M N ■ M N N The "Massie" Bee-Hives We consider these the Best Up-to-date Hives made. Double - Walled, made of full thickness of lumber, same Super capacity as a 10-fr. Dov. hive, and of the same price. Send for FREE Illustrated Descriptive List. BEE-SUPPLIES We furnish Everything Needed in Practical, Profitable Bee Culture We manufacture the Dovetailed and Massie Hives with either the Scalloped Supers Plain Section Supers or Extracting Supers We have millions of as nice SECTIONS as are to be found in the market, either scalloped or plain, of all the ST.'\NI)ARD sizes. All of our Foundation is made by the NEW WEED PROCESS From strictly pure wax. None better. Our Large Illustrated Catalog: is Furnished Free to All Bee-Keepers or Dealers. Write Us for Special Prices. No Trouble to Answer Inquiries. It describes and illustrates numerous money-saving and money-making devices, tried in our own apiaries be- fore oflfering them to the public. Write at once for a copy of our Catalog. Our prices are the lowest, the quality of our goods equal to the best ; a trial will prove our assertion. Established 1864. KRETCHMER MFG. CO., Council Bluffs, Iowa. ^WWWWW¥WW¥WWWMW¥¥¥WWW¥y^KXXMXM>(XXK>( mrTY^ Does the Eye Mislead, or are These Bee-Hives? They are Indeed a New Departure in Hives. Apiary of A. B. Anthony, at Sterling, Illinois The odd looking hives shown above are the invention of a practical bee-keeper. The Editor was invited to visit his home last August. .After having laughed at the odd shape of the hives, he was astounded to see the rapidity and ease with which each hive could be opened, and every part of every comb inspected. The Huber leaf-hive, which is really the ancestor of this invention, cannot possibly stand any comparison. Mr. .Anthony, who has taken steps to cover his invention with patents, opened hive after hive without crushing a single bee, and demonstrated that he could hunt up and discover the queen or the queen-cells more quickly than with any other hive the Editor has ever seen. Frames may also be removed with remarkable rapidity. This is not intended as an advertisement for Mr. .Anthony. The Editor has no interest in the invention, and describes it only as one of the greatest novelties of the day. The second picture, on page 200, shows the device for tipping the hives in order to open them. The highest ingenuity is shown in this in\ention. JiUy, 1912. American Hee Journal PUBLISHEn MONTHLY BY George W. York «S: Coinpauy, 1st Nat'l Bank Bldg. Hamilton, Illinois IMPORTANT NOTICE THE SUBSCRIE'TION PRICK of this Journal is Si.oo a year, in the United States of America and Mexico; in Canada. $i.io; and in all other countries in the Postal Union. 25 cents a year extra for postage. Sample copy free. THE WR.^PPER■L.^BI•■.E DATE indi- cates the end of the month to wliich your subscription is paid. For instance. " deci2" on your label sliows that it is paid to the end of December. IQI2. SUBSCRIPTION RECEIPTS.-We do not send a receipt for money sent us to pay sub- scription, but change tlie date on your ad- dress-label, which siiows that the money has been received and credited. Advertising Rate, Per Agate Line, 15c. 14 lines make one inch. Nothing less than 4 lines accepted. DISCOUNTS: J times I4C a line 9 times uc a line 6 " I2C " 12 " (I yr.) IOC a line Reading Notices. 25 cents, count line. Gops to press the 2,^th of the preceding month. Organized 1870.) National Bee - Keepers' Association OIJJECTS The objects of this Association shall be to aid its members in the business of bee-keep- ing; to help in the sale of their honey and beeswax; and to promote the interests of bee keepers in any otiier direction decided upon by the Board of Directors. Officers President— George W. York, Sandpoint. Ida. Vice-Pres. — Morley Petlit. Guelph. Out. Can. Secretary— E. B. Tyrrell. Detroit. Mich. Treasurer— N. E. ^"rance. Platteville. Wis. Director.s K. I). Townsend. Chm., Remus, Mich. Wesley C. Foster, Boulder, Colo. Kranklin Wilcox. Mauston. Wis. .1. E. Crane. Middlebury, Vermont. J. M. Buchanan. Franklin. Tenn. Annual Membership Dues $1.50, one- third (50 cents) of which goes to the local branch where such branch is organized. Send Dues to the Secretary. K. B. Tyrrell. BEE-KEEPERS Look ui) your stock at once and sentl me a list of the supplies you need. I have a large stock to draw from to handle your orders for Hives. .Sections, Comb Foundation, etc.; standaril goods with latest improvements fresh from the factory at factory schedule of prices. 1 have a general line of Root's Goods constantly on hand. My facilities for serving you are une(iualled. Beeswax taken in exchange for supplies Or cash. Italian Bees and Queens Be sure y<'u ha\e in\' ijtj ( atalog of Bees, (.iiii-cns ,ind Sii|i|ilies. sAjt EARL M. NICHOLS, Lyonsville, Mass. FOR SALE -A CAR LOAD OF BEES Consisting of 300 colonies at $6.00 a colony, spring delivery 1913. I will accompany the bees and guarantee safe delivery. Purchaser to pay the freight. MY SEVEN YARDS ARE OVERSTOCKED. and I do not care to start others, as I have all that I can well attend to. Terms of sale, $3011 to accompany copy for contract, and placed on deposit in the Sabi- nal National Bank of this place against bill of lading; balance payable on arrival of car. Bees are in Standard Dovetailed 10-frame hives, painted, and new bot- toms (Danz. style) of "i lumber. Bees are Italians and Banats crossed, and many of tliem are pure mated for the production of honey. Could ship if wanted after Sept. 1.'), this year, at $5..50 a colony. Health certificate furnished. J. A. Simmons, Uvalde Co. Apiaries, Sabinal, Texas. Phase mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. Soutliern Bee-Keepers! I have a Large and Complete Stock of BEE- SUPPLIES at Cordele, Cla., and have erec- ted a large Warehouse and filled it with New Bee -Supplies at O'Brien, Fla., near Live Oak, the best shipping-point for all sections of Florida. Southeast Georgia and Southern Alabama. Send all orders to CORDELE, CA., and state from which point you wish your Sup- plies shipped. J. ,1. WILDER. OUR FREE CATALOG Will tell you all about oiir Best Bee-Keepers' & Poultry Supplies Sold at lowest living prices. We handle the Best Sections in tlie World— the August Lotz Sections at Lotz prices. Three Carloads of Goods on hand with 2 more coming. Drop us a card and we can please you. Catalog Free. H. S. Duby, St. Anne, III. Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. BEE - KEEPER'S NOVELTY POCKET - KNIFE. HOWARD M. MELBEE, HONEYVILLE, O. Your Name and Address will be put on one side of the handle as shown in the cut, and on the other side a picture of a Queen-Bee, a Worker-Bee, and a Drone-Bee. The handle is celluloid, and so transparent, through which is seen your name. If you lose this Knife it can be returned to you, or it serves to iden- tify you if you happen to be injured fatally, or rendered unconscious. The cut is the e.xact size; it is made of best steel. When ordering be sure to write exact name and address. Knife delivered within two weeks after we receive order. Price, postpaid, $1.00; or with a year's subscription to the American Bee Journal— both for $1.80; or given Free as a premium for sending us 3 New sub- scriptions at $1.00 each. American Bee Journal, Hamilton, Illinois. PERFECTION in Wax Rendering Has Been Reached By Our Process. Ship Us Your OLD COMB AND CAPPINGS. And Secure Hi2 S. Hover A\e., Sandpoint, Bonner Co., Idaho Pkase mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. Untested Italian Queen-Bees Our Standard-Bred 6 Queens for $4.50 ; 3 for $2.50 ; 1 for 90 cents. For a number of years we have been sending out to bee-keepers exceptionally fine Untested Italian Queens, purely mated, and all right in every respect. Here is what a few of those who received our Queens have to say about them : George W. York & Co.;— The two queens received of you some time a&o are fine. They are grood hreeders. and the workers arc Bhowlngr up fine I Introduced them amone black bees, and the bees are nearly yellow now. and are doing Kood work. Nemaha Co , Kan , July 15. A. W. Swan. GsoRGE W. York & Co.;— After Importing' queens for 1.S years you have sent me the best She keeps y 1-2 Langstroth frames fully oc cupled to date. and. although I kepi the hive well contracted, to force them to swarra. they have never built a queen-cell, and will put up 100 pounds of honey if the flow lasts this week. Ontario. Canada July 22 Chas. Mitchell George W. York & Co. :— The queen I bought of you has proven a good one, and has given me some of the best colonies. Washington Co., Va., July 22. N. P. Oglesby. George W York & Co.;— The queen I received of you a few days aero came through O. K . and I want to say that she is a beauty. I im- nicdtalely introduced her into a colony which had been queenjess for 20 days She was accepted by them, and has gone to worlc nicely. I am highly pleased with her and your promptness in fillmg my order. Wy father, who is an old bee keeper, pronounced her very fine. You will hear from me again when I am in need of something in the bee hoe. E. E. McColm. Marion Co., lU., July 13, We usually begin mailing Queens in May, and con- tinue thereafter on the plan of " first come first served." The price of one of our Untested Queens alone is 30 cents, or with the old American Bee Journal for one year — both for $1.60. Three Queens (without Journal) would be $2..50. or 6 for $4.50. Full instructions for in- troducing are sent with each Queen, being printed on the underside of the address-card on the mailing-cage. You cannot do better than to get one or more of our fine Standard-Bred Queens. American Bee Journal, Hamilton, Illinois. »00CO0CO0000QOSOQOQCCi9ei0eGiSOSO00eC0OSCO9CCCCCCCOSCO0Q| I NARSHFIELD GOODS I BEEKEEPERS:— We manufacture Millions of Sections every year that are as good as the best. The CHEAPEST for the Quality ; BEST for the Price. If you buy them once, you will buy again. We also manufacture Hives, Brood- § Frames, Section-Holders and Ship- ping-Cases. Our Catalog is free for the asking. I Marshfield Mfg. Co., Marshfield, Wis. | L >SOQS=^gs^#n the ground was not solid enough. Look at the successes on the hard roadside. It usually requires 20 to :!0 pounds of hulled seed per acre, !i pounds more if the seed is uhhulled. It may be sown as soon as the j^round is dry enough in the spring, but in the latitude of Iowa best results are obtained by sowing the first week in May. It is more success- ful when the seed is sown alone. On account of its bitter taste, animals are slower about learning to eat sweet clover than they are about eating other legumes. But the fact that in at least half of the States in the Union, stock have become accustomed to eat this plant indicates that the natural distaste which stock at first show can be suc- cessfully overcome. They learn to eat the dried hay more readily than the green plant, and they are likely to take kindly to the tender shoots in the spring when other growth is scarce. . Fresh sweet clover contains 20 per- cent less of protein than fresh alfalfa, and 11.4 percent less than fresh red clover. Sweet-clover hay contains 7 percent less protein than alfalfa hay, and nearly 10 percent more than red- clover hay. The following table of comparative values per ton of different feeds is in- teresting : Sweet-clover hay %iS.i<) Alfalfa hay 2o.it. Red-clover hay I4.i2 Timotliy iiay Q.8o Cowpea hay 19.76 Wheat bran 22.80 Shelled corn 2016 From certain sections of western Iowa, steers have been turned off fat from sweet-clover pasture, and have brought $1 per hundredweight premium over the ordinary grasspastured stock marketed at Chicago from the same locality. The dairy farmers around Ferron, Utah, are practically unanimous in the opinion that sweet-clover hay will pro- duce as much or more milk than alfalfa, and it is also very highly prized for feeding horses during the winter. You can have a copy of this bulletin sent free to you if you apply to your Congressman or the -Secretary of Agri- culture, Washington, D. C, for Farm- ers' liulletin 48.J. Black Bees in Switzerland. — E. P., in the " Bulletin D'Apiculture," makes the statement that the Italian bees have never given him the satisfaction which he secured from his black or common bees. He ascribes their failure to the altitude, 4t)0() feet. This may be the explanation of the fact that nowhere in Switzerland have the Italians proven as satisfactory as they have in America. Of course, we have bee-culture in Col- orado at the same altitude, but it is in a much warmer and drier climate than that of Switzerland. The two coun- tries can not be compared as to con- ditions. -♦. Stretching the Limit. — A grocery house had purchased 10 barrels of glu- cose. As an experiment they fitted up a top-floor as a honey factory. First they had the floor concreted, then they poured in the glucose, and on the top of it floated a number of very thin boards pierced with holes like a colan- Anthonv's Remarkable Hive-Lu.-ter.— (See front page.) der. Several hundred bees were then turned loose in the room. They alight- ed on the boards, and their weight was sufficient to bring up the glucose through the holes in the boards. Hives had been prepared around the room, and when the bees were surfeitd they went into the hives and stored the honey. It was "pure honey," and, ac- cording to the salesman, was sold as such. — /•'inaucial A'cTieiv. What next ? bj the greater or less proportion of iron and phosphoric acid contained therein, the difference's in quality which soils of different grades may produce. Carniolan Bees in Finland Mr. Mick- witz, of Finland, who spent several years in the United States studying bee-keeping, and was for about 3 months in our apiaries, sends us the following letter : I leave Finland on June ist. for the Con- tinent, to bring home 150 swarms. Most of them arc ordered by customers. I expect to build up some 50 colonies this summer, but do not expect any results this season. 1 send kindest regards and congratulations to the new Kditor. and wish you all kinds of success. Paul Mickwitz. Helsingfors. Finland. May 21. Death ot B. T. Davenport. — We have just learned of the death of Mr. B. T. Davenport, of Berlin, Wis., which oc- curred on Friday, March 20. Mr. Davenport had been a bee-keeper for 40 years, operating from 75 to 200 colo- nies of bees, and was well known to the more pronnnent bee-keepers. He had been a subscriber to the American Bee Journal for '2b years. Mr. Daven- port was tiO years old at the time of his death. His bees will be managed and operated by his son, who has just finished high school. Solar Eclipse and Bees — Analysis of Honey. -The May number of " L'Api- culture Nouvelle " contains si.\ reports of the influence of the solar eclipse of April 17th on the worker-bees. This eclipse was central in France at 12:8 noon. The bees acted as if the sun was setting, and in most cases jirecipi- tately returned home. We noticed the same behavior in a solar eclipse in this country, years ago. Not only the bees, but the chickens and the birds concluded that night had come and hurriedly went to roost. In the same number, Mr. Alin Caillas, the author of an excellent little treatise entitled, " Les tresors d'une goutte de miel " (The treasures in a drop of honey), gives the result of analysis of honey from different soils, and shows, European Laws on Foul Brood. Some French apiarian associations, among which we will mention the "Societe Hautmarnaise d'apiculture," have pass- ed resolutions asking the Government to " assimilate foul brood to the con- tagious diseases of domestic animals, and to apply to this disease the pro- visions of the law of 1881, on sanitary police."- — J.fs abeilles el les fruits. A Nillion Dollars for a Wile. — An amusing incident occurred at the ban- quet of the California State Bee-Keep- ers' Association. .'X bee-keeper from Utah, when called upon for a toast, said in part: "Do not think, because 1 am from Utah, that I have a plurality of wives. I have one, and I would not take a million dollars for her, and I would not give 1.^ cents for another." Later a prominent bachelor bee-man. who had been "joshed" a great deal about his position, was called upon to answer to the toast. He opened his re- marks by saying : " If you will reverse the statement of Mr. Gill it will apply July, 1912. 201 American ~Bae Joarnal I the National. We will be glad to have this matter discussed by them in a brief and practical manner. Mr. E.J. Ba.xter. ok Nauvoo. III.— (See page 210.) to me. I have no wife, but would give " the rest was drowned in a roar of laughter. The chairman of the publication committee promised to take the matter up and do his best to remedy e.xisting conditions. — Exchange. Missouri State Association vs. the National. — We have received the fol- lowing from Mr. J. W. Rouse, Presi- dent of the Missouri State Bee-Keepers' Association : We notice in tiie American Bee Journal for May. page i?5. the action of the Califor- nia bee-keepers in regard to affiliation with the National. That is about the condition with Missouri liee-keepers. Since the establishment of the new order of things, the beekeepers of Missouri hardly know where they are. and what is best to do regarding the National. The writer, as well as some others in our State, had paid up for a year or more ahead, but the Secretary of the National has re- turned to our Secretary what had been sent him from our State, asking us to join the National in a body. Our State Secretary. Mr. J. K. Diemer. of Liberty, has written me several letters asking for instructions. At our last meeting in .September, in Kansas City, it was our intention to continue with the National. Since the affiliation rules have come into effect, it has been suggested to call a meeting of our State association to consider the matter, but only a small num- ber would attend a meeting called at this time of the year. From first to last, we have secured about 300 bee-keepers as members of our State association, but there is not a third that keep up their membership. I fear that the higher dues will keep many from affiliating. 1 should think it much bet- ter to have 300 members at Si than one-third or less at S2. One dollar is a popular amount for membership, if more many will keep out even if it were only $r25 or Ji.io. I think also that it was a mistake to require a mem- bership of at least 25 to secure affiliation. In order to perpetuate our State associa- tion, it may be necessary to have two rates, one at 50 cents for membership in our State and one at the higher rate for affiliation. Some are not sure of the advantages of be- longing to both associations, whether we are to have any help in protecting our rights as formerly: few have much honey to dis- pose of, and think the National would not help them in that. Tfiere will be no action until we can get another meeting; not be- fore fall. So far as the writer knows, the former Manager of the National gave splendid sat- isfaction, and we are at a loss to know why he was not given a try out in the new order of things. This is not casting any reflection upon the present officers, as they all Iiave a tirst-class reputations. We would like to hear from others in Mis- souri with suggestions. J. W Rouse. Pres. A/issi>tiri Slate Bee- Kccjiers Association. Mexico. Mo.. May 17. We hope the Missouri State bee- keepers will see their way clear to join Something About Flowers. - P r o f . J o h n H. Lnvell has an interesting article in Cileanings In Bee Culture concerning the colors of the North American flow- ers, in which he says : Some years ago I began an inquiry as to how many (lowers there are of each color in the flora of North America. In northeastern ■America, north of Tennessee and east of the Rocky Mountains, there have been de- scribed 4020 species of flowering plants, or arigiospernis. Partly by direct examination and partly by reference to various syste- matic works I have tabulated the entire number according to their predominant col- ors—a labor which, I need hardly say, ex- tended over several years. I find that in this area there are 1244 green, osh white. 801 yellow. 21)0 red. 434 purple, and 325 blue flowers. TMie green, white, and yellow flowers num- ber 3001, or three-fourths of the entire num- ber; while the red, purple, and blue amount to only loio. Though there are many excep- tions, the first group usually have regular or wheel shaped or cup-shaped flowers with the nectar easily accessible, and are visited by all flower-loving insects— a miscellaneous company of beetles, flies, butter flies, wasps, and bees. The probability is that very fevv bee- keepers would make anything like a fair guess as to the proportion of flowersof different colors. llike enough quite a number would say off-hand that there were no green flowers, unless attention were called to the grasses, and even then probably very few would make the estimate that nearly a third of all the flowers are green. Moreover, if a dozen different persons were asked to give a guess as to how many species of llowers in each hundred are green, white, etc., the dozen guesses would vary widely. In order to make a test of the matter, two experienced flower- lovers were separately asked to make a guess as to the percent of each color, with the following result: ist 2d Lovell's guess guess figures Green 4 15 3o,o White 5 25 23.8 Yellow 20 8 ig.9 Red 30 40 6.4 Purple 5 10 10.9 Blue 8 10 8. One thing likely to lead to error in estimating, is that attention will be fixed upon the total number of flowers, instead of the number of kinds. Mil- lions of red-clover blossoms will be thought of, whereas red clover only One of the Apiaries of Abbi? Warr<5. Curate of Martainneville. France. counts one among -4020. Because there are nearly 4 times as many white spe- cies as red, it by no means follows 202 luly, 11)12. American liee Journal that the total number of white flowers mav exceed the red. Prof. Lovell says that "among the wind-pollinated plants are the grasses, sedges, and rushes; many homely weeds, like the pigweeds, sorrels, net- tles and ragweeds, as well as many de- ciduous bushes and trees, as the alders, poplars, elms, beeches and birches." He estimates that these, including a few pollinated by water, number 104(!. Deducting this number from 4irJ», leaves •2!I74 species depending upon in- sects of various kinds. page of the ,\merican Bee Journal for March, in his apiary display. Mr. Malta, an island in the Mediterranean sea. was "Melita " originally. That was its Latin name. " Mel " is " honey " in Latin. Was the one derived from the other ? An Industrious Nation is like the honey-bees; we take away their wax and their honey, and the next moment they work to produce more. — rollaire. A Novel Display.— The photograph given represents Mr J. C. Frank, of Dodge City, Kans., and a corner of his apiarv. The capital letters A R Y, shown in the photo, are the last letters of the word "apiary," used by him to make his bees build, out of comb honey, the sign shown on the front Mr. J. C. Frank and Part ok His Aimarv. Frank is an active worker, and makes beautiful Fair displays of both bees and honey. Success to such men, for they help to advertise honey among consumers. Bee-Keeping <^ For Women Conducted bv Miss Emma M. Wilson. Marengo. III. The Value ol Poplar Trees as Honey- Producers I am just takiiii; renewed interest in bees and honey, and want to ask a few questions: What is considered to be the honey-pro- duction of our old. native [loplar trees, and what is the quality of the honey? Canyon tell me of any book that tells of the honey- producinj; qualities of our trees and plants, also any individual I miaht write to for in- formation on the subject ? Can you give me the address of Prof. A. J. Cook. I have several large, old poplar trees that I have been offered a price, but have been keeping them for my bees. I would be glad to knrjw what others, with more expe- rience, think of it. Duluth.Ga. ■ (Mrs.) H. Strickland. P. S.— Did you ever hear of bees commit- ting suicide from the poplar tree, or in any other way ? H. S. I do not know of any book that gives very full information as to different honey-plants. In the leading text- books on bee-keeping a list of such plants may be found, but nothing very definite as to the value of each one. In fact, it would be a very difficult thing to say just how much was the honey value of any given plant. In a general way we know something about what are good honey-plants, as, for instance, white clover. But no one can say how much honey can be obtained from an acre of white clover. Kven if we knew exactly how much honey was had from a certain acre, that might be much less or much more than from some other acre. Moreover, on precisely the same ground, and apparently the same stand of plants, the yield this year might be quite diflferent from other years. Now after all this has been said, it may be that some one who has had ex- perience with poplar as a honey-plarit, can give us some information that will be of value. In the meantime, subject to correction, it may be no harm to say what is the impression about poplar honey in this region where poplar does not grow. That is, that poplar yields a good quantity of somewhat dark honey of fiavor that is approved where it grows, but not liked so well elsewhere. As to whether it would be to your interest to sell your trees to be cut for the timber, or to preserve them for your bees, much depends upon condi- tions. It must be taken into accoutit that if cut as timber you have their value once for all; while as lioney- yielders their value is continuous. If there are no other poplars within 2 or :i miles, and no other plants that yield nectar at the same time as poplar, then it is likely that it would not be advis- able to sell them. On the other hand, if poplars are reasonably plenty within 2 or 'i miles, or if there are plenty of other honey-plants that yield at the same time as poi)lar, then it may be to your advantage to sell the trees. Mr. .1. J. Wilder, of Cordele, Ga., is an able bee-keeper who probably un- destands well the honey sources of your State. Prof. A. J. Cook is now California Commissioner of Horticulture, and a letter addressed to Sacramento would reach him. A bee will not hesitate to sacrifice its life in defense of its home. .Any- thing aside from this in the line of suicide is likely mythical. More Trouble With Swarms ' It is always a matter of interest to watch the course of an enthusiastic be- ginner in bee-keeping. The proverb has it that "The course of true love never runs smoothly." The same is true of bee-keeping. And that very fact makes one of its chief charms. To meet difficulties and to overcome them — that's the thing for your true bee- keeper. Mrs. SpofTord was advised, on page 171, to try the Demaree plan of pre- venting swarming, under the impres- sion that she was working for ex- tracted honey. This was a mistaken impression, and she thought she might succeed by trying the Townsend plan of having a super filled with sections except an extracting comb at each side. Also on one hive she would put a super containing partly-drawn combs in sections. But "The best laid plans of mice and men gang aft agley." Same with women, as witness the following letter: I am a disgusted bee-woman today. On May 24 I went throut;li all the frames in my 3 hives. In No. i 1 cut out. 1 think, 'j queen- cells. In Nos. .: and }, I couldn't tind a queen- cell, but there was brood in both. But in both No. 2 and No. 3 I found scattered about in the bottom of the cells a deposit light in color. There was none in No. i. In No. 2 I actually found the queen. \ Now this is June 2. and out came a swarm from No. i. 1 was miserable, and said to myself: It will have to go. I .im not pre- pared to hive it; haven't the strength. Half an hour of disgust and I started to tind ;i box. Result, a box into which I put 2 e\ tracting-frames filled with foundation. Thr box was placed on top of a step-laddn which was also resting on a box. I stood ou a chair. I shook four fifths of the bees into my im provised hive, and r>ut a sheet of wireclolli over it. It is now an hour later, and Ihosu left in the tree have gone into the box. also. I don't want them, and I am so disgusted not to be able to find some way to discipline them and make them return home to work, 1 shall improvise a super and put a few sec- tions in it. and let them do what they like; and I shall again go through the hives tomor- row. Townsend's extracting super, under the sections, did not work this time, "What 1 have in mind to do is to make them join the weakest of the colonies next fall, (Mrs, J CiiAs, \. Si'OFford. Norfolk. Conn, Please, Mrs. Spofford, don't be dis- couraged. If you will allow another proverb: "Faint heart never yet won fair lady," and that other classic : " If at first you don't succeed, try, try again." There is a crumb of comfort in the fact that you can have a colony reach that point of strength to be ready to swarm so early as June 2. when not a fruit-tree was in bloom the middle of May. If you can do that every year, and if you can keep down swarmin.t;. you ought to get crops if crops are to be gotten. You cut out all queen-cells May 21. and it seems in all fairness that those I July, 11112. ■^^i^^=4( 203 American Bgc Journal | bees ought not to have swarmed so Soon as il days later. It is to be feared that you have rather a " swarmy " strain of bees. We generally count that once in 10 days is often enough to go through to kill queen-cells. And not often will a swarm issue inside of 10 days so early in the season. Later in the season, and especially if they have been previously thwarted, tliey may swarm within 5 days, 2 days, or even 1 day after the cutting out of the cells. So you see that cutting out (|ueen-cells can by no means be relied upon to prevent swarming. But it generally delays it, and sometimes prevents it entirely. You may be interested in reading about it in Dr. Miller's " Fifty Years Among the Bees." That red deposit in the bottom of the cells was likely pollen, and not a matter of significance. Sometimes it happens that one colony will gather a certain kind of honey or pollen while another does not. You might have done a good deal worse in the management of that swarm. Surely, you did well not to have it go off. You are disgusted that you can not discipline those bees. No doubt they are laughing in their sleeves at the way they have gotten ahead of you, but no doubt they'll have their discipline in good time. Uniting in the fall is all right, but you might have taken a little dilTerent course. Next time, set the swarm close by the old hive, and then a week later move the old hive to a new location. That will not be much difTerent from what you have done, but it will prevent after- swarms, and it will throw all the field bees into the swarm on the old stand, and then the swarm ought to do good super work. You might do another way: Have your queen clipped, and when the swarm issues catch the queen and cage her. Cut out all queen-cells and leave the queen caged in the hive. Ten days later destroy all queen-cells again, and liberate the queen. Generally that will be the end of all swarming, but not always. Here's another way that will put an end to further swarming: When the swarm issues, kill or remove the old queen and destroy all queen-cells but one, of course leaving the largest and best looking cell. Then you need pay no more attention to that colony ex- cept to attend to its supers, and to see that the young queen is laying perhaps 2 weeks later, If not, she has prob- ably been lost on her bridal trip, and a laying queen must be furnished to the colony. You will see that by either of these two ways there will be no in- crease in the number of colonies. Emi Western ^ Bee-Keeping Conducted by Wesley Foster. Boulder. Colo. Montezuma County Bee-Keeping .A.t the very southwest corner of Col- orado, where it joins three other States, .•\rizona. New Mexico and Utah, lies Montezuma county, the ancient home of the Aztecs. Here are to be found the remains of the homes of the cliff dwellers, the oldest human habitations of the American continent. A richer soil there is not in Colo- rado, and when I say it I have in mind all of the best sections of Colorado. Pears, apricots, prunes, peaches, plums, cherries, grapes of every kind, apples so highly colored that a Ben Davis looks like a Jonathan, grow to the highest perfection. Mr. Francis, liv- ing in NicElmo Canon, had peaches weighing 1-'^ pounds each last year. The buyers objected that the peaches were too large. He fattened his hogs by letting them run loose in his or- chard, picking up the windfalls. This county is quite a hog country, as corn grows well, making from 35 to 50 bushels to the acre. .Alfalfa, of course, is one of the principal crops, and sugar beets will soon be largely grown, as there is to be a sugar factory in the district. Oats often go 100 bush- els to the acre, and wheat has been and is being successfully raised on dry land to the tune of 3u bushels -to the acre. The soil is a pinkish red, and is easily worked after the sage-brush and cedars are cleared off. The cedars are found principally in the upper end of the valley, but sage-brush is every- where. The usual way is to grub the sage-brush out with a grubbing hoe, and it costs from $o to $10 an acre to do it. This Montezuma country is well sup- plied w^ith water, since a tunnel a mile long, with a fall of (50 feet, was made through the hills to let the water from the Dolores river into the valley. The tunnel is 7x9 feet, and carries water sufficient to irrigate 40,000 acres of land. As yet, less than 20,000 acres are under this irrigation system. There will be needed additional reservoirs before abundant crops can be assured through the dry seasons. This is still a pioneer country, but good roads are the rule, and telephones and free rural deliveries reach every part of the county. The county seat (Cortez) is 14 miles from the railroad — a narrow-guage road at that — and the fare is about (i cents a mile. The fare to Denver is the same, or nearly the same, as from Denver to Chicago, and it takes as long to go from Cortez to Denver as from Denver to New- York. The freight rates are scheduled at about the same ratio. It is doubtful whether the railroad pays at all, as a more expensive line to build and op- erate would be hard to find. Montezuma county is destined to be a great fruit district, and as a bee- country it has been good for years. Sweet clover abounds, and alfalfa conies along to help. Sweet clover is considered the honey source here, however. Mrs. Holly, who has the largest apiary in the county, and lives inNlcElmo Canon, 4o miles from the railroad and 30 miles from Cortez, says that her bees swarm three times each year, most of the swarms going to the hills. Most of her bees are in box- hives, and the supers are put on top. The honey is cut out of the sections and sold in bulk to the Indians and others at from j to 10 cents a pound. The sections are used over and over again year after year. There are prob- ably l'>0 bee-keepers in the county, and not more than a dozen of them have bees in movable-comb hives. There is not another county in the State where bee-keeping, as a whole, is at a lower ebb, and where the chances for suc- cess are better.. But the lack of cheap transportation is holding this country back. Many can not afford good hives, and there is no dealer in the county who carries a supply of goods in stock. Bees have been yielding 100 pounds of comb honey to the hive where taken care of, but foul brood has wiped out from 80 to 90 percent of the bees during the last 3 years. When Mrs. A. J. Barber was inspector she kept the disease down. When she died no other inspector was appointed, and condi- tions have become so bad that strenu- ous efforts must be made to clean things up. Mr. G. D. Taylor is now inspector, and as he is very much in- terested in bee-keeping, and is anxious to keep his own bees clean, things will doubtless improve. At the present time there are about loOO colonies in the county. (This is a guess, but probably not far from the the figure.) Bees abound in the rocks and cedars, and this will without doubt affect the foul brood situation consid- erably. Land is about one-half what it is worth in more accessible parts of Col- orado, but with improved transporta- tion the price will rise. The people tell me that it is an easy country to live in, as poultry is easy to raise, garden stuff grows well, and sheep and cattle thrive throughout the winter. There are no severe winter storms such as we had in eastern Colorado the past winter. Pork is found on every table. Every- body has fruit, but they think nobody wants to eat much of it. You know folks get into a rut. They drink coffee and let the grapes spoil. Now, nothing is more delicious than sweet grape juice. When my appetite does not crave grape juice, give me milk, but a large porportion of the farm folks feed the milk to the chickens, calves, cats, etc., and drink coffee that costs them 30 or 40 cents a pound, and they drink it black. When I drink coffee it is for the milk and sugar I can get into it. Honey is very generally eaten in Montezuma county, you will find it oftener than corn syrup. It is on the tables at the hotels and restaurants, and the farmers make a point of buy- ing a winter supply from some neigh- bor, if they have no bees of their own. Here is a county that produces a lot of honey, and the home demand takes it all, or nearly so. A good deal goes to 204 July, 1912. Amc>rican Bac Jonrn^ the mining camps of Rico, Telluride and Silverton. Montezuma county has not a single specialist bee-keeper. Mr. G. D. Taylor has 30 colonies, a bunch of sheep, 30 acres of land, and is raising some alfalfa and potatoes. With the county inspection work he will be busy. Mr. Wilkerson is a farmer neighbor of Mr. Taylor's, and has about 3.5 colonies, all in good hives. Mr. Frank Taylor has about i'j colonies of bees, and his time is taken up principally with his ranch. Mrs. Taylor plans to take charge of the bees the coming year. At Mancos, 20 miles from Cortez, the remnants of Mrs. A. J. Barber's apiaries are in the hands of T. W. Wattles. Foul brood has decimated the colonies until there are less than 20 left. Mr. H. M. Barber lives about 4 miles from Mancos, and has some bees which he desires to increase. Mr. Barber is anxious for effective inspection and cleaning up. I met Mrs. Barber's son, and he said that his mother used to sell 20,000 pounds of honey nearly every year. This is still a new country and hard to reach, but it is bound to come to the front for it is blessed with bound- less latent possibilities. A need of Montezuma county is for a bee-keepers' institute, where the ad- vantages of the movable-comb hive will be shown. Demonstrations in nailing up hives, frames, supers, put- ting up sections and startering sections and frames should be included in the program. The prevention of swarm- ing will need explaining, and the grad- ing and packing of honey should be taken up. If interest can be aroused, such a meeting will be held as soon as can be arranged. The Montrose Meeting Montrose county, in Colorado, is a comb-honey county. I do not know of a bee-man who extracts as a business. Delta county, on the north, has on the contrary, quite a number of extracted- honey men. The tendency, however, IS strongly toward comb-honey pro- duction. Mr. R. W. Ensley, who owns and operates the largest number of colonies in Delta county, is changing from extracted-honey production to comb entirely. Some lesser bee-men are making the change more gradually. The largest attendance at the Mon- trose meeting was about 50 on Friday evening. May 10. Six or 7 bee-men came from Delta county, and 3 from the eastern side of the mountains. The others were all from Montrose county. Mr. Frank Rauchfuss was expected to be present and talk on the application of the Colorado Grading Rules, but he did not get there, and we thrashed over the changes that were made in the rules last December. Mr. S. J. Harris, of Olathe, who owns about 200 colonies, and produces comb honey, spoke on the " how " of produc- ing the article, and when he finished speaking the meeting wakened up, asked riuestions, and discussed methods with such zeal that three or four were bidding for the recognition of the chairman at every opportunity. The A .Scene in Colorado. production of comb honey, at times, was lost sight of in discussing winter- ing, feeding, requeening, etc., but, of course, we have a broad subject in dis- cussing comb-honey production. Our meetings will be long remem- bered, if they are turned over to those present, and they feel that general dis- cussion is the most valuable part of the convention. The grading of comb honey, accord- ing to the new rules, was about the liveliest subject brought up. The No. 2 grade is the lowest grade recognized. Sections that weigh 10 ounces or more, but are fully capped except the outside row, subject to certain other restric- tions that I will not mention here, may be put in this grade; also sections that weigh 12 ounces, with not more than 50 unsealed cells filled with honey. Several members thought that sections weighing 12 ounces, where half of one side was uncapped, but filled with honey, should be admitted to this grade. Others even thought if one whole side was unsealed that it should be No. 2 if the section was heavy. Mr. J. R. Miller stood out for the rules as they now are, while Mr. J. C. Mat- thews held that the rules would render unmarketable a large amount of salable honey for which the rules should make a place. I consider the rules as very fair on the whole, and think that sections, even though filled, but half unsealed, are cull honey, and should not be recog- nized in the grades. This does not, however, preventtheir sale as cull stock, and it is probable that some buyers may be glad to get this stock at a price that will equal its worth. It is not best to include such stock in the grades, for we do not want to build our reputation on such honey. The point of Mr. Mat- thews' argument was that he wanted to find a market for this honey, as he did in the past. I do not see where the new rules will necessarily hinder any in this. I shall have more to say about the grading rules a little later. At the evening session the writer read a paper on "Foul Brood Legisla- tion," and Hon. O. C. Skinner followed with some valuable suggestions on how to get desired legislation, what to ask for and what to expect in the way of obstacles. Mr. Skinner is a bee-keeper, owning several hundred colonies, but operating only about 20 at his home place. Mr. Skinner, as a member of the Colorado Legislature, introduced the foul brood bill which successfully passed the legislature. He favors the insertion of a clause prohibiting the keeping of bees in box-hives. Mr. Robert E. Foster, Bee-In- spector for Montrose county, gave an excellent talk on the treatment of foul brood. He quickly warmed up to his theme, and spoke right out of the heart experience. (For the enlightment of those who go much on family ties, I will now say that Mr. Foster and I have been unable to find any. But we call each other by first names, which is just as good.) The B.\nouet. The Entertainment Committee had need of our presence over at a restaur- ant at 10:30 p.m., where we talked bees as much as we could. Some good stories were told. One member of the Montrose association told a rich one on his wife. It seems the lady in this case had been told that a queen emitted a delicate aroma upon being crushed, something similar to a broken vial containing attar of roses, as it were. So Mr. So-and-So gave her a young queen one day — when queens were more numerous than needful — and she pinched the young maiden bee's head, raised the quivering body to her nose for the enjoyment of a delightful per- fume, the queen inadvertently got too close to the nose in question, and the sting was there firmly and securely de- posited. Now, ladies, how would you like to have your husbands tell a storv like this on you when you were present? We can not waste time telling what we had to eat, but we were there over an hour, and the 40 or more who at- tended left rather reluctantly. At all times when the meetings were not in progress, little groups of bee-men would be seen standing around on the corners, talking " shop." Saturday morning, filling hives before the honey-fiow came in for discussion, and the Alexander plan was winner by a decision of about 10 to nothing. Every one who had followed the plan spoke very highly of it. The loss of bees in ^lontrose countv has been July, 1912. American Hee Journal heavy, from 25 to oil percent, and the filling up of empty hives is a vital ques- tion. The diniculty now is to get the hives full enough to use the Ale.xander method with success. The morning session, Saturday, was expected to be the last, but an hour and a half was found in the afternoon before train time, and Mr. Paul Hun- ten, of Somerset, was allowed to tell of his tin section, carton, and Sanitary Honey Package. The bee-men, as a rule, agree that he has an innovation that, when perfected, will revolutionize the methods of production and sale of comb honey. .■\ better bee-meeting it has not been my pleasure to attend for many a moon. Many such meetings for "Magnani- mous Montrose." Bee-Keeping In Dixie^ Conducted by J. J. Wilder, Cordele. Ga. Information on Bee-Culture Mr. Wii-OEK:— You ha\e been referred lo me as one who could yive me information on bee-cuilure. I am deeply interested, and have a few colonies of bees to start with, and I want to increase some, and keep increasing as Ions as I can keep them in good condition, and make them pay. Crawfordsville. Ga. W. F. Griffith. Information on bee-culture is ob- tained in two different ways, by prac- tice or direct experience with bees, and by theory, purchasing and study- ing literature on bee-culture. But a combination of both practice and theory, is by far the best. You will learn faster, and better results will fol- low, even from the very beginning. You already have a start in bees, and the next step should be a study of good literature on the subject. The more of this the better. If your bees are in modern hives, and you have the necessary conven- iences, you should first read up on the manipulation of frames or the hand- ling of bees, at once looking through every colony in your apiary. See that the proper conditions exist, supply their needs, and thus keep them in good shape. Bee-keeping will become as familiar to you as your regular line of business; that is, you will fully un- derstand what to do and how to do it. But if your bees are in box /liz'cs and log-ffiims, you had better post yourself on the "transferring of bees," and get the hives and necessary supplies. When the next honey-flow is on in your locality, transfer by some method described in the books into modern hives. By all means follow instruc- tions as nearly as you can and learn at the other man's expense. Yes, and you might learn something by visiting some progressive and experienced bee- keepers, and seeing how they go about certain work. Then do likewise. More Subscribers Dixie bee-keepers, the number of subscribers for the American Bee Jour- nal within our bounds is far from what it should be for the greatest good. It is the best bee-publication for us when it comes to the practical side of our in- dustry, that of the management of bees for the greatest amount of profit. It has been my greatest source of infor- mation in my bee-keeping career. Urge your neighbors to take it. It will pay them tenfold its cost, and they will never regret the dollar spent for it. If the bee-papers were more univer- sally read, brood diseases would be soon stamped out and the industry would thrive much more. Is Bee-Keeping a Desirable Pursuit? The judge of our Circuit Court turns his son over to us as soon as school is over, with this message : " Take my boy and teach him as much of your business as you can, and pay him some- thing if he is worth anything to you. I had rather he would learn bee-keeping and follow it as an occupation than any other business in the world." The outside world is awakened to the great possibilities of our industry, and this is not confined to those of the humble callings in life. This means something for the future of our in- dustry. " My bees have done well, and I am more than pleased with results," is the most common expression from those interested. Bitter-weed Honey Dear Mr. Wilder;— Mr. W. R. Cunnine" ham. on page 150 of the American Bee Jour- nal, refers to bitter-weed. honey, and I have that to contend with here. I use the Massie hive with u frames i5^8X7/'i inches. Now. do you think it would be wise, as soon as the bit- ter-weed begins blooming, to remove tfie comb-honey supers and put another hive- body on eacli hive ? This would give them ample room the rest of the season, and next spring they would be stronger and do more work in the supers and be less inclined to swarm. M. P. Hughes, B.S.. M.D. Gadsden. Ala. The Massie hive containing frames the dimensions you give is not large enough for our average location, espe- cially if the queens are very prolific, and it would be a wise thing to add another such brood-chamber and let the bees establish themselves well in the two. This, as you say, would most surely give each a larger force of bees next spring and reduce swarming. There are many bee-keepers troubled not a little with the honey from the bitter-weed. I think if I had it to con- tend with, that as soon as it began blooming I would remove all comb- honey supers if I ran for comb honey; if not, I would extract the good honey, even from the brood-chamber, and let the bees fill up with the bitter-weed honey for winter and spring stores. Or a lot of increase could be made arti- ficially during its bloom by most any of the methods, as the weather condi- tions are ideal at that time. Quieting the Bees I have been troubled but little with robbing, but sometimes my home api- ary, where I pack the honey, has been in great turmoil from some one leaving a comb of honey exposed, or, perhaps, by the smell of the water in which we washed our hands smeared with honey, etc. Then the bees storm the packing- house and get in in various ways. Those on the outside are a great an- noyance, clustering on the wire-gauze of the openings of the building, wher- ever they think they can effect an en- trance. When I become aware of this condi- tion, I set out a lot of supers contain- ing combs from which the honey has just been extracted. Of course, they take to this at once. What a roar they make and what a tumult ! Every fielder is there, and sometimes it seems that all the bees for miles around are there for their share of the spoil. What a time they have for an hour or so, when they will all disperse apparently disgusted, and resolved not to return for another such fooling. The bees will not tear down the combs, but clean them up nicely. Making Increase Economically Making increase and not interfering with the honey crop, or having to feed, is a diflScult problem. But it can be done in the following manner in locali- ties where we have two or more honey- flows with several weeks between, as is the case in most sections of Dixie: I remove all surplus honeyas quickly as possible after each flow, for it grades better than if removed later. And as I make my last round I prepare to make the increase at all apiaries where I de- sire it. All colonies that are very strong with considerable honey in the brood-nest are marked, and 2 or 3 of the very strongest are divided into two equal parts as nearly as possible, one part left on the old stand and the othei placed on a new one. On the ninth day after each apiary has been thus divided, I return and re- move all the queen-cells the queenless divisions have built except one or two cells to each hive, which are left for their requeening, and place them in cell-protectors. Then with cover, bot- tom, hive-body and frames containing full sheets of foundation, or ready- built combs, I go to one of the marked hives, remove the supers and lift out the frame on the outside, look it over carefully for the queen and set it in the new hive next to one side, and lift out the next frame in like manner, and so on until 4 frames have been lifted out and set in the new hive. During this operation the bees must not be smoked any more than necessary so that the old bees will be lifted out on the frames. If I find the queen and put her in the new hive, I set it on the new stand ; if not, I set the new hive on the old stand and give it a queen-cell 206 American l^ee Journal k .'uly, 1M2. and half of the supers and bees, I place the old hive on the new stand with the remaining supers. In ') or ti days I return and examine all divisions, and remove the cell-pro- tectors and insert a comb or so in the center of the brood-nest of the divis- ions that liave queens, if they need more comb. Then 2 weeks later I re- turn and insert more comb in the broodnest of the divisions which con- tain the old queens. I remove some sealed brood from the stronger ones and give to the weaker divisions. By this time the new divisions have laying queens. About 2 weeks later I again return and place the remaining empty combs in the brood-nest, and again add sealed brood to the weaker divis- ions. With only a little honey coming in it may be necessary to equalize stores somewhat. It is then only a week or so before the next honey-flow. As soon as it has begun I return and again give the weaker divisions more sealed brood from the stronger colo- nies. About all the honey has been con- sumed in this great increase, but every- thing is ideal for the honey harvest, and supers are placed on in sufticient numbers for it. There is no swarming during this flow, and it will not be necessary to disturb the bees any more. The greatest amount of honey possible will be harvested. Conducted by J. I.. BvER, Mt. Joy. Ontario. Moving a Car of Bees " Nerve Racking" A few weeks ago the writer had his first experience in moving a carload of bees, and he is now quite ready to agree with all who have been on the job, that it is a "nerve racking" busi- ness. The car was loaded at night, and the bees had to stay on the siding until the next day at 3 in the afternoon. The day (May 23) was the only real hot one we have had this year, the mercury going up to nearly 90 degrees, and it was surprising what a heat was generated in that car while standing there. Each colony had a full depth empty super on top of the hive, screened over with wire-netting. The abundance of ventilation was all that saved the bees. During the day I used about 20 gallons of water on them, and I was thankful for the wet weather we had had the day before. I ran out of water, but was able to re- plenish my can from thcditches when the train stopped at a station. From 7 in the evening until 3 in the morning my car was banged around the West Toronto yards by about a dozen different s.vitch engines. At first, I was a bit afraid of results. How- ever, I found that an extra hard jolt did not harm them, so after that I did not worry. Leaving at 3 a.m. we were 12 hours going less than H") miles. We had r,(i cars with but one engine, and often had to wait to let other trains pass. Arriving at our destination at 3 p.m., we found that a telegram sent had gone astray. We hail to hustle for some rig to unload the bees. In the whole community there was not a spring wagon. At last a flat hay-rack on a heavy lumber wagon was secured, and 1 he bees were moved on that over a road that I would have been afraid of at any other time even with a good spring wagon. However, "all is well that ends well," and with all the banging the bees re- ceived on the car, not a hive budged an inch, and after the moving over the rocks with a heavy wagon, not a single comb was broken. I was afraid that some brood would die, owing to the hot weather encountered on the mov- ing trip, but no dead brood was in evi- dence, and there was not a pint of dead bees in the whole outfit when the bees were liberated. For two nights I had no sleep. The night we unloaded the bees it was was after 12 when we finished the job, and I was so tired that I could not sleep when I got the chance. Yes, moving bees is a " nerve-racking " business, but there is a fascination about it, and at a future date I hope to give more partic- ulars about my trip for the benefit of some other " greenhorn " who may have work of that nature. Advantage of Clipping Queens' Wings Owing to the continued wet weather during the spring, and the fact that I had to move the bees referred to above, as well as spend a week in the East helping my son at the New Dublin yard, for the first time in a long while I found it impossible to get all my queens clipped — not half of them were attended to. I had to rush supers on them before I left, to keep down swarming, and when I got home fruit- bloom was over and the hives could not be opened as no honey was com- ing in. If we get a flow of honey, and there should be much swarming, cer- tainly I will have a picnic with only about half of the queens clippeil. For 3 years past, while all the queens have been clipped, we have had almost no swarming, so it would have made little difference whether they were clipped or not. This year may tell a different story. Canada a Large Country Canada is not likely to ever be part of the L'nited States, certainly it is not at present. Ontario is a province of Canada in the same way that Illinois is a .State of the Unicjn. This informa- tion is for the benefit of a great num- ber of friends over the line who write me and enclose United States stamps for reply. While I can get the stamps exchanged, yet when I receive the reg- ular stamped envelopes with the parties name and address written on, the en- velope and stamp are wasted. In regard to my address, much mail comes addressed to Mount Joy, Canada. Suppose I sent a letter to Hamilton, U. S., what would happen ? Chances are that " Hamilton " is duplicated in several States in the post-olfice direc- tory, just the same as many post-offices are of the same name in different prov- inces of Canada. Address letters to Mount Joy, Ontario, Canada. Tlie Carniolan Bees Many are praising the qualities of the Carniolan bees, especially those bee-keepers who are situated where they have a very early flow of honey. The common diificulty is in having col- onies ready for the flow, especially after a cold, late spring. From my personal experience I have no hesita- tion in saying that a good strain of C^rniolans is the best solution of this problem, as given a big brood-nest and abundance of stores to draw from, weather conditions make little differ- ence with this race of bees. In the early spring, brood will be reared at an enormous rate. One friend in Idaho is afraid that they will swarm too much to be of practical use — this idea gleaned from what others have told him. If you use a single brood- chamber 8-frame Langstroth hive, they will certainly give trouble, but with a brood-nest large enough, and lots of storing room, everything will be lovely. By large enough, I mean not less than 10-frame Jumbo, or if the 10-frame Langstroth is used, two bodies can be allowed until the opening of the main harvest, and then if very strong, as they are apt to be, some of the brood should be taken away from the lower story, and foundation or empty combs given before the queen is restricted to the one set of combs. No Time to " Boil it Down " Friend Tyrrell gives advice in the June Bee-Keepers' Review as to how correspondents should "boil down" their contributions for the journals. First write the full acccuint, giving all details, etc., then go over with a pencil and mark out all not really necessary, and rewrite the story much simplified and much shorter than the original. It sounds all right friend Tyrrell, but that is absolutely impossible for this scrib- ler, because sometimes I am /no />itsy, and at all times I am /na /a:y to do so much work. I simply sit down to the typewriter, I have learneil to play on a bit, and without a single note to guide me, rattle off a lot of stuff to puzzle friend Dadant and others. It "goes" that way every time. This confession will, no doubt, serve to make the read- ers exercise charity when they scan over the stuff I send in ; they will be willing to make allowance for much I say. [Friend Byer, we would rather ac- cept a lot of " stuff " written by a prac- tical bee-keeper sitting on a bee-hive )iil.v. Iiil2. American Hee Journal reciting his experience, than the most polished article by a literary genius. As to the clipping out of unnecessary words, trust us to do that for you. If you look closely, you may discover that we have done this already. — Edi- tor I Crop Rather Short and Late What a contrast in weather condi- tions of the May just passed as com- pared with the May of 1911. Last year It was hot. and the ground as dry as a bone during all the period referred to ; in fact, nearly all through June and July as well. This year cool and rainy —rainy for days at a time — and the bees had but about one day in si.\ to get out to the willow and fruit blos- soms. At this writing, June 11, there are signs of dry weather, and the ground is beginning to bake hard where the soil is of a heavy clay loam. The honey season, if we have one, will be late, as the clover is just begin- ning to show a blossom here and there. I should say that, on the whole, the rainy weather of May has improved condi- tions for the bee-keeper, as the clover has picked up considerably; as for this spring's seeding it is coming on finely, which condition augurs well for next year as a great clover year. Bees are in good shape, generally speaking, although there are some isolated cases where heavy losses have occurred. The Demaree Plan— One Fault The Demaree plan of keeping down swarming is mentioned in the Ameri- can Bee Journal for June. It will work well except for one difficulty hard to overcome in most sections. While many claim to have 2 times as great as that contained in a pound of honey. It follows then that 2.% pounds of honey.at the very least, must be consumed to furnish one pound of wax. In fact, it takes more. The chemical reactions that take place dur- ing the process require the expendi- ture of a certain amount of what scien- tists call i->ic>\ify. The production of energy in turn calls for the consump- tion of a certain amount of food of the carbo/tydratf class, which, SO far as the bees are concerned, means honey. {Comluded in the August issue.) 210 American IBae Journal Closing Up the Season When Working for Comb Honey BY (;. M. DUOLITTI.E. This is something which we hear very little about, and something on which very much of our success as apiarists depends. I have several times written on the importance of a thor- ough knowledge of our location, so that we may know about the time of blossoming of all the nectar-yielding flowers, especially those which give enough nectar to furnish a large sur- plus in a good season. This knowledge tells us we should put on our supers to take advantage of these honey-flows, and when we should give more room, if the supers are nearing completion during the middle of a clover flow, or at the commencement of the expected flow from basswood, or some other nectar-secreting source which is pecu- liar to our locality. This is an important subject to tlie bee-keeper who e.xpects success in his undertaking with the bees. But 1 con- sider a thorough knowledge of the "wind up" of the nectar yield of simi- lar importance. Any man, or woman, is very poorly equipped in the matter of producing honey, especially section honey, who does not know when, in an average season, tlie main yield of nectar is to begin; and he will find himself in circumstances nearly, if not quite, as disastrous if he is unacquainted with the normal closing of the season. Yet hundreds, if not thousands, of our would-be bee-keepers can not tell which of the flowers about them give the honey which they find in the sec- tions. It is well to remember when in search of the "mean time" of our bloom from any source, that excessive rainfall, when coupled with a " cool wave," will retard this bloom very much, and a high temperature, with a period of drouth, greatly hastens it. Then, if we are located in a level coun- try the nectar-flow will not last as long, as will be the case where we have low bottom-land, with rising hills or moun- tains within the range of flight of our bees. Our season will be prolonged to the utmost limit if much of this hillside faces in a northerly direction. Now, having the knowledge of our field in mind, we can use it to great advantage if we apply it intelligently. Most of us have a clover yield of either white, alsike, alfalfa or sweet. We find out about the normal time of these clovers beginning to bloom, and put on our supers of sections in accord- ance. It is equally important that we know when this bloom will normally end. Then we will watch the tempera- ture and rainfall during this period to see how m\ich out of normal things are likely to be, governing ourselves accordingly. Having given the required amount of section room up to the middle of a normal flow of nectar, it behooves us to be careful from that time on in giv- ing additional supers. If the flow has been good up to this time, we are more likely to err by giving too much room than the other way, as we do not make due allowance for the dwindling of this flow toward the end. Up to the middle of the flow our aim has been to give all the room the bees could oc- cupy, but from now on, while we should have an eye to the same object, there is the added thought that great care should be given to producing at the close of the season the marketable product in the greatest amount, in- stead of little of such product with much in the unfinished state. The easiest thing any thoughtless bee-keeper can do is to have the larger part of his product in an un- finished shape at the close of the honey season ; for it is only natural, when we see the nice, white combs growing in the sections, with a good supply of nec- tar coming in from the fields, to think that the bees can occupy more, and still more room, thus doubling or trebling our product, forgetting that this yield may already be on the wane, and this added room be to our detri- ment through less work being done to finish the sections that are so nicely under way. But it is not always easy to decide in these matters. I remember of giving an extra super to all of the colonies when the nectar yield was apparently at its height, only to have three-fourths of the sections in the whole apiary unfinished at the end of the season; while had none of these last supers been given, I would have had twice as much marketable honey with half the work and no worry. Having a good colony on scales so that we may have a record of the yield each day, gives a better idea of what may best be done. But in any outlook it is better to err on the side of re- trenching, after the middle of our nor- mal honey-flow, ratherthan on the side of expansion. Then, it is well not to bring supers of empty sections from the storage room while there are many on the hives in the apiary not worked in ; far better to equalize those already there. Some colonies will have all their room occupied, while others have none, or from this to some nearing completion. An exchange just now works to good advantage, and costs little if any more effort than does the bringing of more supers from the storage-room. Take the nearly completed super from the colony doing the best work, and ex- change it with that on the colony hav- ing its super from one-fourth to one- half full, when both will bring their surplus, as a whole, to marketable shape at the close of the season. This part was impressed upon me by running out of sections one year when the season was apparently at its best, though little oast the center of the nectar yield from basswood. I knew that were I to order sections at that time, they must of necessity come too late to be of any use, so I inspected those on the hives, finding the supers as mentioned above. The thought of 'equalizing these sections in accordance with the work being done by each col ony, rather than having so many supers on each hive, was thus impressed home upon mc, and after the exchange was made, and the season ended, I had nearly every section completed, and with no injury to any colony, or any loss of surplus, as far as 1 could ob- serve. Since then, where I thought any col- onies might need more room when nearing the close of the season, I have given this room by adding an empty super of sections filled with thin foun- dation aboTc the supers already on. In this way should the secretion of nectar hold out beyond the normal, the bees would go up into this super, and if the season did not continue long enough for the completion of all, those which were unfinished were of much value for " baits" for use the next season in tempting the bees into the sections earlier than would otherwise be the case. Borodino, N. Y. What an Apiarian Department at the Illinois State Uni- versity Could Do BY E. T. B.WTER. ', {From the Illinois .tericullurisl. J>Hhlislieil bv the Illinois Collt'ge of Auricultitre.) There are a number of good reasons why an Apiarian Department should be established at the State University, under the supervision of the College of Agriculture. The pursuit of bee- keeping for the production of honey is one of the most profitable branches of agriculture, considering the amount of capital required, and the time neces- sarily employed for its successful man- agement. There are thousands of tons of honey going to waste in this coun- try, almost every year, for the lack of bees properly cared for to gather it. It is not only necessary to have bees to gather the honey, but these bees must be under the management of thor- oughly competent and practical bee- keepers, who will know how to care for them from the beginning of the year to the close. Bee keeping is not all profit and no work, as many imagine. The bees must be looked after, and their needs and requirements attended to like any other live-stock. The right thing must be done at the right time to insure the greatest success, otherwise bees are the most perishable and the most unprofit- able live-stock that one can own. How is this knowledge to be gained .•' Very easily if there is an Apiarian Depart- ment established at the State Univer-' sity under the management of a thor- oughly competent and practical bee- keeper. Bee-keeping for profit is not an in- tricate study. It can easily be acquired by any one of average intelligence who will apply himself with a will and de- termination to master it under the guidance of a competent and practical instructor. Nor does it require much time and preparation to become sufli- ciently versed in bee-keeping to start an apiary of one's own on a small scale, provided the owner will keep on in- forming himself from every source possible. One or two season's prep- aration under a master such as 1 have referred to wouUl be ample for a per- son who has developed a love for the pursuit and a desire to learn all about it that he can. And when I say one or two seasons, I do not mean that he must be at it every day. Far from it. Bees do not need attention every day .liilv, 1912. American ^eeJonrnall in the year, as do the other farm stock. In the latitude of the Illinois State University very little if anything can be done with the bees until the first warm days of April, and from then on until the last of November the work required will vary with the season and the condition of the weather. Some weeks they may require several inspec- tions, again there may be many weeks when they will require little or no at- tention at all. As to the profit: That will depend entirely upon the location, the weather, and the competency and practicability of the owner. In a reasonably good location in the State of Illinois, where there is plenty of white or alsike clover in the summer, and plenty of hearts- ease and Spanish-needle in fall, one can reasonably expect to gather from nothing up to I'lO pounds of extracted honey per colony; the quantity depend- ing upon the weather conditions being normal. I have gathered as high as 2.j0 pounds per colony, but this is the great exception, and must never be counted upon in Illinois. One hundred and fifty pounds of extracted honey at 7 cents per pound wholesale would equal $Iil..JO. Thus you see it is possi- ble to make from nothing up to $10.50 per colony in one season. My average net returns per colony, per year, for the past 10 years has been $3.83, and yet I do not live in a very good loca- tion for the production of honey. I have seen other records of production that were considerably ahead of mine, so bee-keeping, intelligently followed, for the production of honey is a very profitable pursuit. This is especially true when you consider that one man can take care of 400 or SOU colonies of bees, doing nearly all of the work him- self with the exception of extraction. Furthermore, after he has become well established there will be about one- half the year that he has nothing to do. This, however, is not all of the profit there is in bee-keeping. Many of our fruits and farm crops must have cross fertilization in order to produce fruit and seed. For instance, take the Kieffer pear, all of our pistillate strawberries (and even some of our staminate ones), the wild goose and other plums, many of our cherries, many of our apples, and probably other fruits of which we know nothing as yet. When it comes to farm crops, the number that must be cross fertilized in order to bear or pro- duce seed seems marvelous. It is suffi- cient to mentiem all of the clovers, buckwheat, melons, cucumbers, pump- kins and squashes. All of these must have cross pollenation in order to pro- duce a crop — and the honey-bee is the one means upon which we must rely to do the work. True, there are other in- sects that visit the flowers more or less regularly, and in more or less numbers season after season, and thereby help to accomplish this cross pollenation. I saw a statement, recently, by an eminent naturalist, who is making a study of this subject, in which he says that there are about tJO species of in- sects in this country, more or less widely distributed, that help to cross pollenate our flowers by their visits to them, but that the honey-bee does vastly more in this respect than the oi) species of other insects combined. It would be the province of the Api- arian Department to study this subject as thoroughly and carefully as possible, and to make experiments. This cross pollenation theory (if still only a the- ory) is one of the most vital ones bear- ing upon agriculture and horticulture today, and its thorough solution may mean the added profits of millions of dollars to our farmers and fruit- growers. Another thing that we would expect the Apiarian Department to do would be to carefully and thoroughly study the various bee-diseases that now pre- vail or that may hereafter appear, espe- cially the foul brood diseases that threaten to annihilate the bee-industry in so large a portion of our State, to find a preventative and a cure, if possi- ble, for these most dreaded diseases, and finally to so thoroughly post and equip itself as to be able and com- petent to assume the administration of the State bee-inspection laws. Nauvoo, 111. entirely, a piece of tin can be slipped behind the inside entrance, and a little block made to fit in the other entrance, as shown at A in the diagram. Blocks can be used for both openings, but it is more trouble to put the inside one in place, as the entrance has to be lifted. To close for moving, place both blocks of wood in the entrances and fasten the whole firmly to the bottom- board with screws through the holes, shown in the diagram. Be sure the little blocks in the ends are thick enough so they w-ill be held firmly when the entrance is screw-ed down tight. This method is sj much more convenient than fastening wire over the entrance that this feature alone is worth all the trouble of making them. Valley Falls,-Kans. A Convenient Hive-Entrance RV L. H. COBB. The hive-entrance shown in the diagrams below is 12 inches long, 2 inches wide, and one inch thick. The dimensions can be varied to suit the conditions. A strip of ordinary screen- wire is tacked on each side. The open- ings for the bees' entrance are in op- posite ends. Something About European Foul Brood and Its Treatment BY DR. i:. C. MILLER. As has been said already in these columns, there is no need to be utterly discouraged if foul brood makes its appearance. But there is need to be wide awake and to be constantly on the watch for its first appearance, and then it is important to take action promptly. I can from personal expe- rience speak only of European foul brood. With that variety I have an un- pleasantly familiar acquaintance. And L. H. Cobb's Ro.->.berProof Hive-Entrance. This entrance has many uses, but it is pre-eminently a robber discourager. When robbers have to pass from one end of a hive-entrance to the other in a 2-inch passage, among enemies, they are slow to take the risks. The en- trance also confuses them. If it be- comes necessary to close up the hive entirely because the bees will not de- fend themselves, it can be done safely, as they will have ventilation, and the two screens prevent robbers from passing out the honey. You can keep them in as long as you choose. A sheet of tin long enough to cover the screen on the inside, and a strip of wood for the outside should be pro- vided to darken the screen when de- sired. It is well to do this when the entrance is first put on a nucleus or weak colony, so the field-bees can learn the route, and they will not be confused much when it is removed in case of robbers. If it is desired to close the entrance I know that it would have made a big difference with me if I had taken it at the start. But I had foul brood two years before I knew it. The first case that occurred made me a little uneasy, but there was no way by which I could tell what the trouble was, for there was not at that time the great convenience of being able to send a sample of the suspected brood to Washington for diagnosis, and I shall always hold a grudge against Dr. Phillips that he did not take his position there sooner than he did. It is said that European foul brood spreads witli great rapidity in an api- ary, with much greater rapidity than the American variety. It may be so, as a general rule ; but in my case it took it two years to become a very serious matter. That was in 1909, and I think the principal cause of the rapid spreail through the apiary at that time was the general exchanging of combs, so that it looked just a little as if I was 212 July, 1012. trying to spread the disease all I could. The thing to be on the lookout for is the yellowish brood. It is not yel- low, but yellowish, yet that yellowish hue makes it so distinctly different from the pearly white of healthy brood that you will easily spot it if there be onlv a single cell in a hive, just as you would spot one black sheep in a big flock of white ones. In any case, if there is anything of a suspicious ap- pearance about the brood, write to Dr. !•:. F. Phillips, Agricultural Depart- ment, Washington, D. C, for a box in which to send him a sample. Besides the reputation for rapid spreading, European foul brood has the reputation of reappearing after ap- parent cure more than the American. That reputation seems to be confirmed in this locality. A number of cases have apparently vielded to treatment, and after a time the disease has shown up again. This with both the brushing and the dequeenin!> method. Of course, I can not tell how that compares with American foul brood, for I have had none of that brand of the disease, and am not verv anxious to have it, even for the pleasure of experimenting with it. And here is a good place to say by way of parenthesis, that there has been a grim sort of pleasure in experiment- ing with European foul brood, a pleas- ure very real in spite of its grimness. But as to the disease reappearing of its own accord, I can not speak with any degree of positiveness, for • I can not tell in anv case that the bees have not contracted the disease from some in- fected colony in the surrounding neigh- borhood. Now as to choice of treatment be- tween the shaking or McEvoy plan and the dequeening, or Alexander plan. The shaking plan is supposed to be equally efficacious in both kinds of foul brood, the dequeening only in European foul brood. Dr. Phillips is strongly opposed to the dequeening plan. I have great respect for the opinions of Dr. Phillips, and a strong friendship for the man. But I can not see this matter in the same light that he does. Very likely our differ- ent view-points have something to do with our views. Dr. Phillips is en- gaged in a very earnest crusade against the diseases that have already made such havoc, and that are sure to do still more havoc if left to their own course. He thinks that while the de- queening plan may be safe in the hands of those sufficiently skilled, it may not be so in the hand-- of others, and so it is better that all infected combs should be destroyed. I look upon it from the standpoint of one who has been through the fire, with the wish that others may be saved some of the scorching experience. Perhaps that does not verv fairly express it, for 1 am sure that Dr. Phillips wants to save others just as much as I— possibly more But here's the thing, that comes up before me; it is the sight of those hundreds of empty frames out of which combs had been cut, good combs ex- cept for the disease, which combs were all melted up because I thought that was the onlv safe thing to do. I don t know enough about it to be entirely sure, but I think I might have been just as well off to have saved all those American ^ee Journal combs, if I had known enough in the first place to have used the Alexander plan, or a modification of it. I sup- pose I may be told, " Even if you do so, others will not be so careful, and in the hands of the inexperienced the fooling with the disease and trying to save the combs will be the means of spreading European foul brood still more." I don't doubt that looks like reason- able ground, but the very persons who hold it have taken different ground with regard to American foul brood. If it be the right thing to take such very conservative ground in the case of European, why not say, " The only safe way with American is to burn up bees, brood, combs, hives, everything ?" And that is just what some think is the. best thing, provided only a single col- ony is in question, but when it comes to a considerable number we are advised to save what can be saved ; the bees, the unaffected brood, the wax that is in the combs, and the hives. In the case of European foul brood, if we can get a step farther, and save good combs without melting them into wax, why object so strenuously to that? Is it taking so much more risk than we take in saving all the other things ? But the saving of the combs is not ihe only difference in the two kinds of saving of comb is the smaller part of the gain. Taking all this into consideration, it seems to me the right thing that the whole truth should be known, and run the risk of carelessness in some cases, just as we run the risk of carelessness by recommending shaking in the case of American foul brood, rather than to insist that in all cases a funeral pyre must be made of the hive and every- thing in it. Marengo, 111. Buckwheat Growing in the East BY GRANT STANLEY. Until a few years ago the bulk of the buckwheat crop was grown in a few favored localities. A few farmers out- side of these districts, however, man- aged to grow about what was required for their own use. As a result, along with the increasing demand for this product, the price has been forced up to nearly that of wheat. But in the last few years farmers everywhere throughout this section of the country are manifesting nearly as much inter- est in the growing of buckwheat as they are in the growth of other crops. A KiKi.u OK Buckwheat in Bi.oom. treatment. Take 2 colonies side by side, alike in all respects, each of them similarly affected by European foul brood. Treat the one by shaking, same as for American foul brood, and treat the other by leaving it without a laying queen for a certain time. Then compare the 2 colonies as to strength a month later. The latter will be much the stronger. The difference will be accentuated if the season be a very poor one, in some cases the shaken colony being only a rem- nant of its former self, sometimes so discouraged as to desert by swarm- ing out. Indeed, I should say that the Land that has been standing idle for years and permitted to run wild with briars and golden-rod is now being broken up and planted to buckwheat. No buckwheat was grown in the to\yn- ship in which the writer resides until '.\ years ago, while, at present, one-third of the farmers are growing it. This is certainly a good indication that the growth of buckwheat is to be materially increased, and that we need not feel any alarm about exhausting the supply from which we get the cakes that have been so beautifully set to song and story, and which grace our July, 1912. American liee Jonrnalj breakfast tables during the winter months. Buckwheat is a profitable crop to tlie farmer. A farmer living some distance from me remarked recently that he pur- chased his farm among the hills :!0 years ago, and that the payments were made by growing buckwheat. It does well on poor soil where most other crops would prove a failure. It grows too rank on river bottom soils, and is likely to go down and be difficult to harvest. New soils or clearings are admirably suited to growing it. Where land is not available for this crop the following will give satisfactory results: After harvesting the clover crop, plow the land and seed to buckwheat. When the buckwheat has been harvested and removed from the field, plow again and seed to rye. The following spring the land should again be plowed and put in corn. This will improve the land for the corn crop with the crop of buck- wheat that much gain. Buckwheat 15 also a quick and reasonably sure crop, and this alone is sufficient to warrant more of it' being planted. Bee-keepers everywhere should en- courage farmers to grow it, not alone for the honey the bees secure from it, but as a means of profit to the farmers themselves. Some years, although blooming in great profusion, it yields no nectar. In many localities smart- weed also blooms abundantly during the period of buckwheat bloom, and very much of this honey is sold for buckwheat honey. It somewhat re- sembles it in color, and where the two are worked at the same time by the bees, the apiarist standing near the hives in the evening, in an effort to scent or locate the aroma, will not easily be able to note the difference. Where bees are paying their visits in great numbers to the buckwheat dur- ing the early hours of the day, and the weather is sultry, we can feel certain their visits are not being made in vain. Nisbet, Pa. The Bee-Keeper and Orchard- man BY JOHN PASHEK. I noticed in Gleanings in Bee Cul- ture, March 15, 1012, page lii7, an arti- cle written by C. Koppenhafer, where he shows his fine orchard and his bees among them, and e.xplains the opposi- tion of his neighbors to the bees. Many of us have the same trouble. Some fruit-growers can not understand that we bee-keepers are their best friends. The bees do no harm to the fruit whatever, and the fruit-growers could not exist without the bee-keep- ers. But those who make these com- plaints are those who have no time to read the bee-papers and agricultural papers. We raise fruit-trees around The Dalles by the hundreds of acres, fancy peaches, cherries, and everything else. Just now our orchards are in full bloom, and the bees are very busy on them. There is the largest fruit pros- pect here ever known. Our fruit-grow- ers begin to understand that they must have more bees if they want to raise fine fruit. I am renting my bees out in those large orchards during blooming, and getting good pay for it. I am selling books, bee-papers, and lectur- ing on bee-culture. I put articles in papers, and take every opportunity to urge fruit-growers to keep more bees on the farms. I put all my section honey in nice cartons, with all directions and infor- mation on them, and it sells for 5 cents more per section than any other honey in the market. The Dalles, Oreg., April 19. Good Results from Hives With Immovable Combs BY F. CRKINER. In one of the late numbers of the Bee-Keepers' Review, I find an article which treats of the almost forgotten box-hive, telling how to obtain good crops of honey without transferring to a movable-comb bee-hive. Bo.x-hives are very rare here, but we find quite a few modern hives in small lots kept by farmers; the difficulty with most of them is that the combs in them are as immovable as those in the bo.x-hives. I have had occasion to handle such for some friends. For the benefit of some of our brethren who may be "both- ered "with either box-hives or mov- able-comb bee-hives of the above pat- tern, I will describe my method: When the time has come when such colony begins to need more room, I add a brood-chamber full of founda- tion filled frames. With the box-hive this will have to be turned bottom up, when the prepared brood-chamber may be placed over it and things made rea- sonably tight. After this upper story full of foundation filled frames has been on the hive for a week, the foundation in the frames will usually be found partly drawn; possibly some eggs may have been deposited in the new combs by the queen. I make no special ex- amination except what I may see by a glance upon the top-bars and into the bee-spaces. If a fair start has been made in the newly added brood-chamber, I proceed to drive the bees up into this upper chamber by pounding on the hive and and also gently smoking them. I keep up the drumming for some 10 or 12 minutes. The object is to drive the larger part of the bees into the upper box. When I think this is accom- plished, I quickly lift off the upper chamber, place it on a new bottom- board and give it the exact location of the old hive, while the latter is carried a few rods off and given a new location. In almost every case the queen will have gone up with the hulk of the bees, and is thus left on the old stand, while, of course, the old moved hive has no queen. It will be found that the old hive is rather destitute of bees, but there will be enough left to take care of the young brood. The entrance should be contracted for a week or two and a ripe queen-cell must be given on the second or third day; or, better, a just- hatched virgin queen may be allowed to run in at the entrance. This old part of the colony will build up into a good swarm by fall, while the new part with the old queen will give tlfe sur- plus honey, section honey of the best quality. Supers should be added from time to time as needed. There being no old combs in the hive the resulting section honey will be free from all travel stain. The season would have to be exceptionally good, and the flow continue until late in the fall, or no surplus could be expected from the part with the new queen, but the fol- lowing season it will be in the best of shape to give another forced swarm' treating again as has been described. Naples, N. Y. Dr. Miller*s Answers^ Send Questions either to the office of the .American Bee Journal or direct to Dr. C. C. Miller, Marengo, III. He does not answer bee-keeping Questions by mail. Are Swarms Caused by Foul Brood ?—Lealher- Coiored Queens 1 haves colonies of black (lerman bees, which I think are affected with foul brood. I wintered 4 colonies in my cellar, and after 1 put them out this spring they did quite well for a time except that one colony was weak. About 2 weeks ago this .colony swarmed out. I caught the queen and killed her. thinking they would return to the hive they came Irom. but although they did. they went away again and did not return. I saw then I had made a mistake. What do you think was the cause of their leaving like that at first ? They seemed to have honey enough, too. , , One of my neighbors has a cumber ot colonies of Italian bees, and he tells me that he has a colony that every pleasant day will swarm out. and after a little while return to the hive. They light all around on the grass. Would it be all i iglit to place a new' hive with starters in place of the old hive? Do you think foul brood would cause this trouble? and how can I tell for sure whethei I have foul brood ^ Something surely is the trouble, as the larva; in over half of the cells die when quite young, and some of the cappings ate sunken, although I sometimes find live larva> under the sunken cappings. The dead larva are not ropy, and I can not detect anv more odor than is common. If I can save these 3 colonies I intend to rcqueen them this summer with Italian queens. Which kind do you recommend, the 3-banded or leather-colored? and when is the best time to requeen ? New York Answer.— It is not easy, without knowing fuller particulars, to say just what was the trouble. One would be inclined to think of a hunger swarm, since it occurred so early, but you say there was plenty of honey. It is possible that the old queen was lost in some way and a lot of young queens started. 1 hen when you killed the first queen that issued, they swarmed out and left with the next. Yes. it will be all right to put a new hive with starters in place of the old hive when a swarm issues, and let the swarm enter, provided you get the queen with the swarm. Only instead of starters it will be better to have full sheets of foundation, for if you 214 .iiiiy, 1!'13. American Hee Journal j have only starters you will get more drone comb than you want. It is liardly likely that foul brood had any- thintto do with the bees swarmine. You can make sure whether you have foul brood by sendine a sample of the suspected comb to Dr. K. K. Phillips. Department of Agricul- ture. Washington. D C. If SH)U write him in advance he will send you a package in which to send the sample. It will cost you nothing. 'I'he 1 banded leather-colored Italians are probably as good as any. Summer or fall is a good time to reoueen. Bees Hanging Out — Black Bees in Hive 1. My bees have been hanging from the top of the hive to the ground. They fly around the hive and then cluster. Only a few seem to work. They have been doing this for two weeks. Are they getting ready to swarm ? 2. 1 bought them last year for pure Ital- ians, and now there are black ones in the hive. Could they have been pure Italians? This is iny first year with bees. Ohio. Answers. — I. I don't know enough about the conditions to answer. If no nectar is to he had. that may be a surticient reason for their idleness. If there is a good flow of nectar, hanging out might be a sign they are getting ready to swarm, and yet they would hardly keep that up for two weeks. So, on the whole, it looks more as if there is nothing for them to do, yet that may not be thecase at all. Give them more room and more ventilation. 2. You do not say whether there were any black bees in the hive last year. If the workers were all properly marked last year, it is possible that the queen was superseded last fall or this spring, and that the new queen is mismated If there are only a few black bees in the hive, they may be from other colonies: for bees do more in the way of chunging from one hive to another then is generally supposed. Look in the hive and see whethei there are any black bees among the downy little fellows that have just hatched. If there are. then either the queen has been changed or the queen you bought was not pure. Swarming^Will Cutting Out Queen-Cells Effect a Safe Cure? Here is a little bee-history and two ques tions: On Nov. 12. igii. mercury 12 degrees above zero. I put my 2 colonies of bees into the cellar. These will be called No. i and No. 2 from this on. They wintf red well, few bees dying and falling on the floor during their coiitinement, which lasted almost 5 months. I did something I never did before and believe it worth reporting. I left the bottom-boards on and the summer entrances Hist as they were on the stands outside, and to give Vietter ventilation I lifted the tops and carried them back one inch. This gave an abundance of air circulating through the hive, and prevented dampness or mold in the hives or on the combs. I mention this procedure because the winter preceeding I placed 4 colonies in the same cellar, turning the entrances toward the wall, and gave no ventilation save what they got from the summer entrance. 1 lost almost all my bees, and the hives were full of moisture and mold. April 14. luii, temperature 70 degrees above, I carried Nos. i and 2 out on the sum- mer stands. No. i was rich in honey and populous in bees, covering every frame in a lo-frame dovetailed hive. No. 2 was not so rich in bees nor honey, 1 had some partly-filled sections from the preceding season, these I fed from time to time in the open, as the weather was damp and cold. May IQ No. i sent out a good sized swarm at 2 p.m. This No. <) was placed on the old stand, and No. i was moved the width of it- self east. Mav 21 the weather looked threat- the secondary swarm on the door. In this way we had a good chance to watch for the queen. We found 2 queens and killed one. Since this experience No. i is seemingly happy and is working. May 23 No. 2 sent out a medium-sized prime swarm at 2 p.m. It was hived and placed on the old stand, the parent colony moved the width of itself, and each allowed to remain there 8 days. This new swarm, as you see. is No. 4. Now May 31. 8 days after No. 4 came out of No. 2. No. 2 was moved 12 feet away. The workers from No. 2 went to No. 4 and were slaughtered by the thousand. 1. Why did No. I swarm the second time ! 2. Why did No. 4 kill the fielders from No. 2 ? i. If a colony is rich in bees and honey, and is apparently ready to swarm, is it a safe or sure procedure to cut out all queen- cells ? Illinois. Answers.— I. For the same reason that any colony sends out a swarm; because there were two or more young queens in the hive, and enough bees in a prosperous con- dition to afford to swarm. If you had left them 4 days longer there would likely have been no second swarm. Killing one of those queens probably made no difference, for if you had let them alone one would have killed the other. But destroying the cells probably did make a difference. 2. I don't know. Can't make a guess. Never heard such a case before. 3. If you mean safe and sure to prevent swarming, no. In some cases it may prevent swarming entirely. In some cases it may delay it a week or two. In some cases it may delay it only a day or two. more to mo more to move on ine 4tn nay. wniie nyoig, than to wait until the ath dav. when the weather would probably be cold or rainy. May 31 No. i sent out a good sized second ary swarm. Being away from home my brother hived it in an « frame hive with full foundation wired in When I got home in the afternoon of the same day we opened No. I and cut out all the queen-cells. We then placed a loose door in front of No. i. and picking up one frame at a time we shook Bait for Bee-Hunting— Swarms Killing Drones 1. What is the best bait to use for hunting bees ? 2. One colony of my bees swarmed yester- day and returned to the hive. What do you think was the cause of it ? i. When bees fly off through the woods how far can you look for them ? When they get up above the trees how far can I look for them ? 4. Does it make any difference when I kill the drones? 5. .\bout how long do you think it will be before that swarm comes out again ? Texas. Answers.— 1. Honey is probably as good as any. 2. It may be that the queen was notable to flv with them. It may be that it was an after-swarm or a mother colony in which there was a young queen which was making her bridal trip, and a lot of her bees flew out with her. 3. If you mean how far it is worth while to look for a swarm that has flown away. I should say Itliat they might go any distance inside of s miles, and possibly farther. I don't know that getting above the trees would make any difference. 4 Yes. it will save something in the way of feed. If you should kill them all. and if there were no neighboring drones, your young queens reared without any drones would rear no worker-bees, only drones. But you needn't be alarmed about getting all killed off. When you have killed oft" all you can. the likelihood is that plenty will be left. 5. If my first guess was correct, they might come out again in a day or so. If my second guess was correct, they would likely not come out again. an inch or so in length, which are large in comparison with little red ants. But if you have the big wood ants that are :U of an inch long, then that's another story. I've had no little trouble with them, and they are hard to combat. They get between the bottom- board and the board on which it rests, and honey-comb the bottom-board. Sometimes there will be merely a shell left, so that you will hardly notice anything wrong, yet a little touch when hauling bees might break through a hole to let the bees out. Carbolic acid mav do something toward driving them away. You may also poison them. Take two pieces of section, or. perhaps, better still, two thin boards 4 inches square, or larger, fasten upon each end of one of them a cleat's inch thick, and lay or fasten the other on it. thus leaving a space of 'a inch lietween the two boards. Mix arsenic in honey and put between the boards. The bees can not get into so small a space, but the ants can. Or. put poison in a box cov- ered with wire-cloth that will let the aiits in but keep the bees out. 2. Your letter is dated May 20. and at that time it is very unlikely that the bees were getting enough to work in the supers. Cer- tainly they were not here, and I am farther south than you. Don't expect your bees to do anything in the supers until there is enough coming in to fill up all empty cells in the brood-chamber I'ime enough to store honey for you after they have stored all they can for themselves. Trouble With Ants— Bees Not Working in Supers 1. I have () colonies of bees. The smaller ones are bothered with large, black ants. Is there anv way of stopping them ? 2. What is the reason that bees will not work in the supers ? I put 2 sections of comb in the middle of each supfr before putting them on. but the bees work in the body of the hive. Wisconsin. Answers. — I. On page 11.7. under the head of " Timely Hints for lune." you will find an answer to your question. As mentioned there, ants annoy the bee-keeper rather than the bees. It is decidedly annoying to have them crawling over the hands and biting. Yet it may be well to add that there are ants and ants. Go far enough .South and you may find ants that will destroy a colony sometimes in short order. Even in the North there is a kind to be dreaded. You say yours are "large, black ants." Most likely that means ants that are a quarter of -Do Swarms Ever Getting Bees from a Chimney- Return 1. Do you know of any way in which I can get bees from the chimney of a house ? 2. Will a swarm that once leaves ever come back to the same hive ? New Jersey. Answers— I. I don't know of any very good way. If any one else does, perhaps he will tell us. I've had such bees offered me if I'd take them, and never thought they were worth the trouble. 2. It is the regular thing for a swarm to re- turn to its hive in a short lime after leaving, if its queen is not with the swarm, either because she is clipped or for any other rea- son. Even if hived, if its queen should be accidentally killed within a day or so I think the swarm might return. If you mean that the swarm leaves by flying off entirely. I don't suppose there's one chance in a thou- sand for such a swarm to return. Chilling of Brood—Danger of Poisoning Bees 1. On May 12 a swarm issuedand was hi\ed in the usual way. the new hive being placed on the old stand, and frames given with full sheets of foundation The foundation has been drawn out anti the brood capped. Yesterday. June 8. 1 looked at the colony and the brood is only partly covered with bees, and is dead. lam of the opinion that the change in the weather we have had a sudden change from warm to cool weather) has caused the bees to cluster over certain Dortions of the brood to keep it warm, and in doing so they have had to leave some of the other frames of brood, and consequently they have become chilled. This couldn't be a case of foul brood with new frames and new foundation, etc. could it ? The larvie which I pulled out of the cells were white and abuost matured, but were not ropy or sticky like a case of foul brood would be. 2. What I want to know now is. will the bees clean out these frames, or would it be advisable to shake some bees in front of the hive from another colony, so as to give the iiive more bees ^ 3. The swarm wasn't a very large one, although the queen keeps on laying. What is the use of it if the brood can not be kept so it will properly mature-' I have never had a case like it before. 4. lu order to keep the weeds from grow- ing in front of the hi\es. I have sprinkled salt water around, and it has had a good effect. Last year it was done quite often, and the weeds were keiit down. This year they all came up again, ami salt is dear if much is used. A friend of mine, who is a cliemist. told me he would make up some- thing that 1 could put in water and use it with a watering-pot. and he said it would kill grass, weeds, or any other stuff where it is put on: but there is acid in it. Now. what I want to know is. whether the bees aligiiting on the ground would drink any of the stufT and die - I have been afraid to try it without consulting you. for fear of killing July, I!il2. American Hee Journal tliu bees. I miiilit sprinkle around the hives at night after dark, and the solution would he all soaked in the ground by mornine. Some have ativised ine to use crude oil. such as they sprinkle the streets, but I would just like to know that, in the event of my using anythins;. wouUl the bees get poisoned by drinking some of it. I got my idea from the fact that the bees have been poisoned from peo[>ie spraying fruit-blossoms: although that is r) illus- trations. Bound in cloth. Price, post- paid, $1.20; or with a year's subscrip-^ tion to the American Bee Jotirnal— both for $1.!)0. Send all orders to *'- oaicej of the American Ree Journal. STUDY AGRICULTURE AT HOME The Campbell Correspondence School Has a course of thirty subjects and sixty lessons in Intensive Farming. This Cotirse is the result of thirty years experience and demonstration by Prof. Campbell and associates. It applies to Irrigation, the humid regions, and the semi-arid country. It brings results. Send us your name and address and we will mail you a sample copy of the Scientific Farmer and a catalog of the Correspondence School. DO IT NOW. CAMPBELL SOIL CULTURE CO. LINCOLN, NEBRASKA. ECONOMY: ECONOMY TO YOURSELF ECONOMY TO YOUR BEES Are Two E.sseiitial Points Gained by U.sing- Dittmer Process Comb Foundation Because it is the same TASTE, and the same SMELL, and the same FIRMNESS, as the COMB the Honey-Bees make themselves. It is the more acceptable to them because it is not like their OWN COMB. Remember, Mr. Bee-Keeper, that to you HONEY IS MONEY— then use Dittmer Process Comb Foundation Work for a Full-Capacity Honey-Crop. Send for Samples. All Supplies at Prices you appreciate. Gus Dittmer Company, - Augusta, Wisconsin. DOOLITTLE'S «< Scientific Queen-Rearing" This is G. M. Doolittle's master-piece on rearing the best of queens in perfect accord with Nature's way. It is for the amateur and the veteran in bee-keeping. The A. I. Root Co.. who ouiiht to know, say this about Doolit- tle s queenrearine book: ■ It is practically the only comprehensive book on queen-reariner now in print. It is looked upon by many as the foundation of mod- ern methods of rearing queens wholesale." Mr. Doolittle's book also gives his method of producing comb honey, and the care of same: his management of swarming, weak colonies, etc. It is a book of 126 pages, and is mailed at the following prices : Bound in cloth. $1.00 : bound in leatherette,.75.cents. Special Clubbing Offer We offer a cloth-bound copy of this book with the American Bee Journal one year— both for $1.^0: or a copy of the leatherette-bound edition, with the American Bee Journal oue year— both for $1.25. The cloth-bound book given free for getting 3 new subscribers at $1. each : or the leatherette-bound copy given for 2 new subscribers. Every beekeeper should have a copy of Mr. i)oolittle's book, as he is one of the stan- dard authorities of the world on the subject of queen-rearing and everything else connected with bee-keeiiing and honcv-production, American Bee Journal, Hamilton, Illinois. July, 1912. 21 ft American Hee Jonrnal Establishe b 1885 We carry an up-to-date line of Bee-Keepers' Supplies Send for our (il-page catalog that has been greatly enlarged and many new features added. The fifty questions that are asked for so often by mail are answered on page (JO, and will be most valuable to the beginner. Also some in- formation is given on foul brood. We carry a full line of hives, sections, and all supplies commonly needed in an apiary. Our shipping facilities are good — we can fill your orders promptly. Do not fail to write us, or drop us a card for our catalog, FREE. Beeswax taken in exchange for supplies. JOHN NEBEL & SON SUPPLY CO. High Hill, Nontg. Co., No. Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. n W.H.Laws Will be ready to take care of >OLir queen orders, whether large or small, the coming season. 1 wenty-tive years of careful breeding brings Laws' queens above the usual standard: bet- ter let us book your orders now. Tested queens in March; untested, after April ist. About so first-class breeding-queens ready at any date. Prices: Tested, Si. 25: 5 for S5.00: Breeders, each $s 00. Address W. H. Laws, Beeville, Texas. Names of Bee-Keepers Wanted We desire very much to have the names and addresses of all the bee-keepers who are in your locality who do not now take the American Bee Journal. We would like to get every one of them on our list of regular readers. If you will send to this oflice the names and ad- dresses of such bee-keepers, we will be pleased to mail each a sample copy of the .-\merican Bee Journal. Perhaps you could send in their subscriptions, and thus earn some of the various pre- miums that we offer from time to time for getting new subscriptions. We feel that every bee-keeper ought to read the American Bee Journal regularly. He would not only be more successful, but would be less of a competitor of his neighbor bee-keepers, if he were more enlightened on the subject of bees and honey. We would appreciate it very much if all who can do so will send us the names and addresses of their bee-keeping neighbors who do not at present receive the American Bee Journal. BOOKS FOR BEE • KEEPERS >\< ^Ai K y,\ AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, HAMILTON, ILLINOIS. First Lessons in Bee-Keeping, by Thos. G. Ncwmun. ruvisuii by c. 1'. l/a New subscriptions at $1.00 each. Scientific Queen-Rearing, as Practically Applied, by G. M. Doohttle, — It tells how the very best Queen-Bees are reared in Nature's Way. A good authority says: '"It is practically the only comprehensive book on queen-rearing now in print. It is looked upon by many as the foundation of the modern methods of rearing queens wholesale." Price, bound In cloth, 75 cts,, postpaid: or with the American Bee Jour- nal a year—both for $1.60. The .same book bound In leatherette. 50 cts.. postpaid : or free with the American Bee Journal one full year if paid in advance strictly, hy either new or renewal sub- scription at $1.00. Langstroth on the Honey-Bee, revised by Dadaut.— This classic on bee-culture has been enUrely rewritten. Fully illustrated. No apia- rian library is complete without this standard -k by the " Father of .Vmerican Apiculture." Over .500 pages, bound in cloth. Price. $1.20: or with the American Bee Journal a year. $2.00: or given FuEE as a promium for sending: 4 New subscriptions at $1.00 each. Bee-Keeper's Guide, or Manual of the .\plary. by Prof. A. J. Cook.— This book is very instructive. Interesting, helpful, and thorougrhly practical and .sclenUflc. It is perhaps the most complete of any bee-book on the Anatomy and Physiology of bees, and also the Botany of bee- keeping-. Bound in cloth. 544 pages, 2!)5 illustra- Uons. Price, postpaid, $1.30: or with the Ameri- can Bee Journal a year— both for $1.90: or given Fkee as a premium for'sending:! New subscrip- tions at $1.00 each. A B C & X Y Z of Bee Culture, by A. I. & E. R. Boot.— Over 500 large pages describing ev- erything pertaining to the care and manage- ment of honey-bees. It is a veritable encyclo- pedia on bees. 400 engravings. Bound in cloth. Price, postpaid. $1.50: or with the American Bee Journal a year— both for $2.25; or given Free as a premium for sendtjig 5 New subscriptions at $1.00 each. Advanced Bee Culture, by the late W. Z. Hutchln.son.— The author was an extensive bee- keeper, and a practical, helpful writer on bees and bee-keeping. Over 200 pages, cloth bound. Price, postpaid. $1.00; or with the American Bee Journal for a year— both for $1.S0: or given Fhee for sending 3 New subscriptions at $1.00 each. Southern Bee Culture, by J. J. Wilder, of Georgia, perhaps the most extensive bee-keep- er in the State. It is a real hand-book ol .South- em bee-keeping. Bound in paper. 145 pages. Price, postpaid. 60 cts.: or with the American Bee Journal a year— both for$l.ao. Amerikanische Bienenzueht, by Hans Buschbauer.— A bee-keepers hand-book of 138 pages, which la just what ini»tlv ARND HONEY & BEE-SUPPLY CO. \\?^. Successors to the York Honey & Bee-Supply Col Send for Catatog. 148 West Superior St., CHICAGO, ILL. Enough said ! t'Ifase mention Am. Bee Journal when writins THE SECRET OF Success in Bee- Keeping Is to Keep Your Colonies Strong ; to do This You Must Have GOOD LAYING QUEENS Which We Guarantee at the Following Prices : Golden 3-Band Italian Carniolan Untested— I for $i.oo; 6 for $5.40; 12 for Jo 60; 25 for $17.50 Tested— I for $1.50; ti for $8.40; 12 for $15.60; 25 for $30.00 Nuclei with Untested Queen— iframe. $2 50; six iframe. $15 00 *• *' *' ** —2 frame. $1.50; six 2-frame, $20.40 " " Tested " — i frame, $3.00; six i-frame. $17. 40 *' " " " —2- frame. $4.00; six 2-frame. $23.40 The Drones used in our Apiary for Mating purpose are reared from the very best selected Queens, which is as necessary as the selecting of a good Queen for Queen-Rearing. For good Queens and quick service you can not do better than place your order with us. We guarantee safe arrival and satisfaction. Directions for building up weak Colonies will be mailed to you for 10 cents. The above Queens are all reared in Separate Yards. 2Atf W. J. LITTLEFIELD, R. F. D. No. 3, LITTLE ROCK, ARK. Pkase mention Am. Bee Journal when writin(. Dr. Peiro will continue to give the readers of the American Bee Journal free advice regarding the subject of Surgical and Medical treatment. Many have availed themselves of this offer. Return postage is all you need to send. Address, Dr. Peiro, 2148 Sun- nyside Ave., Chicago, 111. Italian Queens for Sale ! Untested Queens, $i.oo each; 6 for Ss oo. All Queens reared from Imported Stock. Circular Free. 0. F. Fuller, Blackstone, Mass. Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. Red Clover and Golden Queens Are the Best Honey-Gatherers, Untested, 5oc; Select, 75c; Tested, $i.oo. Nuclei, $i.oo per frame. Evansville Bee & Honey Co., Evansville, Incl. Picase mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. Bee-Supplies We are Western Agents for lAtf "FALCONER" Write for Fall Discounts — we can save you money. C. C. demons Bee-Supply Co. 128 Grand Ave., Kansas City, Mo. FIGURE THIS OUT FOR YOURSELF | If you buy Bee-Supplies NOW that you will need in April, 9 you save money at the rate of 12 percent on the $. ? THREE PERCENT is the amount of our early order discount on cash purchases in January. w January to April is just three months — X of a year. Now 3 percent for .3 months is interest at the rate of 12 9 percent per year — so you see why we urge early orders accompanied by cash this month. A ANOTHER reason is that we can serve you better now than three months hence. In a few weeks we ^ will be putting up carload shipments for our dealers and distributing centers, and every effort in our big plant JT —the largest establishment in the world devoted to the manufacture of bee-supplies — will be directed to filling W rush orders. You will be just as anxious for your goods as our other patrons, and will deserve and receive the 9 same attention — no matter what the amount of your order may be, but ^ We can Serve you Better Now • and we want to make it worth your while to place an early order. Try this on a part of your list anyway. Saving at the rate of 12 percent per year ought to interest everybody. We Manufacture Everything In Bee-Supplies Get our 1!)12 catalog wliich gives descriptions, illustrations and prices on everything from bee-hives to bee- books, from frames to comb foundation. Get this Catalog NOW. THE A. I. ROOT COMPANY, 213 Institute Place, Chicago, Illinois : t It. W. IJOVUKN, Mgr. (Jeffirey BuUdlufir) Tel. 1484 North. July, 1912. 221 AQUASUN The flavor of richest apple cider. A table delicacy that lias no equal. A heverat^c that refreshes and inviirorates 'I'he strotigest health yeriiis in Nature, Made from Honey& Water In any kitchen, at any hour, at a cost of 2 to 4 cents per gallon. Process and riglit to make it. 2sc. ("ircular Free, sAi^t C. W. Dayton, Chatsworth, Calif. Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. CHOICE HOME-BRED and Imported Stock. (jLiecns reared in Full Col- onies. Prices for July and After One Tested Queen Ji.io ■' Select Tested i..?o " Breeding Queen.. i.R^ I'ntested Queens .75 Comb nucleus .80 Safe annual guarantee. For description of each grade of Queens send for Free Catalog. J. L. STRONG, 204 E. Logan St., Clarinda, Iowa. Pleaae mention Am. Bet journal whrn writing American Hee Journal We Make a Specialty of Manufacturing SECTIONS They are the Finest tn the Land- None Better. Our Prices will make you smile. We want 10 mail OUR BEE-SUPPLY CATALOG to every bee-keeper in the land. It is FREE. Ask for it. H. S. Duby. St. Anna, III., carries a full line of Our Goods, and sells them at our regular catalog prices. AUG. LOTZ & CO. Boyd, Wis. Pk«»e mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. "Griggs Saves You Freight" TOLEDO FOR ME! Is Every Man's Guide Who Wishes Goods QUICK. BIG STOCK ROOT'S SUPPLIES. Ready to ship day order is received Wholesale prices on (.'hick Feed. Beef Scraps. Grit. Oyster Shells. Etc. Honey and Beeswax wanted. Catalogue Free. S. J. GRIGGS & CO. 24 N. Erie St., Toledo. Ohio )^=^^i^<^wB* 1 P-O-R-T-E-R Trade mark 1 TIME 1 At All SAVES - HONEY - ^^ .^'^ ' MONEY i Dealers Each, 15c. ; Dozen, $1.65, postpaid. If your Dealer does not keep them, order from Factory, with Complete In- structions. R. & E. C. Porter, Mfrs. Lewistown, III. I I- a<;c nit-nmm Am. Bee Journal when writing. Bee-Keepers' Supplies, Berry Baskets, Crates, Etc. Sold at Rock Bottom prices. From Factory to Consumer. Send for prices. W. D. SOPER, Jackson, Mich. i:i to 325 Park Ave., on L. S. & M. S. R. R, • ■i.a... Bi^ntion Am. Bee Journal when writing The Ideal Hive-Tool Free as a Premium Exactly half actual size. Price, postpaid. 35 cents, or with the American Bee Journal one year— both for $i.is: or mailed Free as a premium fur sending us one new subscription at $1.00 This is a special tool invented by a Minnesota bee-keeper, adapted for pry- ing up supers, and for general hive and other work around the apiary. Made of malleable iron, 8K inches long. The middle part is 1 1-lG inches wide, and 7-.32 thick. The smaller end is IJi inches long. ^^ inch wide, and 7-32 thick, ending like a screwdriver. The larger end is wedge-shaped, having a fairly sharp, semi- circular edge, making it almost perfect for prying up hive-covers, supers, etc., as it does not mar the wood. Dr. C. C. Miller, who has used this tool since 1903, says: "I think as much of the tool as ever." 50,000 Copies "Honey as a Health-Foor To Help Increase the Demand for Honey We have had printed an edition of over 50,000 copies of the 16-page pamphlet on Honey as a Health-Food." It is envelope size, and just the thing to create a local demand for honey. The first part of it contains a short article on " Honey as Food," written by Dr. C. C Miller. It tells where to keep honey, how to liquefy it, etc. The last i.s devoted to "Honey Cooking Recipes" and "Remedies Using Honey." It should be widely circulated by those selling honey. The more the people are educated on the value and uses of honey as a food, the more honey they will buy. Prices, prepaid— Sample copy for a 2-cent stamp : 50 copies for 90 cents ; 100 copies for $1.50 ; 250 copies for $3.00 ; 500 for $5.00 ; or 1000 for $9.00. Your business card printed free at the bottom of front page on all orders for 100 or more copies. Address all orders to American Bee Journal, Hamilton, Illinois. 3-BAND ITALIAN and GOLDEN QUEENS For Sale— All Queens bred from improved lonB-loneued Red Clo- ver stock. as good honey gatherers as money can buy. Reared by the Doo- little or Miller plan, t^ne untested Queen. 75 els.: 12 for S7.50; 50 for $25,011; 100 to 500. $45.00 per loii. One Tested Queen. Si.5'>: 12 for $1500. No nuclei or worker bees for sale. No brood-dis- ease in my bees. Safe arrival giiarranteed. ,A,[ J. B. ALEXANDER, Cato, Ark. Mott's Strain of Italians— Also Carniolans lo-page Descriptive List free. I'ntested. $1.00 eacli; Jo-oo per doz. Natural k C Golden from Imported Slock. Sel. Untested. $i lo each; Tested. $i =10. Bees by pound and .Nu- clei. Leaflets. "How to Introduce Queens." ISC each ; on " Increase. " 15c. or both for 25c. E. E. MOTT, Glen wood, Mich. Italian Breeding Queens at a bargain. I am offering just a few of my very finest breeders at $2., so each while they last. Untested queens. Si C". Select Un- tested $1 25. 6.^tf H. A. JETT, Quten-Brcader, BrooksvilU, Ky. Have You Bees for Sale? Owing to winter losses there is a considerable demand in the country for colonies of bees. Those having bees for sale should write at once to the American Bee Journal, Hamilton, Illinois. 222 July, 1912. American Hee Journal Protection Hive Bingham Smokers The best and lowest-priced double ■ wall hive on the marl^et. This hive has %in. mat e r i a 1 in tlie outer wall and it is not cheaply made of 3^ materia! as are some other h i v es on the mark- et- Send for CIRCULAR showing: 12 large illustra- tions. It will pay to inves- tigate. Manufactured only by !"sist on -'Old BINGHAM Reliable Bing- ham Smokers. -lean for sale, by all BEE SMOKER dealers in Bee- keepers'supplies For over ,w years the standard in all countries. The smoker with a valve in the bel- lows, with direct draft, bent cap. inverted bellows and soot-burning device. Smoke Engine. 4-inch. each. $1.25; mail. $1.50. Doctor, s.'i-inc/i. each. 85c; mail. $1 Conqueror. 3-inch, each. 75c; mail. Little Wonder, 2-in., ea.,5oc; mai Honey Knife, 60 cents; mail, 80 cen .10. $1.00. 65c. ts. A. G. WOODMAN CO., Grand Rapids, Mich. Famous Queens! From Improved Stock. The Best That Money Can Buy Not inclined to swarm, and as for Honey- tjatherint,' they have few equals. Three - band. Golden, and Carniolans— bred in separate yards: ready March 20th. Untested, $1.00: 6 for $s; 12 for $0. Tested, $1.50; 6 for S8; 12 for S15.00. Breeders of either strain. S5.00. X—^ ^^-, Nuclei, witli Untested Queens — i-frame. $2 50; six I frame. J15; 2-frame, $j.5o: six" 2-fr. $20.40. Nuclei with Tested Queens— i-frame, $3 00: six i-frame. $i;.4o: 2 frame, $4.00; six 2-frame, $23.40. Our Queens and Drones are all reared from the Best Select Queens, which should be so with the Drones as well as the Queens. We guarantee safe arrival and satisfac- '°" D. E. BROTHERS, ^.'\!it Jacksonville, Ark. I'lt-ase mention Am. IVc Innriial when writinir n A n y F O ' Foot -Power DAnllLO Machinery Read what J -. Parent, >f Charl xtn, N. Y , says "M'e out «ith one of your C^ombined Machines, iasi winter 60 chaff hives with "-in. cap.. 100 honey-racks 500 bri ad-frames^ /!,000 honey -boieci. and a great deal :>f other wark. This winter we have ::t-3bl^ th?amjant 3f b?e-hlves,eto.,, Dniak? andw^ ■■ipe:t toi j itwltb -his Saw It xii\ i:< aJ] you say it vii',' "":;i.:a' 3^' *J^ ?rl:e-list fr&s Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writing Myers Famous Lockstitch Sewing Awl Is designed particularly for farmers' use. but it will be found a time-saver and money-saver in nearly every household. It is not a novelty, but a practical hand-sewinu machine for re- pairing shoes, liarness, belts, carpets, rugs, tents, awnings, canvas of all kinds, gloves, mit- tens, saddles, etc. : you can also tie comforts. The Awl proper is grooved to contain the thread or waxed end. and the point being diamond shape will go through the thickest of leather, green or dry, any thickness. The " Myers Awl" can be used with either straight or curved needle, both of which come with the outfit, and veterinarians will find it indispensable for sewing up wire cuts in stock. The ■' Myers Lock-Stitch Sewing Awl " is a necessity for the people: can be carried MYERS Famous Lock Stitch SEWINQ AWL Sews Leather Quick fn pocket or tool chest; nothint: to lose, always ready to mendaripor tear. Better than rivets because it Is portable. Can be carried in mower or harvester ti)nl-box. threshing kit, or anywhere. If you save one trip to town for mending, you are money ahead. Every farmer needs one. every man who teams needs one. It is the most practical hand-sewing^ macliine for actual use ever devised. Put up with straight and curved needles, waxed thread, illus- trated book of directions, and everythiuf,' ready for use. Our Special Offers of this Famous Sewing Awl. We mail the Mvkks Lock-Stitch Skwinc; Awi. for $i.no; or club it with the American Bee Journal for one year— both -for only Si. do; or we will mail the Awi, //rr as a premium for sending us only '/wo Anc Subscriptions to the American Bee Journal for one year, with $2.00. Surely here is an article that will be very useful in every home. Address all orders to— American Bee Journal, Hamilton, Illinois. If YOU want them '^^A^ YELLOW try the GENTLE strains of of Swarthmore pedi- greed GOLDEN QUEENS. Swarthmore, Pa. Please mention Am. Uee Journal when writing. EVERY BEE-KEEPER KNOWS The Worth of A Good Queen Knows the worth of a good strain of bees and also knows how worthless is a poor queen and inferior bees. Try our strain of three banded Italians, they will not disap- point you. Tested queen. Si oo each: Un- tested. 75c, S;. on per do/. N() disease. Senil for price-list. ''Atf J. W. K. SHAW & CO., Loreauvllle, Iberia Parish, La. Fkase mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. English Honey-Spoon. This'.hne Qoc Honey-Spoon and the Ameri- can Bee Journaljifor one year— both for only J1.75. Send all orders to tlie American Bee Journal. Hamilton. III. Ptca*e mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. I I July, 1912. )[American Hee Journal j 223 Chicago. June 20 —The sales of honey, botli comb and extracted, have been of light volume dtiring the month of June, but we should lia\e some of the new crop during July. This market, however, does not care for it to any extent prior to August. I^rices on comb are from I5^'i8c per lb., where it grades from No. i to fancy white; the am- bers range from iot?'i2c, and some of the fancy light ambers are nf?i5c. Extracted, white, according to kind and Quantity, sells at from HCi'oc. and tiie ambers from 7C*8c per lb. Beeswax is steady at from 306^32 per lb. for the average grade. R. A. Burnett & Co. Indianapolis. June 10.— No arrivals of new honey at this date. Best extracted honey sells at III" I2C in 5 gallon cans. Several cars of comb honey arrived on this market dur- ing March, and much remains in the jobbing houses unsold, and no definite prices can be named on comb at this writing. Beeswax is in good demand, and producers are being paid 30c per pound. Walter S. Pouder. New York. June 10.— Nothing new in comb honey: small shipments of the new crop are coming in from the South, and are sellingat from n^iftc. according to quality. Arrivals of the new crop of extracted honey from the South are now coming in quite freely, as well as from the West Indies. Prices are rather unsettled as yet. ranging all the way from Tu^ooc per gallon, according to quality. Reports from California are rather conflict- ing, some of them estimating this year's crop. at 500 cars, while others claim a very short crop. No offerings have been made as yet that we know of. and no prices estab lished. Beeswax steady at from jo(" ?ic. HiLDRE TH & SEGP:I.KEN. Boston, June 20,— Fancy white comb. i;(?- i8c; light amber, i.sc; amber, 14c. Fancy white extracted, io@'iic; light amber, g@ioc; amber, oc. Beeswax, 30c. While comb honey is wanted here, and will sell at i8@20c per lb. for first arrivals, as it is in demand very much. Blake. -Lee Co. Kansas City, Mo.. June 21.— Everybody is anxiously waiting for some new honey. We believe that No. i 24-section. white, comb honey will bring at first S3. 75 per case. Of course, off grades bring a little less. There is little demand for extracted honey, and it is selling for 7'5(s")C. according to Quality. C. C. Clemons Produce Co San Francisco, June 20.— The new crop of comb honey is selling at I5@i6c per lb. Water-white extracted honey. o@Qjrc per lb ; light amber. 8@oc; amber. 7@3c; dark. sWnc per lb. Beeswax. 23@2Bc. according to grade and quality. A few small shipments of new comb honey have been received, and the de- mand exceeds the supply. J. C. Frohliger. Denver. June 21.— The old crop of comb honey is all sold. We expect the first of the new crop by the middle of July, if weather conditions are favorable. We have a good stock of very fine extracted honey which we are quoting in a jobbing way at qc for strictly white; light amber, 8c; strained, hH^l'Ac. We nay 2I1C in cash and 28c in trade per lb. for clean, yellow beeswax delivered here. TiiK Colo. Honev-I'roducers' Ass'n. F. Rauchfuss. Mef. Cincinnati, lune 20.— There is very little demand for honey at the present time, nevertheless for the fancy comb honey we have we are getting $3.7-S a case from the wholesaler, and $4.00 from the retailer. Light amber honey in large ciuantities we are sellingat 6'zC»'7?^cper lb., and fancy table at from 8'5^'ioc. according to the quantity and quality purchased. Owing to the great loss of bees, no doubt there will be a fall in the price of beeswax, and only for choicest wax can we pay 32@2gc per pound delivered here. The Fred W. Muth Co. Missouri-Bred Queens! My strain of bees is the result of many years' breeding and selection. I believe they are equal to any. and surpassed by none. They are lony lived, winter well, breed early, and are unexcelled honey get- ters. The workers are long-bodied, Eood- sized bees, uniformly marked with bands of orange yellow. They are good comb-build- ers, gentle and easy to handle, and yet pro- tect their homes from robbers. You will makcnomistakein introducinii these queens into your apiary. I guarantee safe delivery at your post-office, and make a speciality of long and difficult shipments. I endeavor to keep a large supply of queens on hand. Prices as follows: Untested— One, 60c: 6. $3.25: 12. $6.00. Select Untested— I. 75c; 6. %x 25; 12. $8.00. Tested, i. $1-25: t>. Ss 50; 12. S12.00. Select Tested— i. 1.50; ft. $8,00; 12. 15; 00. Two-comb Nuclei with laying queens. $3. 00 each; 3-comb Nuclei with laying queens. $350 each. Discounts on large orders. =;At)t L. E. ALTWEIN, St. Joseph, Mo. Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. I Special Delivery During this month we shall double our usual efforts in points of delivery and service. Early indications not having been most favorable, it is possible many bee-keepers will not have laid in a sufficient stock of sup- plies, such as sections and foundation, for the clover and basswood crop this month. We are prepared to make up for this oversight by having a large stock of both sections and foundation on hand for instant deliv- ery. We carry nothing but the Root make, which insures the best quality of everything. We sell at factory prices, thereby insuring a uniform rate to every one. The saving on transportation charges from Cincinnati to points south of us will mean quite an item to bee-keepers in this territory. We are so located that we can make immediate shipment of any order the day it is received. HONEY AND BEESWAX If you haven't made arrangements for the disposition of your honey and wa.\ for this season, consult us- We buy both in large quantities, and can assure you of fair and courteous treatment, and a good price for your crop. Shipping-Cases. To sell your crop to the best advantage it must be well put up in attractive style. We have shipping-cases that answer every requirernent of looks and utility. Small producers who sell their crops locally will be inter- ested in the cartons in which comb honey is put up to sell to the fancy customers at top-notch prices. We have honey-cans, too, in cases for those who produce extracted honey. In fact, there isn't anything we don't have that the bee-keeper needs, either to produce his crop or help to sell it. C. H. W. WEBER & CO. 2146 Central Avenue. CINCINNATI, OHIO. >WWWWWM^WWii^M^M^WWWii^WWWWWWWW^WWWW^¥WWWW¥W< N N N N W W N N N H N N N N N RUSH orders for ^^f^lcon^' Beekeepers' Supplies Beewav sections. -N'o. i ^yxyxy^WWyW¥¥W¥¥W^XWJtWXX X ( N N N N N N N M N N H N N N N H S g Section Honey Extractor J^S^:SE^^^^^S^^^^^^E]^^^^^^^^1 OUR HAND-MOORE STRAIN 3 Band Italians Are the best Honey-Gatherers. They spoil our white-clover honey by mixinir it with redclover. Breed stritctly for business. Untested. 75c; 12 for $8.00; so for $25.00. LATSHAW HONEY COMPANY, CARLISLE. IND. ^\'W mention Am Rr? lonrnal wh^r writinff SOOOSOOOOOQOOOSOQCOS•> or more 1 ,'2<' postpaid, iiu'liidiiif;' bras.s uails. HENUY BKNKK, IMeasaiitvillSta., N. Y. QUEENS OF MOORE'S STRAIN OF ITALIANS PRODUCE WORKERS Tlial fill the siipurs quick With honey nire and thick. They have won a world-wide reputa tion for honey-eathering. hardiness, gentleness, etc Untested Quecns. $r, six. Ss; 12. \ii. Select untested, $i.2s: six. $6.00; 12. SiQ.oo. Safe arrival and satisfaction guaranteed. Circular free J. P. MOORE. Quaen-breeder, Route 1 Morgan. Ky. AAn Al HARVESTER with BindcrAt- ■ llHM tachment cuts and throws in ^^^^I^PI piles on harvester or windrow. Man and horse cuts and shocks equal with a corn liinder. Sold in every state. Price S2000 W H. Buston. of .lohnstown. Ohio, writes: "The Btrvtsttr his proven all yon claim for it; the Harvester saved me over $25 in labor last year's corn cutting. I cut over 500 shocks; will make 4 bushels corn to a shock." iLStiinouials and ratalok' free, shnwint: pictures of Harvester. Address New Process Mfg. Co., Salina, Kas. IMease mention Am. Bee Journal whfn writing. Michigan Established in 1878 Texas I'lrasc mention Am. Itce Journal when writing. Carniolan Queens. Urcd from best Imported stock. After July ist 'Alt , .•.*'." Untested • - $ .75 »4.oo t 7.2o 'rested • • 1. 00 <;.so io.do Wm. KERNAN, R. D. 2, Dushore, Pa. Plcasr ni'*ntion Am. lice Tournal when writing. I'liiiiecr I'.slablisliment for the lircedineof Pure Caucasian Queens. All Imported (lueens bred under my instructions in the Caucasus Mountains. Tested two years be- fore breedingfrom. The wliitestcomb-build ers on earth. Will work while others starve. Gentle as Hies. Hive full of brood all throuth the season. My Italians need no commenting on— the thousands I have sold tell the tale. Send for prices. 5A6I A. D. D. WOOD Rox 8:, Houston Heights. Tex., or Box 61, Lansing, Mich. flruc mention Am. Bee Jouriul when writliif. FINEST QUALITY of 3-band Italian Queens reared in the 50th latitude. Tested— luue, li.oo. July. $250; August, $2. 00. Breeder— June. $6.00; July. $5.00; August. $». CO. Uoz.. 2i% discount. Alexander Lundgren, SAjt S KICK Tomteboeatan, H(_)1,M. SWEDK.N. I Breed Golden Queens and Bees by the best known methods, and best apiarist; in full colonies in prime con- dition for rearing Queens. Untested, $1.00; Full 8 frame Colonies, $500 each. Guaran- teed no disease. sAtf M. Bates, Rt. 4, Greenville, Ala. Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. GOLDEN QUEENS tli.it produce golden workers of the bright- est kind. I will challenge the world on the color of my GOLDKN.s. and as good honey- getters. Price Si. 00 each, tested. $200. Breeders $■; 00 and Sio.oo. J. B. BROCKWELL, BARNETTS, . - - - VIRGINIA. Pleas^r mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. Crown Bone Cutter Best Made Lowest in Price FEED Toiir htm cut Rrern hon* KHif fii't moru cggi. With a Crown Bono i'uttcr jou cao cut up nil Hcrap boneo ftL*\\y 8ii.iiir ji.'iiltrT. Srnd Pt (itic*; fi'T free CBtulnKUO. WILSON BROS., Boi 914 ,E8ston.Pa. An Improved Method of Rearing QueeQrCeHs for Home-Apiary Use ^M;. ^;i,. n AUG2-191; The above illustration exemplifies the suggestion given by Dr. C. C. Miller,'"'W'^fe contri- butions on page 249 of this number. The article was written for the June number, but it was thought best to secure an illustration, hence the delay. The comb is made of three strips instead of two, and is in one of the large Dadant frames of the style used by the Editor. Dr. Miller, who was 81 years young in June, is still showing what practice, experience and judgment can do for success. 22G American Hee Journal August, 1S'.2. ^.^td^'^IO^^ I'UBI.ISHED MONTHLY HY George W. York & Company, 1st Nat'l Bank Bldg. Hamilton, Illinois IMPORTANT NOTICE THK SUBSCRIPTION PRICE of this .lournal is $1.00 a year, in the United States of America and Mexico; in Canada. $i.io; and in all other countries in the Postal Union. 25 cents a year extra for postage. Sample copy free. THK WRAPPER-LABP;L date indi- cates the end of the month to which your subscription is paid. For instance, " deci2" on your label shows that it is paid to the end of December. igi2. SUBSCRIPTION RECEIPTS.-Wedonot send a receipt for money sent us to pay sub- scription, but change the date on your ad- dress-label, which shows that the money has been received and credited. Advertising Rate, Per Agate Line, 15c. 14 lines make one inch. Nothing less than 4 lines accepted. DISCOUNTS: I tlmps 14c a line 0 times iic a line » ' nc " 12 " (I yr.) IOC a line Readinr Notices. 25 cents, count line. Goes to press the zslh of the preceding month. (Organized 1870.) National Bee - Keepers' Association OltJECTS The objects of this Association shall be to aid its members in the business of bee-keep- ing; to help in the sale of their honey and beeswax; and to promote the interests of beekeepers in any other direction decided upon by the Board of Directors. Officer.s President— George W. York. Sandpoint. Ida. Vice-Pres.— Morley Pettit. Gueiph. Ont. Can. Secretary— E. B. Tyrrell. Detroit, Mich. Treasurer— N. E. France. Piatteville. Wis. Directors E. D. Townsend. Chm.. Remus. Mich. Wesley C. F'oster. Boulder. Colo. Franklin Wilcox. Mauston. Wis. J. E. Crane. Middlebury. Vermont. J. M. Buchanan. Franklin. Tenn. Annual Membership Dues $1,50, one- third (50 cents) of which goes to the local branch where such branch is organized. Send Dues to the Secretary. E. B. Tyrrell. Michigan Established in 1878 Texas Pioneer Establishment for the Breeding of Pure Caucasian Queens. All Imported Oueens bred under my instructions in the Caucasus Mountains. 'I'ested two years be- fore breedingfroni. The whitest comb-build- ers on earth. Will work while others starve. Gentle as flies. Hive full of brood all through the season. My Italians need no commenting on~-llie thousands I have sold tell the tale. Send for iirices. sAbt A. D. 1>. WOOD Box 82, Houston Heights. Tex., or Box 61. Lansing, Mich. Pkuc mention Am. Bee Journal wken writini. FOR SALE-A CAR LOAD OF BEES Consisting of 300 colonies at $6.00 a colony, spring delivery 1913. I will accompany the bees and guarantee safe delivery. Purchaser to pay the freight. MY SEVEN YARDS ARE OVERSTOCKED. and I do not care to start others, as I have all that I can well attend to. Terms of sale, $ iO(l to accompany copy for contract, and placed on deposit in the Sabi- nal National Bank of this place against bill of lading ; balance payable on arrival of car. Bees are in Standard Dovetailed 10-frame hives, painted, and new bot- toms (Danz. style) of ?:s lumber. Bees are Italians and Banats crossed, and many of them are pure mated for the production of honey. Could ship if wanted after Sept. 15, this year, at $5.50 a colony. Health certificate furnislied. J. A. Simmons, Uvalde Co. Apiaries, Sabinai, Texas. Pltasc mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. Southern Bee-Keepers! I have a Large and Complete Stock of BEE- SUPPLIES at Cordele, Ca., and have erec- ted a large Warehouse and filled it with New Bee -Supplies at O'Brien, Fla., near Live Oak. the best shipping-point for all sections of Florida. Southeast Georgia and Southern Alabama. Send all orders to CORDELE, CA., and state from which point you wish your Sup- plies shipped. J. J. WILDER. GOOD Honey-Flow Coming IN You Want More Supplies to Get that Honey We can fill your order the same day it's re- ceived at lowest living price. Get our free catalog. H. S. DUBY, ST. ANNE, ILL. P. S.— Send for samples and price of our Best Rooting. Pleaae mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. BEE - KEEPER'S NOVELTY POCKET - KNIFE. HOWARD M. MELBEE, HONEYVILLE, O. Your Name and A«lSCOQOQOOCO^ )TT yyxiyy:i( for a man weighing 150 pounds to carry a weight of 1.50 August, 1912. ifSaB*-*^"^ American ISee Journal pounds ? But if he were to attempt to carry suoli a weight for a distance of a mile at the same rate of speed at which a bee travels, he would drop exhausted long before reaching the end of the mile. Moreover, it is possible that a bee might carry a heavier load if its honey-sac would hold it. So it is likely that its own weight is not the full measure of its honev-sac. iiiakL" the Bee and Honey bulldini,' your headquarters. All bee-keepers on the ground are requested to meet every after- Commissioner Cook and Horticulture in California. The June number of " t)rchard and Farm," published at San Francisco, con- tains an article concerning the workalready done by our friend and co-worker of old- en days, Prof. A. J. Cook. His work is also mentioned with praise in the July number of the Technical World. Frof.Cook is already causing ^.ONF.K Cook, a marked progress in his department. .Although he is not without opponents in his present work, we feel sure that he will win out by showing his usual ability to make friends through the work he accomplishes. CoMM! State Fair Exhibits and Premiums There is little doubt that e.xliibits luade in public, at Fairs and otherwise, are the best advertisements for our prod- ucts : Minnesota is setting a very good ex- ample to the neighboring States in the matter of premiums. These aggregate the sum of $10(i2, divided into 40 differ- ent heads. In all but two cases, four different premiums are offered under each head. So there are loS different awards in the apiary department, no single premium amounting to more than $1-"). Pretniums on a "farmer's collection " are in a special class, and are limited to those residing 2-5 miles or more from either St. Paul or Min- neapolis. Mr. Scott LaMont, superintendent of this department, whose portrait we gi\e in this number, sent the following circular letter to Minnesota bee-keep- ers : There will be "Live Bee" demonstras tion work for about -i hours each day. 2 hour in the forenoon and 2 hours in the after noon. The services of competent demon- strators (a yentleman and a lady have been secured, who will explain the every day work with which you come in contact in working and caring for an apiary, either larye or small, and any questions you may have to ask will be gladly answered. This will be an excellent opportunity for a be- ginner, or any one wishing to take up the occupation of l)ee-keeping. to learn the art of handling bees. We are anxious to make the Bee and Honey Kxhibit the best and most attractive we Iiave ever had. The outlook at the pres- ent time is favoiable. The prospect for a honey crop is good. The State Fair Board has done its part, and now brother bee- keeper it is up to us to do our part and "make gootl." We are asking, yea, demand- ing of the Board of Regents of the State Agricultural College a department for api- ary, with a competent beekeeper and apiarian instructor at the head. There is no better place where we can demonstrate to them the need of such a department than in our State Fair exhibit. So. come to the Fair. Bring or send your exhibit of bees or honey, if possible; if not. come anyway and son. .Secretary. Hamline, Minn., for one. also entry blank. Do it now, and same will be forwarded to you as soon as they are ready. ■*- A Swarm-Hinderer — Under this name is described in Prakt. Wegweiser a rim which, from the appearance of the illustration, may be 3 inches deep or deeper, having a series of slats in it, and this arrangement is put under the brood-chamber. It is practically the same as the bottom-rack used by Dr. Miller in his 2-inch deep bottom- boards, only in the latter the rim is not removed with the rack. Recipe for Baking Apples. — When baking apples with the core re- moved, after baking them and while they are hot, fill the holes with honey instead of sugar. It gives them a de- licious flavor. If you fill them with honey before baking, you will to a great extent spoil the flavor of the honey. ^ Remedy for Ants.— Jesse H. Roberts, of Watseka, 111., uses powdered cinna- mon slightly sprinkled over the boards to keep ants out of both the bee-hives and the cupboards. This is the best remedy of all. Mr. Scott LaMont. of Minnesota. noon at 2 o'clock in the superintendent's office in the Bee and Honey building, to ask and answer questions that will be mutually helpful and instructive along the line of our beloved pursuit. Premium lists are free. Write J. C. Simp- The Ontario Agricultural College Api- arist, Mr. Morley I-'ettit, publishes a very complete condensed report con- cerning crop prospects. The July llth sheet contains reports from 48 counties. 2.J report fair prospect for clover honey, 4 fair to good, 13 poor to fair, and 0 poor. ••' The Annual Meeting of the Missouri State Bee-Keepers' Association will be held at the residence of Pres. J. W. Rouse, at Mexico, Mo., Aug. 1 and 2. All Missouri bee-keepers are urged to attend. J. F. Die.mkr, .s'<(-. Bee-(<£eping ^ For Women Conducted bv Miss Emma M. Wilson. Marengo, III. Novice er Cowan Extractor ? — The Best Glass Container to Use A sister who is new in the business, and who does not expect to keep more than 2 or 3 colonies, asks whether the Novice or the Cowan honey-e.xtractor is the better for her. With the Cowan, when the honey is thrown out of one side of the comb, a little push is given to the comb-basket, and the comb is reversed without being lifted out of the extractor, for the comb-basket swings like a door on its hinges. With the Novice the comb must, be lifted out of the extractor to be reversed. This, of course, takes a little more time than it does to shove the comb around with- out lifting it out, making it well worth while to pay the additional price for the Cowan. But one extractor does just as good work as the other, and if one has no more than 3 or 4 colonies, tlie little difference in time is hardly worth considering, and the Novice has the preference. Also, what is the simplest and best looking glass-container for extracted honey? As the Scotch say, that's a kittlish question. What suits one does not always suit another. In some places nothing is more popular than the Mason fruit-jar, because, when emptied of honey, it is just as good as new to be used for putting up fruit. The Premium fruit-jar is not so well known, but has the advantage that the honey in it is more gel-at-able — quite an advantage when honey candies. Perhaps the simplest of all glass-con- tainers is the tumbler with a tin cover. Honey in tumblers presents quite a pretty appearance, and tumblers may be had in pound and half-pound sizes. 234 August, 1S12. American Bee Jonrn^^ A variety of bottles may be had, and it is not easy to choose between them. When women get to do most of the honey-bottling, it may be that some- thing will be evolved more pleasing to the eye than anything now on the market. < • > Sequel to "Man Put to Flight" I hiivt- been vt*ry nnicli interested in tlie ■' BeeKeeping for Wonien " page in the Bee Journal, because my wife is the " bee- man "(? of our family. About the only part I have in the enterprise is to buy the sup- plies, pay for beebooks and subscribe for journals on bee-culture; and then, when I become honey hungry, 'phone the grocer to send me up a few sections. I have eciuipped my wife with a smoker, a pair of gloves, veil, etc.. and have important ?* business up town when a swarm is to be handled. They sting me in the quietest of times. Lfp-to-date bee-cultnrc in this immediate vicinity is comi)aratively a new enterprise. and now that my wife has the above-men- tioned equipment, she is sought by the neighboring novices to handle perplexing problems. Brother W.. who lives on one of our beautiful avenues, had an obstinate case to handle recent ly. and asked me -one day if Mrs. Home would notassist him. I informed him that she would he "dee-lighted" to render the ser\ice, 'I'he next afternoon 'phone No. 302 had a call, and Mrs. H. was asked to come over and assist in making a single nursery out of a double one he had in his garden. Equipped witii the aforesaid paraphana- lia, and a proud walk. " our professor." (that is what we call her) betook herself to Bro. W.'s posthaste. Sister W. assisted in get- ting up the hive, tools, cloths, etc., and took her position where I usually do. behind the fie tree. Brotlier W. did not have any equip- ment except a i;)air of very sheer lady's hose on his hands. From the lirst the bees showed fight, but Bro. W. would not bear the idea of deserting and leaving a woman alone to manage the colony. Finally Mrs. H.'s per- suasion, and a sting on lop of his bald pate, sent him toward the house. There were so many bees after him that Mrs. W. was afraid to let him in. but he slapped, fought and begged until she let him in just in time for him to fall on the couch in a faint. He fainted twice, and Mrs. W. be- came so alarmed she 'phoned for a physi- cian. The bees got so mad they attacked a crowd of children at play out on the street, and one little girl, with a full head of hair, fairly alarmed the neighbors for a block away. Brother W. is a sanctified Methodist brother, but some one heard him say he had a great mind to kill every bee in that hive, and get some bees of a more friendly and sensible kind. Mrs. H. says she would not have gotten stung at all. but a puff of wind blew her veil against her nose, which had the appearance of a "Milwaukee" nose for two or three days. How will this do for a sequel to the story. " Man Put to hlight." in the June number of the journal ? In the meantime I am content to hold my original job. /. c. to furnish the implements, journals, etc., and attend to my town mat- ters. Wc like the journal very much. Kespectfully, T. N. HoRNE. Never mind, Mr. Home, some of these days instead of your 'phoning to the grocery the grocery will be 'phon- ing to your wife fur honey. The Joys of Bee-Keeping Something must be a little wrong with the make-up of that bee-keeping sister who does not feel a thrill of de- light upon reading the following beau- tiful pitcture from the pen of Miss l^thel Kobson in the Canadian Bee Journal : 'Ihere is the (irst (light of the bees in the spring when you are able to form some esti- mate of how thebecs have wintered and you know that wintering is one of the points in which bee keepers take great pride; then the tirst peep into the hives, wlien. if the bees have wintered well, the sight sets the [lulses throbbing with visions of a bounteous harvest; the bees wakine from their Ions winter rest are active and alert, boiling up over the frames, and eager for the busy life so soon to begin, and which they will share for such a little time; there is the sight of fields yellow with dandelion, and orchards white with bloom. There are flashes of sunshine after rain, when the air is so full of the hum of bees as to be intoxicating; the joy of sitting quietly on a Sunday afternoon while the bees come tumbling in from the fields; but, best of all. there is the long suc- cession of days spent in the open air with the sun. and the wind, and the bees for companions, when you are drawn close to the heart of Nature and made to partake of all her bountiful life— this is the great joy of beekeeping. where we will Then look at the marVgXIous antennae, the uses of which are not yet fully understood. biU by which bees cer vainly smell, and which are believed to b e the means by which their wants and desires can be communicated from one to the other. It is possible also that bees may possess senses or sensations of which our great coarse bodies can form no conception. By aid of the antennce they may feel vibrations which never affect us. How It Feels to be a Bee In the Irish Bee Journal is an article by A. Beatrice Bambaut, who evidently has a lively imagination as well as the powers of observation. Here are two paragraphs from the article : It is somewhat hard to realize that at this present moment one-thirdof the population of the world believes in the transmigration of souls— believes that before his present existence here on earth, man has already gone through a multitude of varied exis- tences, and tliat if he does not make the most strenuous efforts, he will probably be obliged to go through a still larger number. They maintain that a being can transmi- grate into any form whatever, and. accord- ing to his good or bad actions, he will pass to the highest or the lowest state Of course, we always feel it to be extremely improbable that our opinions are wrong, and other people's opinions right. But let us assume transmigration to be a fact, and that, to correct such faults as disloyalty or want of thoroughness in our work, or dirty or slovenly habits, we may awake some day and find ourselves to be neatly packed into the tiny body of a bee. How shall we like the change ? I imagine we shall feel quite delightful, for just consider the marvellous increase we shall find in our capabilities. Instead of 2 arms and 2 legs to have 6 legs, blessed with a " versatility otherwise unknown in the realm of legs," Instead of reciuiringa mo- tor car, a flying machine, or a cab, to have wings on which at any moment we can fiv Women to the Front in Africa They are certainly to the front, liter- ally, in the South African Bee-Keepers' Journal, in the May number the first page is occupied with a line picture of Miss M. Dagmar Sillar, and the first article is on " Bee-Culture for Women," by Miss Mary W. Johnstone. One can- not doubt that Miss Johnstone speaks from experience when she says: None but those who have handled full, fresh. " clean " sections of honey-comb can realize the pleasure that it gives the bee- keeper to see the first "taking" of each season. There is an exhilaration about han accurate books: the returns (Ui the money invested are far ahe.id of the same invested in the retail lumber business. Most producers and consumers want to eliminate- not the services of the middle- men antl their capital — but /xn'^/ie for the same. If the peoiile who are finding fault with the mitUilemen. were compelled to ser\'e a 5-year period holding itiiddli-men's jobs— somebody has to do the service, it can- not be eliminated--tliey would return to their original work much better satisfied with the returns on the labor and capital invested, G. W. li'EUi.EisEN. Madrid. Iowa. My contention is, that the producer is paying the middlemen too much for doing the distribution. The qtiestion is not so much whether the dealer, such as Mr. Fehleisen, is making .'! or (i percent on his investtiient, as to how much of the ultimate consumer's ilollar he is getting for tlieact of distribution. I know of sever:il men in the retail business who are making less than nothing, but they are selling goods at W to lOU percent above cost. Our sys- tem is at fault, and the return to direct dealing, such as the parcels post will help to bring, will eliminate some of the waste in distribution. The past winter I could have sold my extracted honey to dealers for (J to August, 1912. 23S- American liee Journal 7 cents per pounJ, but instead of doing this I advertised in local papers, and sold quite an amount direct to the con- sumers. The cost of advertising was about ") percent of the sales, and I got 10 cents a pound for extracted honey. 1 did the middlemen's work for less than thev could afford to do it. At the present time, I am selling honey direct to a tea and coflfee sales- man who sells the honey as a side line on his route in an l'".astern city. This honey nets me 11 cents for extracted, and in this deal I have eliminated all the middlemen but the last one, the re tailer. He sells for one dollar a o- pound package of extracted honey that costs liim tJ.') cents laid down at his station. I do not begrudge him the profit, but at the same time when I can deliver .'i or 10 pound pails of honey by parcels post direct to the consumer, and save the retailer's profit, I am going to do it and give the retailer of food products a chance to get into something that pays better. I would not trade places with many retailers that I know. They do not make a great deal of money, and their methods are too costlv. We must have a more economical method of distribution. It is hardly a just measure to figure the profits in bee-keeping by Mr. Fehleisen's method. I do not know how much salary be pays himself, nc- how much money lie has invested. I will say, though, that I would consider a man on rather uncertain ground who was not making as much from the capi- tal invested as the prevailing rate of interest at the banks, and that rate is 8 percent in Mr. Fehleisen's State. The book-keeper for a local lumber yard told me that $2o,00u was the least amount that would be required to start a lumber yard, and Mr. Fehleisen has two yards. Most lumbermen that I know got their start in the lumber business. There is not a bee-keeper in the whole United States who has made as much money out of the busi- ness as is represented in any of the three lumber yards in our little town of Boulder. The homes and manner of living of the owners of these yards prove it. .\t the present time native lumber can be bought at the sawmills in Col- orado for $10 to $li) a thousand feet. It retails at from $-•') to $30 a thousand feet. Several years ago we bought lumber of a sawmill and had it deliv- ered in Boulder for $12 a thousand, when the retail price was $20. The sawmill man said he was selling it to us at the same price that the lumber dealers paid him. The whole trouble is, that there are too many middlemen after the business, and in some lines there is scarcely anything in it for them. If we can cheapen tlie methods of distribution, who has any fault to find ? If a dealer can furnish me with a product cheaper than I can get it by going after it my- self. I am going to get it from the dealer. I can buy hay and grain of the farmers cheaper than from the feed dealers in Boulder, and I can sell honey to the consumercheaper than he can buy it of the dealer and retailer. Mr. Fehleisen figures that I can care for bees at the rate of $1.00 a colony per annum. It cannot be done and give a man fair pay for his time. It takes a good man to care for .^OO colo- nies without help, and there are none that I know of that are doing it with- out some help. A man who can care for .'lOO colonies would earn only $.'J00 a year. A man of this ability can make two or three times as much at any other business. It is impossible to support a family in comfort on $."iOO a year, and $1000 a year is small enough if the children are to have any advan- tages, and the elders any respite. 1 should say that $2 to $3 a colony would be nearer what it is worth to care for bees. I will admit that I wish to eliminate paying an excessive toll to the middle- men for selling me a hat, a pair of shoes, or a suit of clothes, but I will not succeed until co-operative effort has had a larger measure of success. I have eliminated the middleman in a few instances, and know that his profit feels good in my own pocket, and all that is necessary is to keep pushing on. The middleman will live freer when there are not too many of " him." There will always be the need of men to bring tlie things we want and take the things we don't want, but the faster we can eliminate the ones who are in the way, waiting for a chance to bring and carry, the better it will be for both producer and middleman. The pro- ducer must learn to co-operate before we can hope for any marked improve- ment. What I know of co-operation and direct dealing has seemed good, and so I am working to extend it farther. I hope that this will not be considered as kicking on the middle- man. Colonies Deserting Their Hives The loss of bees in Montrose county was recorded some time ago. A re- cent trip has shown me some of the facts about this loss. Last season's crop was poor — less than one case of honey to tlie hive. The quality was be- low normal, also. The fall flow did not materialize, and too many old bees went into winter quarters. The poor quality of the honey caused it to granu- late in the comb. A prolonged rainy season in October did not help the bees any. Most of the bees weathered through until March, though most were very weak. In March they began to die, and in June the bees were still de- serting their hives, leaving brood, honey and pollen. More pickled brood developed this spring than I ever saw. Many colonies were so weakened that they perished. Others had an abundance of brood com- pared with the number of bees to care for it. This was the most noticeable phase of the trouble. Absconding soon followed this symptom. Any light on the cause of this trouble, if what I have mentioned cannot be a sulllcient cause, will be thankfully received. In some yards 2-') percent of the bees were left in June; in others but very few. The Montrose county bee-men are like others — they do not keep bees as well as they might. More equalizing of stores, capped and hatching brood would have cured this trouble very largely. Where the queens were poor, the colonies went sooner, but many with capable queens perished for lack of young bees and hope. Bees can stand only so much discouragement, the same as folks. The crop in Mon- trose county will be of small shipping importance this year. The larger pro- ducers are working for increase with the hope of filling their empty hives. Fall feeding and removing the old honey would have prevented this loss very nuich. A watch of the queens, and seeing that the bees enter the win- ter with a fine force of youngsters, is a crying need of the bee-man's practice. We are not good enough bee-keepers. Our honey crops have been too easily seciired. We do not know how to buck a stiff proposition. Bees On Forest Reserves in California The following is a line of work ad- vocated by the California Bee-Keepers' Association, and it is hoped that the bee-men will find it protitable to lease these ranges for the pasturage of bees alone : The committee on forest reserves, by its chairman. E. B. Shaffner. reported as fol- lows : 1. Tliat it be the sense of this committee that there are vast tracts of vaUiable bee- range on forest reserves that will produce annually more profit from honey production than from any other industry, and that as such should be protected by the Govern- ment for this industry: 2. We recommend that apiaries be not located closer than t miles apart. 3. That 10 cents per colony is a reasonable charge for range location. 4. That the Government be requested to reserve roadways to apiaries through home- stead entries. 5. That sheep and goats be excluded from such points of reserves as are set apart for bees 6. That Government permit bee-keepers to remove wild bees from forest reserves where the same can be done without tlie de- struction of timber of commercial \alue. Tin Comb-Honey Package Mr. Paul Hunten, of Somerset, has sent out to many prominent bee-keep- ers sample supers of his section-hold- ers, and the new tin section and sani- tary honey package. The inside of the tin sections are waxed to facilitate the secure fastening of the comb to the tin. One section in each super is left unwaxed to test whether the wa.xing is necessary. There is one thing about this package that is fine — it is attrac- tive and clean. The section-tin pack- ages are not on the market as yet, and are in process of test. The outcome will be interesting. Mr. Hunten has gone to considerable expense in get- ting the thing to going, and I hope he will succeed. [If the new departure proves prac- tical, a description of it will be given in the Bee Journal later. — Eiutor.] Grading Honey A bee-meeting in the \\ est appro.xi- mates a national political convention •when the grading rules for honey are considered. It seems to bring out all the pronounced ideas a man has. Mr. Rauchfuss says that he can size a bee- keeper up quicker by inspecting his honey crop graded and packed for market than in any other way. You 236 August, 1912. touch a real live issue when you talk honey grading. *-»-♦ Climates of the West The West has as many different cli- mates as could be iiragined ; in Wyom- ing and Montana the thermometer sinks down and down until the mer- cury can scarcely be found at times. Then down in New Mexico and Ari- zona, while it is not strictly tropical American l^ee Jonrnal throughout the winter months, the climate is of a mild nature. In the valleys of the Inter-mountain region the winters, as a rule, are mild. Col- orado is about on the line north and south where the siugle-walled hive can be considered sulTicient protection dur- ing the winter. I do not know of a double-walled hive apiary in the State. Very few give their bees any protection whatever. This is a condition that will change in a few years, I am confident Bee-K£eping In Dixie^ Conducted by J. J. Wilder. Cordele. Ga. The Ravages of Thieves The [ravages of thieves are a very serious problem with me. They do considerable damage, such as throwing off covers, lifting out frames from the supers, and sometimes from the brood- chambers, and scattering them around the apiary. And if there is honey in the apiary, they never fail to find it. Many times they open the brood-nest and cut out the honey and almost com- pletely destroy the bees. Very often a colony is carried a short distance and burned, hive and all. Many times thieves make fires in the apiary and much damage is done. Two of my best out-apiaries have been completely destroyed by fire. One just before the honey-flow this spring, and one several years ago. The first one was robbed and burned by a plan- tation overseer and his negroes, who fired it by placing burning fat pine un- der the hives. The last apiary was burned by the only son of a widow. He was in the habit of stealing honey for her, but this time the bees stung him badly, and to get revenge he placed a bunch of leaves and straw on each hive and fired them, and then took to his heels. Only the wire of the frames and the nails were left. The ravages of thieves cause a loss to me each season of several hundred dollars, and are increasing. But all this damage does not discourage me in the least. I only work the harder to overcome it, with not a spark of hope for it to ever cease, as it has been going on for I.") years. Apiary Work This is the mid-point in the bee- keeping year, when we should both re- flect and look forward. It may be that we have not been as successful with our bees as we should. May be we have made too many blunders which have stayed our progress ; these we should overcome next season. But what a mistake we will make now if we don't look forward to our business for next season ! There is a greater or lesser flow of honey in every locality in Dixie, and our bees are still making progress. This will not continue a great while. If we wish to harvest a great crop of honey next season, now is the time to make the start. The Value of Good Combs. The value of good worker-combs, built straight and even, in good frames, is far greater than the average bee- keeper thinks. Good combs, easy to manipulate, should be the pride of every bee-keeper, and nothing else should be tolerated. It is not enough to shake a swarm of bees into a hive- body, the frames of which contain only starters, for the bees may build some crooked combs, or combs con- taining more or less drone-comb. This is a step backwards, and such combs should be replaced with good ones. Now is the best time to sort out such combs, remove the honey and render them into wax ; wire tlie frames and put in full sheets of foundation, if there are no e.xtra combs to put in their places. Insert these in the middle of the brood-nest of good, strong colo- nies, and they will .build good service- able combs at once. Weaker colonies should be supplied with good, ready- built combs from stronger ones. If any inferior combs contain brood they should be set in weak colonies next to the wall of the hives, until all the brood is hatched out, and if such combs contain unripe honey, it could be fed back to the bees at once, or left with the bees for a few days to ripen. Queen-Rearinc. Every bee-keeper should learn to rear his own queens from his best stock, or if he is not satisfied with his stock, buy a nucleus with a (|ueen, or get a queen of good stock from a re- liable breeder and introduce her into one of his colonies. From this colony combs containing eggs or brood less than 3 days old can be taken and given to colonies made queenless and brood- less. They will build many cells which can be removed in !> days from the time the brood is given and placed in cell-protectors to rei|ueen a number of colonies which have inferior (lueens. These queens can be found and killed at the time the cells are given. At this time of the year conditions are ideal for queen-rearing in most localities, and it is bv far the best time to do the work. It is important. Your success depends upon this step. Increase. No bee-keeper can obtain success without resorting to artificial increase. Even in the spring of the year, when bees have a great inclination to swarm and do according to Nature's plan, it is better, if intelligently done by man, but at this season of the year there is little inclination among bees to swarm, and if increase is made it must be done artificially. This is not advisable un- less colonies are strong and heavy with stores, and even then each colony should be divided but once, so each division will go into winter quarters with plenty of stores and a medium- sized cluster of bees. If there is only a light honey-flow the increase should be made soon. If there is a heavy honey-flow wait until near the close, then follow my 'method as outlined in the July number of the American Bee Journal, page 20.j. If the plan is carried out carefully a good increase can be made at each apiary, that will result in a large amount of surplus honey next spring. Looking to the Final End. As we make our last round in remov- ing honey, we should keep in mind the wintering of our bees. Frames of sealed brood from the strongest colo- nies should be given the weak ones from time to time, and some frames of honey should be given the colonies light with stores. Plenty of honey should be left in the apiary to winter on. Sketch of Life of Pioneer Bee-Keepers— Help to Beginners Dear Dixie Bee-Keepers; — To con- duct our department in such manner that it will be most helpful to most of us, is by no means a small task for me. I have often been asked some such questions as the following: "How many colonies should I have before I can expect sufficient returns from them to support myself and family ?" and, " How much shall I have invested in the business up to this point ?" This can best be answered by those who have followed the bee-business for years, and solely depended upon it for a support. To this end we wish to produce short sketches of the lives of such veteran bee-keepers, and at the same time pro- duce their photographs so we can take a look in their faces as we read what they have done, and get a lesson from their experience. The jihotograph of Mr. T. W. Livingston, of Leslie, Ga., appears herewith. He writes: "Of course, 1 had to be born, and they say this occurred in Washingtcm Co., N. Y., Feb. 2'.», 18.Vi Hut I began my bee-keeping career in Washington Co., Iowa, near where the city of Ains- worth now stands. At the age of I.S, a friend gave me H colonies of bees in Underbill hives, and as there was no bee-literature obtainable (so far as I knew), I remained in helpless ignor- ance until I was "JO, when I heard that colonies could be divided and each part made into a normal colony. "This started me to building 'air- August, 1912. American ^ae -Journal Mr. T, W. Livingston. Leslie, Ga. castles ' for a great bee-business. It was just the thing, as my bees would not swarm for me. I divided them to my heart's content. It was a great les- son, for the next spring I did not have a live bee. " But, in the meantime, a few copies of the National Agriculturist and Bee Journal were sent me, and I discovered good bee-literature, and soon read up and began making substantial progress, bought more be-^s, made a honey-ex- tractor, bought an Italian queen, and soon was the most extensive bee- keeper in that section. " In 1888 I moved South for my health, and brought my bees with me. Many times I was handicapped, for I met new conditions and some perplex- ing problems. Coming as they did at this critical time of my life, I did not make as great success as I might otherwise have made. "The luimlier of my colonies has never exceeded 'SM) in a single season, located in from 1 to :i apiaries. I use the regular 10-frame Langstroth hives, and run solely for extracted honey. .1 tried the production of comb honey in I-pound sections, but found that the production of extracted honey was far more profitable. "I have a natural inclination or tal- ent for mechanical work, and I have made my own supplies with a small hand-power machine. Looking back over my work, however, and the un- satisfactory result of using home-made supplies, I would not advise this step. I have never turned my efforts in any direction save bee-keeping. It has been my source of income, and I have raised a family and educated my chil- dren. As I look back down the long chain of years of my bee-keeping life, and compare the opportunities with those in other lines, I do not think I could have done better, taking my small amount of capital in considera- tion. "The two greatest mistakes I made were the partial adoption of the divisi- ble brood-chamber and the production of section-honey. These might not have been mistakes had I been in a dif- ferent location. My bees have never bten neglected except in cases of sick- ness, and I have reared all my queens except a few bought for the sake of better stock. Back in my early bee- keeping days, long before I had ever seen a honey-extractor, I made a small one which I used until I saw a Pea- body honey-extractor with combs, can and all revolving. Then I made one which permitted only the baskets to revolve. I used this until I made my last model, illustrated in the American Bee Journal of March, 1909, which I think is a little ahead of anything yet invented for this purpose." Conducted by J. L. Byer. Ml. Joy. Ontario. Northern Ontario as a Bee-Country A friend in New York State sends me the following : Please answer the followine throuuli the .•\merican Bee Journal : How is the country 100 miles north of Toronto. Ont.. for bee- keepinu? Is the spring late and cold, or does it come with a rush i" What have they for bee-pasture, clover or basswood. or both ? Does it cost more to winter bees in a mild climate like that of North Carolina than in Canada, where they are frozen up nine months of the year? I read your article on North Carolina, and am very mnch inter- ested in that State. But honey from North Carolina brings only 55 to 65 cents in New York city, while honey from Maryland. Pennsylvania or New York brings qo cents to $1.35. In a warm climate like the Carolinas. the people do not eat honey as in our cold, northern States. Their prices run 12 ton cents a pound for comb honey. As a general rule, the spring season is about 10 days later than at Toronto, but that makes little difference as the honey-plants last just as long as further south, even if a little later in starting. The spring differs very much in differ- ent seasons, sometimes coming on with steady warm weatlier, while at other times it is quite cool all through early May, and //;/.< year even into June. But from reports received from New York, as well as from other parts of the United States, I surmise that the cool weather was not confined to On- tario, where we "are frozen up nine months of the year." By the way, I warn you not to think of coming to Ontario, if you have such an opinion of the climate. The worst I ever heard of before in relation to our climatic conditions, was that we have " six months of winter and six months of cold weather," but "nine months frozen" — well, that is "the limit!" I wish you were here at pres- ent; vou would come to the conclusion that we have at least zcarm weather in July. As a matter of fact, while our climate is severe in winter, yet northeastern New York can beat us when it comes to registering a low temperature in the winter months. In the locality north of Toronto referred to, we have bass- wood and clover with some raspberry. This combination can be had in many parts of Ontario not so far north, and 300 miles north of Toronto is as fine a bee-keeping territory as there is in America. In my estimation, during the next ten years, hundreds of colonies will be located up there in the clover, willow- herb, etc. If a bit younger and alone, that is certainly the place I would tackle, for I regard our northern coun- try as the great honey-producing sec- tion of the near future. As to North Carolina, I know noth- ing about the country except what my father has told me, and since he has come back a few bee-keepers in that State have written to me. In addition to poplar, sourwood, and other honey- bearing trees natural to that country just where father spent the winter, they have lots of basswood in the moun- tains. While I suppose that in warm coun- 238 August, In 12. tries more honey is consumed by the bees than in the north, yet tliey gather it earlier in the season, so that it really makes but little diflferencc. As to bee- locations, if any one is contemplating moving to another section he should, by all means, go and visit the locality first. Don't depend upon somebody else's judgment, for what may suit one per- son may not suit another. So far as Ontario goes, I know nutch of the country well, but while willing to give general information, I would not think of directing any one to any particular spot. A few years ago I directed a friend, who was living in a poor section, to a place where I knew there was an abundance of alsike, and very few bees to gather the honey it secreted. While no one was crowded by his moving there, it leaked out that I had directed him there, and a few men were pretty "sore on me " for it. There is lots of room in almost all sections of the continent, I suppose. American Hee Journal and if one wants a location, the best way is to look it up and judge of the conditions before moving. Slow Yield from Clover— Basswood Just Beginning At this date we are having a rather slow yield from the clover, although last week the flow was good in most sections. Where bees were strong enough to take advantage of the flow, a fair surplus was obtained, even if there is but little clover in the country. L^nfortunately in many apiaries the bees lost their rteld forces during the long, cool spell between fruit-bloom and clover, and no matter how good the flow would have been, little surplus would have been gathered. Basswood looks good wherever there is any, and in another week it will open. Per- sonally, we do not look for a big crop, but already more is secured than was looked for, so we are not complaining. Southern Beedom^ Conductud by Louis H. SCHOLI,. New Braunfels. Tex. Swarm Prevention While the amateur looks upon nat- ural swarming with delight, so he may count his hives in greater numbers, and it seems to him the only way of increasing his bees, the experienced bee-keeper regards natural swarming as a nuisance, and especially if his col- onies run up into the hundreds, scat- tered in several apiaries. It requires a good deal of watchfulness and much hard labor on his part during the swarming season, as e.xcessive swarm- ing may not only cause a loss of bees, but a greater loss in the honey crop on account of the weakened forces to gather it. Swarming is, however, no longer feared as it used to be, and although it may always be a hindrance in keep- ing a large number of apiaries, and in the production of the greatest amount of honey, it can be regulated and con- trolled so that bee-keeping is profitable. Many methods are employed for swarm prevention. One of the chief requisites is a large hive so manipulated that the bees may be kept at work contented. A cramped brood-nest, in which the egg-laying room of the queen is restricted, the otherwine crowded condition, and the lack of storing room and improper ventilation of the hive, are all factors to iiroduce the " swarming fever." By looking after these details properly, it can be held in check to a marked de- gree. Ventilation can be giveu by increas- ing the size of the entrance, simply placing a small stone or piece of wood under the front of the hive after it has been raised up by inserting the hive- tool into the entrance and lilting the hive. This will also give the bees a better passage-way in and out during the working season. Shading the hive will also aid in cooling it. Swarming can be delayed in many instances, and often entirely discour- aged, by destroying the queen-cells every 9 or 10 days, but this must be done carefully, and not a single cell overlooked. These precautions only help to allay the swarming desire. Once they are determined, it is a difiicult matter to prevent it. The only proper remedy then is to satisfy their desires, not by allowing them to swarm accord- ing to their will, but by doing it for them. The most successful plan is "the brushed or shaken swarm," and one that can be modified to suit local and particular conditions. Briefly, colo- nies that are found preparing to swarm, and with queen-cells in the hives, are treated by shaking nearly all the bees ofT their combs as they are removed from the hive and placed in any empty hive, which is then set in a new place. They are given a caged queen, or the remaining bees allowed to rear a queen from several cells left on a comb that has not been shaken, and the in- mates destroyed by the jar. There should be enough bees to properly protect and care for tlie brood, espe- cially during cool temperature. The combs removed are replaced in the old hive by frames filled with full sheets of comb foundation. The change has the same effect upon the bees as if they had swarmed naturally. They behave ex- actly like a swarm, and no colony of bees works with greater vim and vigor. This treatment results in an increase in the n\unber of colonies, but if this is not desired, the number can easily be reduced after the swarming season by reuniting as many colonies as de- sired. It is not necessary to treat each colony in the apiary as described. Only those that are actually preparing to swarm receive this treatment, and the number is small if the proper precau- tions for keeping the colonies com- fortable and contented are taken. Some seasons the desire to swarm is greater than in others, and consequently more difficult to cciUtrol. If swarming can be kept in check until the honey-flow begins here in Texas, all swarming preparations will come to an end. That a honey-flow will put a quietus to the swarming de- sires of the bees is recognized among Texas bee-keepers. Instead of con- tinuing swarming preparations they divert all their activities toward gath- ering and storing honey, and no more swarming need be feared as a general rule. This is entirely unlike the condi- tions in the North and East, where the opening of the honey-flow brings with it wholesale swarming that is difficult to control. ■ ^ • » A Long Distance Moving Experience On the morning of March l!i, we started for Llano county with 5 loads of bees and bee-keepers' supplies, a distance of about i\h miles. We had, on the day before, brought the bees from an out-apiary 14 miles away. They were to be moved to a small ranch we had bought in Llano county for a bee-ranch. We had made the usual preparations for giving the bees ventilation by putting screens over the tops of the hives and entrances. As the spring was late, and the bees had but little brood for this time of the year, we were congratulating ourselves on the way we had the bees fixed for their long journey over rather rough roads, and on common farm wagons with bolster springs. On the morning of the above date we were up on time, and had all the teams harnessed and ready for the move. The boys were furnished with lighted smokers, veils, etc., and cau- tioned not to drive close to each other. I did not expect any accident from es- caping bees, as I had closed and fixed the hives bee-tight myself, since 1 have had considerable experience in mov- ing bees by wagon. All went well until near noon, when we knew from the odor coming from the bees in the hives, as well as their actions, that they were getting too hot. The boys were instructed to drive into the shade as soon as possible, and as we stopped near a running creek of water for noon, we supplied all hands with buckets and tin cups with which to sprinkle and water the bees. The mercury had risen from (iO degrees in the morning to Uti degrees in the shade by this time. We would certainly have lost .•ill the strongest colonies had it not been for the free use of water and the faithful helpers who applied it. The next day was cloudy and most fa- vorable for moving bees. All went well until the third day, when we encoun- tered a severe change of weather. We were within .'i miles of our destination when an old-fashioned Texas norther struck us at -1 o'clock in the morning. We were soon up and dressed, and had a large camp fire burning, for with the norther came rain which turned into August, IIMi! ! *»>^i:5i^ =^ American Hee Journal sleet later. Now, the shoe was ou the other foot, as the saying goes, and we had to do what we could to protect the bees and the brood from cliilling. Our destination was reached while it was still cold and sleeting, and it con- tinued the rest of that night and the next day. It gave us a good opportu- nity to ojien the hives after unloading without the bees flying and mixing. As soon as the sun came out during the next day, the bees came out in full force, gathering honey from the " agherita," or "wild currant," which was then at its best. Not a single col- ony was lost on this long move, and at this date the colonies are all booming, so that I am expecting to get a good honey crop from them, as they are favorably located. L. B. Smith. Rescue, Tex. When to Put On Supers The bee-keeper should devote much time to the study of his locality, the source of the honey-flows, and when they are to be expected, so that the supers may be put on the hives at the proper time. To put them on long be- fore they are needed gives too much room for the welfare of the colonies; besides, the bees may destroy the foun- dation in them by gnawing it down. Hut to leave the supers ofif until they are actually needed often results in the colonies becoming crowded and get- ting the desire to swarm. According to the old rule, the proper time to give supers was when the bees were adding bits of white wax to the upper part of the comb along the top- bars, but this is too late unless swarms are desired, as this indicates a crowded condition in the brood-chamber. It is better to put them on a little before the real honey-flow begins than even a dav later. Why Don't Bees Work in Supers? This is a question that is often asked. The inexperienced bee-keeper expects that at a certain time all colonies, no matter what the circumstances or con- ditions may be, will begin to store honey in the supers. A colony may be so weak that it has all it can do to take care of the brood-chamber. Or it may be strong enough, but there may be room in the brood-chamber to be filled before storing elsewhere, for the bees prefer to work as near the brood-nest as possible. Many colonies hesitate to enter the supers even during the honey-llow, and with the brood-cham- ber filled full, and it becomes necessary to entice them by giving them partly- built combs of honey in the supers. After thev have once begun work in them, other conditions being favorable, they will continue to do so as long as the honev-flow lasts. The most practical way of getting such colonies started in the super, is to exchange their super for one from a colonv that has already begun work nicelv. ' It is not necessary to free these' supers entirely of bees, but it must be certain that the queens are not in them when taken to other colonies. It is quite safe, however, to drive most of the bees out of the supers with smoke when the covers are lifted oPf, and the queen will leave the supers for the brood-chamber below. Then the supers, combs, bees and all are simply exchanged and set on the colonies that refused to work in theirs before. The bees brought with the supers in which they were already at work will be addi- tional aid in continuing the work in them. Often the reason why bees do not en- ter the supers is because there is no honey for them to store. Even if there is an abundance of bloom, there may be no nectar in it. Meeting of the Texas Bee-Keepers' Association The annual meeting of the Texas Bee-Keepers' Association will be held July 30, 31, and Aug 1 at College Sta- tion, Tex., as usual in connection with the meeting of the Texas Farmers' Congress, of which the Bee-Keepers' Association is an afliliated section. Preparations were completed several weeks ago for taking care of a large crowd, and the outlook for a large gathering is very promising. There has been prepared a variety on every program that will be rendered by each section and by the Congress sessions, so that all who have the pleasure of being able to attend will find entertain- ment worth while. To those who are not acquainted with the work of the Texas Farmers' Congress, a trip to see the great things that this educational institution is doing for the agricultural interests of the Lone Star State would be worth while, especially since cheap railroad excursions prevail at that time. It is hoped that all of the many bee-keepers in this great State, who can do so, will be at the meeting to have "one big, old time," such as bee-keepers only know how to have. [We are sorrythatthis notice reached us too late for the July number. — Ed.] Contributed Articles^ Amount of Honey Used Colony in a Year by a HV .M)RI.\N GET.\Z. (Continued from July Number.! However, the known relations between the production of energy and the con- sumption or combustion of carbon show that this amount is not consider- able. It must vary to some extent with the temperature. Usually when the bees secrete wax in any quantity, they form a cluster. Some honey, more or less, sometimes none, according to the temperature, must be consumed to keep up the proper heat in the cluster. That should be included, for it would not have oc- curred in the absence of wax secretion. Upon the whole, I think a ratio of about 4 pounds of honey to 1 of wax is the most correct of all those offered. That is a good ways from the 8 or 10 pounds of our text-books. Wa.\ Produced. We come now to a much more diffi- cult point to ascertain. That is the actual quantity of wax produced by a colony during the season. A writer, I think it was F. Greiner, said that the comb of a section of honey, foundation, capping and all is one ounce. Some others have put it as far down as half an ounce. I can not find the quotations just now. Sup- pose a working season of 100 days, and a yield of ,50 pounds of comb, the average during the total time would be ^4 or }z ounce daily. If extracted honey is produced, only the cappings would be needed, but, on the other hand, the yield would be greater. It must be remembered, too, that owing to their extra thickness the cappings constitute a larger portion of the combs than one would at first think. Assuming a production of ISOOyoung bees a day, it is easy to calculate that the necessary brood cappings would be the equivalent of both sides of 2 sec- tions. Add to this the amount used for bits of comb here and there in the brood-nest, all the bur and brace combs, queen-cells, etc., and in case the colony has been shaken, }i or 2 pounds for the reconstruction of the brood-nest, and the conclusion almost forces itself on the mind that the amount of wax produced every day can not be less than 2 ounces, and is prob- ably more. That means a daily con- sumption of honey of at least another half pound. When the weather is such that new wax can not be produced, the bees will use old wax to a certain extent, other- wise judging by the cappings and other scraps that they throw away, they will use only new wax. Brood-Rearing. How much honey is consumed by the bees to rear a pound of brood, or, rather, how much does the brood con- sume, including what may be lost dur- ing the preliminary partial digestion or preparation by the nurse bees, is the hardest nut to crack of all. I can truthfully say that "I don't know." The only experiment in that line that I can find is one made by the Hon. R. L. Taylor, and is reported in the Bee-Keepers' Review for August, 1800. The comparison was made be- tween artificial and natural swarms. These last, during the following 3 or 4 weeks, produced considerably more brood than the others. The principle is simply this : Suppose 2 colonies of equal force furnish at the end of the experiment, the first 8 pounds of brood and 4 pounds of honey, and the second 10 pounds of brood and no honey. It is evident that it took 4 pounds of honey to produce 2 pounds of brood. August. 19!2. American l^ee Journal Second Field Meet of Eastern Illlinois Bee-Keepers. Held at St. Anne, III.. July 22. 1912, [See page 232) Prom left to right, top row:— Geo. Martin. I. E. Pyles, C. E. Woodington, Walter Sorensen. C. F. Timmon G. K Gimble. Jjli n Soucie. N. A. Timmon. Tlios. Mayo. J. B. Burillette, A. L. Kildow, Center row. left to right: — Bart Sherill. H S. D.ibv. Mrs. D. Lefeve. Mrs. Olive Uiiby. Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Roberts. Bottom row:— Edw. Manny. Walter Diiby. Miss Lily Lefeve, Mister Jim Shrontz Taking into account the difference in strength of the colonies, and several other minor points, Taylor comes to the conclusion that one pound of brood consumes 2 pounds of honey to arrive at maturity. In my opinion, that estimate must be too high. In the first place, the as- sumption was made that both sets of colonies gathered the same amount of. honey in proportion to their strength. I don't see it that way. The colonies having the most brood must have gath- ered less than the others, from the fact that a larger proportion of their bees were occupied at home instead of going to the field. If these experiments are repeated, it should be with fed bees, or in some way that the actual consump- tion of honey can be ascertained. Then the amount seems to me to be extravagant on its face. The larval food, at least for the workers, is half honey and half pollen and water. Hence, '2 pounds of honey would indi- cate a total of 4 pounds of food per pound of fully grown brood. The lar- vae live, or. rather, are fed for !i days. The first 2 days can be set aside, as these larvse are then very small, and consume very little; that is, approxi- mately. The bulk of the food is consumed during the last 3 days, which would give I') pounds of food for one of brood, as the final weight. But a larva 8 days old is very small, and one of 4 davs considerably less than one of 5. The growth in the .'>th day is by far the largest. Upon the whole, the average size of the larva can not be more than ;-., of the final size. The consequence is, that the brood must consume daily 4 times its own weight if Taylor's figures are correct; or, at least, 3 times if we correct for the loss that may occur in the stomachs of the nurse-bees, the neglect of the first 2 days' food, and a few other minor points. This seems impossible. Nearly all ■the nitrogenous (flesh forming) part of the food is utilized. There is but little waste; the cast-off skins, the co- coons, and a slight amount voided by the bees after they emerge, that is all. Nothing is needed to keep up the warmth since the bees maintain the hive at the proper temperature, though there may be some doubt on this point. All the losses are water and carbon dioxide from the honey consumed to furnish the eiicrf-^y necessary to the growth of the body. Suppose a daily production of lr)00 young bees. Taylor's figures would give a daily consumption of -,t of a pound of honey for that purpose. I think we can cut this down to >i pound. Feeding Back. Little information can be obtained from colonies which were fed back honey. The conditions for successful feeding back are : 1st. Very warm weather. 2d. Strong colonies. 3d. The brood-nest contracted and filled up completely at the beginning with brood and honey. 1th. Rapid feeding. The colonies that do not take large amounts of food must be discarded at once. As much as l.'i pounds has been taken in one day. As to tlie results, I pounds have been obtained from ■> of honey fed. But that is a very rare exception, and I think the late Mr. Hutchinson is the only one whoever obtained it. One pound out of s of an inch, and you will have a bee-escape at all times when the top sash of the window is lowered, by means of which the bees will go out into the open air, and from there home; while any robbers which may be attracted by the smell of the honey, will not thinkof going so farabove the spot where the smell comes out, to find the only opening through which they could reach this coveted honey. At least, after using such an arrange- ment for more than 30 years, I have never known of a single bee finding its way into the honey-room through it. No room in which honey is stored should be considered linished until it has such an escape on the outside of each window. Having things in readiness for the removal of the supers, at your leisure raise the same on your bee-escape boards, preferably in the early morn- ing, when these raised supers may be taken to the honey-room the next morning. If you have a spring wheel- barrow, you can take several of these supers to the honey-room at once. I consider such a wheelbarrow one of the most valuable assets about the api- ary. By having what is known as a "robber-cloth" to cover the supers as soon as they are removed from the hive to the wheelbarrow, this wheel- barrow load can be protected from robber-bees sufficiently to allow work at removing the honey all day long, if necessary. If you do not use bee-escape boards for the removal of section honey at the end of the season, procure two or more of the robber-cloths, using one for the wheelbarrow, and the other for driving the bees out of the supers. To best do this, with a clamp fasten one side of this cloth to the further side of the super, after the cover has been re- moved, allowing it to lie flat over the open tops of the sections. When ready, with your smoker in trim so it will give a large volume of smoke, raise the edge of the robber-cloth next to you, blowing in two or three good puflfs of smoke, when you will " flop " the cloth up and down by a quick up and down motion of the hand while holding it, blowing in more smoke with every two or three flops, and almost before you know it. Oil out of every 100 bees will be driven from the sections to the brood-combs below, the bees often stampeding out at the entrance of the hive., Now drop the smoker and cloth, and lift the supers from the hive to the wheelbarrow "instanter," before the bees " flock " back, which they will do almost as rapidly as they stampeded the other way. While I generally use the bee-escape boards, yet where this robber-cloth-smoking process is used, I get less mutilation of the sealing to the sections if there is a little unsealed honey in a super, than I do with the escapes. With the escapes, the bees never leave the supers until they fill themselves with honey, and if there are no unsealed cells containing honey, they are always sure to bite through the cappings of the sealed honey to get what they want before passing down through the escapes. But with the smoke and the robber-cloth-flopping plan, they are stampeded below before they even think of taking a particle of honey. However, if you are too slow in get- ting off the supers, so that the bees will flock back again, the cappings of the cells will be torn far worse than they will where the escapes are used. Of course, the few bees which still re- main in the supers, after using the smoke plan, will fill themselves with honey after the supers have reached the honey-room; but as there are so few left, it must be a more completely finished super than is generally found, not to give enough unsealed honey to fill these few bees. And I have never known bees to open sealed cells for honey as long as there is honey in un- sealed cells to supply their needs for this filling. Is 90 Percent of So-Called Eu- ropean Foul Brood Starved Brood ? BY A. L. KILDOW, Illinois State Apiarian /nsfidlor. I noticed in a recent number of the American Bee Journal that Mr. Mc- Evoy states that 90 percent of the so- called European foul brood is starved brood. I must take exception to that statement unless he qualifies it and says " for Canada." If he does that, I have nothing to say; but if it is meant for the whole country, I object so far as the State of Illinois is concerned. I have been doing inspection work for three seasons, and I think I am fairly well posted as to bee-diseases, and am satisfied that I can tell one kind from the other at a glance. In the article Mr. McEvoy gives his diagnosis of European foul brood, and it is prac- tically the same as mine. I have ex- amined hundreds of colonies this sea- son, and I find a very small amount of starved brood and a little pickled brood, but it is no trouble for me to tell the difference between starved brood and European foul brood. If Mr. McEvoy would just reverse his statement and 242 August, 1^:2. American "Bac Journal j say that 10 percent was starved brood and 'JO percent European foul brood, I would not have a word to say, for that is the way we have found it in Illinois. If an inexperienced man had made that statement instead of Mr. McEvoy, I would say that he was not posted, but just guessed at it. Putnam, 111. Starved Brood and European Foul Brood in Canada BY F. E. MILLEN, .Ifii.irv hnt'fi-lor for the Olliiwci I'.illcy. I have read your correspondence on European foul brood, pickled and starved brood, by Mr. McEvoy and others. I think Mr. McEvoy makes statements that are extreme, and which cannot be verified. I refer to two : • First, "That 00 percent of the so- called European foul brood is starved brood." . Second, "That by keeping pure Ital- ian bees, and giving them proper man- agement, none of these kinds of dead brood will be found among them." At one time it may have been true that 00 percent of the so-called Euro- pean foul brood was starved 'brood, but Mr. McEvoy forgets that time and European foul brood do not stand still, and I feel sure that 0."i percent of the so-called European foul brood in Ontario today is the genuine article. Starved brood never possesses that sickening odor, neither does it have that greasy appearance so common to foul brood larvx. Then, if the weather has been wet and cold, so that food has become scarce, one would look closer and make a more careful diag- nosis than if the weather had been Ime. Again, starved brood is cleaned out more quickly by the bees than is the dead brood from European foul brood. From the virulent nature of the dis- ease, we can almost always find it in every colony in the yard, when once present, whereas starved brood would not be found in colonies with lots of stores. Then, too, the scales of Euro- pean foul brood are smaller than those of starved brood ; in fact, starved brood is scarcely ever left in the cells until it becomes a scale, as the bees begin cleaning it out the first fine day ; where- as, with the liuropean foul brood they sometimes leave tlie hive rather than clean out the diseased larvK. The reason why European foul brood sometimes disappears in a heavy honey- How is that the nurse-bees do not touch any of the old stores, but feed the fresh honey, which is not so liable to be contaminated. Next season, if the old stores are fed, the disease makes its reappearance. This is why so many fail to cure the disease when they re- (lueen, but do not remove stores. Mr. McEvoy says that by keepmg pure Italians, with proper management, „,»:. of these kinds of dead brood will be present. This is true of starved brood only, as by proper management the black bees can also be saved from getting starved brood; but if the spores of the disease of luiropean foul brood are present, the Italians will surely show the disease, and, if not treated, in some cases will die out. It is true that by careful and continu- ous selection Italian-- will stand up bet- ter against the disease, but that they are not immune is plainly evident. I could take him to yards that were re- queened as long as 4 years ago, and the bees are all pure Italians yet, and this season European foul brood is present. While it is misleading to the begin- ner to state that Italians are imnume, they should be told that though Euro- pean foul brood may break out, if they will ci>nsla>il/y rc-quon, and that only from their best colonies and new blood, and keep none but the most vigorous, young Italian queens in their colonies, then they have done all they can. By careful watching they need never be wiped out by European foul brood, though a little of, the disease will sometimes show up. Mr. McEvoy's plan of removing dis- eased colonies to remote places to be treated is hardly practicable these days, as there are bees almost everywhere. It is not right or fair to other bee- keepers to have diseased bees pass through their district. All diseased colonies should be treated where they are as early as possible, and fed if necessary to preserve their existence. Leonard, Ont. Samples of Dead Brood IIV WM. m'eVOY. When I wrote that 00 percent of the so-called ICuropean foul brood was nothing but starved brood, I had in mind the samples that came through the mail to me. I found starved brood in 0 samples out of 10 that were sent to me. When I wrote that article it was to show the general condition or propor- tion of the difTerent kinds of dead brood founil, and not to dispute the findings of the great experts such as Messrs. N. E. France, W. D. Wright, N. D. West, Charles Stewart, A. L. Kil- dow, I. E. Pyles, or any of the inspec- tors. I forgot to mention Dr. C. C. Miller, a man that I greatly respect, I was not disputing anything he wrote. Pickled brood should be called xlarvid brinnl. It is about l!0 years since I found the cause of the bees let- ting some of their brood starve. VVhen on my rounds inspecting apiaries I always pointed out the difference be- tween ictll fed, half fed, and slay-.\-d hroitil ill Ike same cowIk I found more or less in every locality every spring, between fruit bloom and clover. Woodburn, Ont. Starved and Dead Brood IIY 1. K. I'Yl.ES, AiiisUiiil ■' percent. Where there was some honey, or a better yield, the loss has been lighter. The winter loss has been in almost exact proportion to the dearth of honey last season, and con- sequent loss of vitality, and number of bees and strength of colonies. When the season is very poor bees swarm less, there is a very much larger proportion of old queens carried through, queens which are liable to fail —and many such do fail — causing the loss of the colony. A large number of our losses come from this cause. What can be done to remedy the trouble ? In poor seasons we neglect our bees, as they are not likely to swarm, and as little surplus is to be taken. This is a great mistake. Un- less honey is sufficiently abundant the latter part of the season to keep them breeding freely, they should be fejd sugar syrup early enough to give them an abundance of food, so they may rear a good supply of bees to withstand ♦he cold. Even with all our care the colonies are likely to be weaker than in years of plenty. Where bees are wintered out- of-doors they should be crowded onto a less number of combs so that a small colony can keep up the necessary warmth. If wintered in cellars, they should be kept a little warmer than in other years, or the weakest colonies carefully sorted and given the warmest place in the cellar. It would be well also to replace old queens with young queens of the season to prevent super- seding of such queens during the win- ter and earlv spring. Middlebury, Vt. How Best Qaeen-Cells Can be Secured BY DR. C. C. MILLER. It is easy for the bee-keeper who runs for honey to understand that he should rear queens from his best stock, but in nine cases out of ten, he has an idea that the matter is too complicated for him to undertake. He reads about artificial cells and grafting into them larv,-e from the best stock, but says, "That's not for me," or if he does un- dertake it his first trial is a failure, and he concludes the best thing for him to do is to depend upon swarm-cells. These will be good cells, yes, excellent, Apiary of E. LeMaire, Bas( o, Ii.i.. but they are likely to be from those colonies most given to swarming, and these are not the colonies that will pile up the most honey. If he would only persevere he might succeed, and that success in getting queens from his best stock would re- pay him well for all his trouble. Yet it is not necessary to use artificial cells. The plan I use for rearing queens for myself requires notliing of the kind. And it gives as good queens as can be reared. I do not say it is the best plan for those who rear queens on a large scale to sell. But for the honey-pro- ducer who wishes to rear his own queens I have no hesitation in recom- mending it. I have reared hundreds of queens by what are considered the latest and most approved plans for queen-breeders; and so I think lam competent to judge, and I feel very sure that this simple plan is the best for me as a honey-producer. I will give it as brielly as possible. Into an empty brood-frame, at a dis- tance of 2 or 'd inches from each end, fasten a starter of foundation about 2 inches wide at the top, and coming down to a point within an inch or two of the bottom-bar. Put it in the hive containing your best queen. To avoid having it filled with drone-comb, take out of the hive, either for a few days or permanently, all but two frames of brood, and put your empty frame be- tween these two. In a week or so you will find this frame half filled with beautiful virgin comb such as bees de- light to use for queen-cells. It will contain young brood with an outer margin of eggs. Trim away with a sharp knife all the outer edge of comb which contains eggs, except, perhaps, a very few eggs next to the youngest brood. This, you will see, is very sim- ple. Any bee-keeper can do it the first time trying, and it is all that is neces- sary to take the place of preparing artificial cells. Now put this " queen-cell stuff," if I may thus call the prepared frame, into the middle of a very strong colony from which the queen has been re- moved. Tlie bees will do the rest, and you will have as good cells as you can possibly have with any kind of artificial cells. You may think the bees will start " wild cells " on their own comb. They won't; at least never any to amount to anything, and, of course, you needn't use those. The soft, new comb with abundant room at the edge, for cells, is so much more to their taste that it has a practical monopoly of all the cells started. In about 10 days the sealed cells are ready to be cut out and used wherever desired. Marengo, 111. IThe front-page picture illustrates Dr. Miller's method described above. During the preparation and rearing of the queen-cells, in the picture, the weather was cool and rainy, and most unfavorable to queen-rearing. How- ever, there were 39 cells built and sealed on both sides of this comb, .3.3 of which show in the half-tone, some of them very slightly. We have no doubt that 50 or more would be reared on such a comb in favorable circumstances. — EliITllR,] How to Secure a Good Crop of Honey BV A. C. ALLEN. VViis tssav /ook first prize at the Wisioiisin State life- Keepers' .-Usoiiation meeting in Febriiarv. /y/^. When this subject is mentioned, there naturally passes before our vision fra- grant orchards of apple bloom, through \vhich spring zephyrs play and robins sing. Pastures and meadows, white and pink with clover blossoms, and later on the buckwheat, golden-rod, hearts-ease, etc., with sunshine and showers, just at the right time to make it possible for the busy bee to secure the winter supply of sweets for herself and man. This is pleasant to dwell upon, and while a few apiarists have land of their own on which to grow some of these nectar-yielding plants, in view of the fact that it is impossible for but a small percentage of us to have any control of 244 American ^ec ■Joarnjlj August, 1912. this feature of the question, this will be devoted to that of which we can have almost absolute control, viz; of having a means oi obtaining the nectar that will surely come stalking across the plains, some few days each season, which is strong colonies. Working upon the rule that in "union there is strength," we must have colonies of say 80,(H)0 bees and upwards, and the first requisite to this, is to have all colonies headed with a young and prolific queen when the bees go into winter quarters ; this is imperative because of the uncertainty of introducing queens in the spring. Second, the bees must have a good quality of winter stores and plenty; but right here let me sav that for ease of work and best results, the hives do not need to contain as much stores as we formerly allowed them; an uneces- sarv amount makes carrying into arid out of the cellar a hard job. Formerly 1 wanted 30 pounds for 8-frame colo- nies and 4(» for the lu-frame size; but now' I prefer 20 for the former and 'J.5 or ••?il for the latter. What I am going to tell you now is not theory but from actual practice: Formerly' I took the bees from the cellar quite late— they were left in about as long as they remained de- cently quiet. But I find of recent years that they seem to get into rather bet- ter shape to breed up rapidly if taken from the cellar so they can take several cleansing flights a few days before pol- len is ready for them to gather. As soon as possible after removal from the cellar the hives are wrapped with Niagara sheathing, which is light in color, and the toughest paper 1 know of, and will allow of removal several times each season, and will last 2 or 3 years. This should be of one piece laid on top of the hive and folded down on all sides, as it then forms a wrapping through which no heat can escape A cord tied around near the bottom holds it in place, and over all is slipped a telescopic cover and the entrances made very small. After they have had one or more good flights each colony is examined. Some may need contracting, stores may need to be equalized somewhat, unclean bottom - boards reversed so all will have sweet, clean homes to begin the new year. In all cases we should be sure that plenty of honey is close to where the brood-nest is forming, for cold spells will come, and we want none to starve by having to move over for feed. With colonies thus protected, we may have no fears of chilled brood from any Wisconsin weather during the last half of March and on ; there- fore we want breeding to commence at once. To start this with energy, I have found nothing equal to a comb of warm svrup put up close to the colony; this is done from one to three times, once each week, according to the sea- son until pollen comes, when it is warm enough to put on the bottom feeders. For this I use small troughs containing a little excelsior placed and used the same as the Alexander feeder. As soon as pollen begins to come in freely very thin, warm sugar syrup, flavored with dark lioti 'n or washings from cappings, is fed c.ch evening for a month, after which they are fed twice a week with thicker syrup, and about one or two quarts at a feed, being care- ful to discontinue this at the proper time, so none of it will lind its way into the surplus when the honey-flow be- gins. A thick feed may be given to- wards the last if the weather is warm, and the bees can gather their own water. This is quite an object when one makes the feed at home and Jiauls it several miles to an out-yard. A close watch is kept on the process of brood-rearing, and sealed honey is removed when it appears to be in the queen's way of egg-laying. When May first comes, or a little later if all is going well, I want no sealed honey in my hives. If a comb is found quite well filled at this time, it is removed from tlie hive, and if but little honey is found it is uncapped. Brood-rearing is going on at a very rapid pace, and we want nothing to obstruct tlie work. When working this plan the c|ueens will lay right up to the sealed honey at tops and ends of the combs, and then the they jump to the next one, which, if it is entirely empty, is filled completely with eggs. This should be an eye-opener to any one, for we can at once see the folly of allowing so much honey to be in the hive. In past years we have heard it urged time and again by the " fathers," that a big lot of honey in the hive made the bees feel " rich," and so we worked upon that plan, but could never get the results that we now do by this irn- proved plan, and I am not alone in this. You see our bees are receiving just about enough for their daily needs, which stimulates the same as a slow honey-flow. When a good percentage of the colonies have seven combs of brood, we begin equalizing, and when all but the two outer combs are full of brood, I put full ones in their places, and these empty ones are moved to- ward the center, and soon every comb is full from top to bottom and from end to end. This will be at or a little before fruit-bloom, when the hive is raised up and a second story placed underneath and left a week or 10 days. Do not leave it there any longer than this, for the queens are slow to move down, and it is aptto induce the swarm- ing impulse. At the end of )n days re- verse the hives, and in case of 8-frame bodies the queen is given the run of both stories until the clover flow starts, but with Ill-frame hives she is confined to the lower story, for one seldom finds a queen that will feel crowded on 10 combs containing no honey. If increase is desired, the strongest colonies may be divided soon after fruit-bloom, and one-half of them sup- plied with (|ueens from the South, un- less you prefer to rear your own. Drone-comb is allowed in none but breeding colonies, which is (|uite an item in increasing the honey crop. When the honey-llow starts, any of the most approved plans of swarm pre- vention may be practiced, but I prefer the Allen i)lan of whicli I told you two years ago. I'Or the man who does not wish to practice spring feeding, all other plans in this article will apply except that he must leeil heavily in the fall. I'ut this plan into practice my friends, and you will have more honey to sell with less labor and expense, than if you increased the number of your col- onies and apiaries. Portage, Wis. "Because Of" or "in Spite Of?" BY ARTJIIR r. MII.I.F.R. The most difticult thing to do when making experiments with bees, either of management or of apparatus, is to determine whether the results are ln- causf of what was done or in spile of the same. We are seized with the idea which, the longer it is cherished the better it appears. It is put into con- crete form and applied. Excellent re- turns are secured and they are at once attributed to the application of the idea, but it is an even chance that the results were in spite of it. As the inspectors go from apiary to apiary, this fact is daily brought home to them, and the wider one's travels, the more convincing the evidence. Two bee-keepers, in the same general environment, will use radically oppo- site systems and obtain equal results, and each will afiirm with vehemence, that his results were wholly due to the method pursued by him. The upward - ventilation - absorbent- cushion man will denounce most heart- ily the sealed-cover system, and the be- liever in the latter has no possible use for the advice of the man who does not believe in it. And both of them may be wrong. Possibly the results secured are in spite of their system, or are in no wise connected with it. It may not be that we, as a class, de- ceive ourselves any more than the members of any other craft, but most certain it is that a vast number of us do not take the pains and trouble that we should to prove that the results se- cured, when using a particular piece of apparatus or following some set pro- cedure, are due to that or are in spite of it. Wherefore, we are constantly filling the columns of the bee-papers with long dissertations on the immense value of some plan or implement, and not only do we thereby use up costly space, but, perchance, if the writer be popular, have some influence or pos- sess the faculty of convincing diction, a lot of the craft will follow the leader to their own cost. Not but what they may secure excellent results, but if the originator or exploiter had not been self-deceived, he would never have led them to make expensive, or, at least, troublesome changes which had no more to do with the result than to lead the bee-keeper to a little closer obser- vation and care. We arc all experimenters with ani- mals about which our knowledge is as yet really only fragmentary. As ex- perimenters we should (or must), for our own sakes, as well as for those who follow, take the same pains which otlier experimenters in animal behavior take, and always accompany every e.x- periment with an eiiiial number of col- onies treated as has been our previous custom, or leave them undisturbed. This procedure is called a "control;" that is, " a check," something to com- pare with or measure by. The greatest bee-keepers of the .past, 245 American Hee Journal and of the present, universally follow Mr. Langstroth's fundamental rule to "keep your colonies strong." They differ only in their idea of " strong," but niine of them have any use for " small " or " reduced " colonies at any time. That rule should be constantly in the mind of every honey-producer, and, furthermore, he should have the first and last words l)lazed in letters of lire, KKKi' STRONc. When that rule is observed to the letter, and when the maintained strength is secured by nat- ural, simple means, the value of par- ticular apparatus or method suddenly disappears. Select your apparatus to suit your lOin'eiiience. and that only. The " strong" colonies will get the honey and store it for you if any is to be secured, re- gardless of all the " theories " on which your appliances are built. And the "strong" colony will winter "in spite of" all the ideas you have on the sub- ject. Follow Langstroth's great rule, " KKEi' your colonies strong," and you will soon be asking yourself the ques- tion, is it " Because of" or "In Spite of " any scheme under test that the re- sults are as they are ? Then you will begin to progress. Providence, R. I. Hints for Apiary Work BY V. GRF.INER. On account of my not producing very nuich extracted lioney, I ha\e n.ot thought best to invest in capping-mel- ters. I let the cappings drain in the roomy uncapping-trongh, then wash them in water, using the sweet mi.xture either for feeding back or, if handier, ■ for making vinegar ; finally I melt them in the solar wax-e.xtractor. The wax thus obtained is of the best quality, and no honey is lost or injured by overheating. Wry dry sections cannot be folded without a considerable amount of breakage; it has, therefore, been ad- vised to dampen them by pouring water from a tine spout through the grooves of the sections before removing from the crates. Thus, a whole thousand are dampened, and have to be made up at one time, which is not always de- sirable ; besides, after being thus treat- ed, it would not be best to lill the sec- tion-holders with these damp sections at once. .\ little time has to be given to let them become dry. The wetting of sections in this wholesale manner has other bad effects. They lose their smoothness wherever water touches them, and often they do not fold per- fectly square. The tension of the V- groove, diagonally opposed to the dove- tailed corner, is not balanced by an equal tension by that last-named cor- ner, and so the folded section stands diamond-shaped. Even after becoming dry again, the trouble, we find, has not disappeared. Diamond-shaped sections give us the least trouble with our wide- frame supers; with T-supers, when we are using such, they are simply hor- rible. Luckily, there is no need of moistening sections by pouring water on them. We keep ours in a basement' and they seldom become so dry but that they may be folded without breakage. In a very dry time it may be necessary to wrap up a crate in a wet blanketfor a day. I generally cover the whole with an oilcloth besides, to prevent evaporation. So treated, not one section need break in folding ; the smooth finish is preserved; the grain of the timber in the grooves lias not been raised to produce the diamond shape, and we may fold as few, or as many at a time, as we wish. A hinged cover to a smoker has the disadvantage of being glued or stuck up with creosote, and if, after using it hard, it is left without first raising the cover slightly, it is sometimes, yes, very often, next to impossible to pry it loose without doiiig some damage. It is true, by heating the smoker, by hold- ing the cover part overa burning news- paper, shavings or something of that sort, a process which melts the creo- sote, the implement may be opened and filled for lighting ; but a better smoker is made which has a telescoping cover, and this works perfectly. To prevent the bees from liberating a queen too quickly by eating out the candy, the latter is sometimes fortified by tacking a piece of pasteboard over it. This is usually effective, and too much so in some instances. I have found queens still in the cage after a week. It is my belief that queens are often injured by lon.i; confinement. We should eliminate imprisoning our queens entirely, and the one practical method is by rearing one's own queens and then uniting the nucleus contain- ing the laying queen with the colony to be re-queened. Then there is a proper time for re-queening, and this time is not after the honey season is entirely over, although we see it thus advised. There can be no objections raised against replacing old or undesirable queens with good, ripe queen-cells from superior stock at this time, but it is not best to introduce queens at so late a date if it can be avoided. To keep the queens confined over 3 or 4 days is poor policy. Direct introduc- tion is the best. The most favorable time for queen introduction is when bees are very anx- ious to rear brood. We kmiw from experience that bees accept a queen early in the spring, even when there is no honey to be had in the field, while late in the season, even with a fall flow, we have to be very cautious, and have to confine her majesty in some sort of cage for a time before liberating. It has never appeared to me fair to sell comb honey by the case, on ac- count of great variations in the net weight of honey that a case may con- tain, although each may contain the same number of boxes. I do not deny the desirability of such a course, nor do I deny that there may not be any more difference in section honey than there is in "eggs" that are sold the world over by tlie piece. Still, I have not yet met the dealer who will buy my honey in that way. I sell by weight, which is the only just way, fair to all parties concerned. My practice has been to balance each empty crate or case on the scales, then proceed to fill it and mark the net weight only on one corner. ?ome years I have tried to put an even number of pounds in each case. This year I thought it would save me a little extra work to crate the honey just as it came, and \ marked the exact net weight to the /arZ/'-pound on each. This proved a loss of five dollars to me, for when I received my check for the 1.50 cases of white honey, I found that the half- pounds had been thrown out. By changing a few heavier sections for lighter ones, or f/Vc ;w.w, the differ- ence of a half-pound can be easily made, and I shall resort to my old practice in the future, viz : have an even number of pounds in my honey-cases. Recently I melted a lot of propo- lis, or scrapings, accumulations from cleaning section-honey and wide frames. I obtained a number of pounds of very nice wax out of that lot, which, separated from the propolis, was dipped and poured off. It paid well for the trouble. Who wants to buy the propo- lis ? Naples, N. Y. Dr. Millers Answers^ Send Questions either to the office of the .American Bee Journal or direct to Dr. C. C Miller. Marengo. III. He does not answer bee-keeping questions by mail. Prevention of Swarniing.~Giving Bees Room Under the Brood-Chamber 1. Having a colony of bees not very strong, and a sliallow super with only foundation, I propose to place this super under the pres- ent brood-chamber, put the queen down in it. witli an excluder to keel) her there; three weeks before the fall How. which begins here, say about Sept. i. I will reverse the position of the brood-cliamber and super, puttintr the super on top. the queen below, and the excluder between. Cl'his reversing could be done at any previous time should the super become in any sense crowded ) Queen-cells to be taken care of properly. I expect, by these manipulations, to get the combs drawn in the super; to promote brood-rearing with the additional help of stimulative feeding, and incidentally to pre- vent swarming should there be any chance of that happening. Is this a practical plan? 2. I liave a rousing big colony which has not given any signs of swarming, but has the brood-chamber filled with brood, a section super being on top. I place under the brood chamber another hive-body with fully-drawn combs, and no excluder. How will this affect work in the super? Will it probably iuHuence any to swarm ? New .Jersey. Answers.— I. Yes; it is a variation of a plan given to prevent swarming in "Fifty Years Among the Bees." I may mention a chance for trouble in one respect. It may happen, especially if the colony be weak. that the bees will desert the queen, leaving her alone below the excluder. I don't know whether this has any tendency to make the bees swarm out. So it is a good plan to have at least a little brood in the lower story to hold both bees and queen. 2. The colony being very strong, there may be no immediate difference apparent in super-work, tlie colony being strong, enough to do good work above and below. But it is a pretty safe guess that the bees 246 August, 1:112. American ~Bae Journal will put a lot of honey into those drawn combs below the broooor honey season: no early How. and none after Aug. 15: no late brood, and all old bees at the commencement of winter. The hives had lots of honey in them, but we got but little in the supers. I melted 400 pounds of honey taken from the hives where the bees had died or left. I found none without honey except about 15 strong colo- nies; those I fed. and they are doing well now. Kvery one is in the same fix. One man with 30 colonies has one left; and an- other with touohasone-half left. The general loss is about 50 percent. The bee-keepers' association met here the first of the month, and reported the loss as State wide, and I see by the Bee Journal that Wisconsin suffered, loo. and California is also hit hard. Utah seems to have es- caped. I think we will have to quit bee- keeping and try something not so uncertain. Col.dKADO. Answer.— I don't know enough losay what the trouble was. It seems that the winter and spring losses were ouite general, more general than at first smiposed. A note from the office of the Atnerican Bee lournai ac- companying your letter says: ".Same con- ditions with some bees here. One man has 30 left of iiio. s|)ring count. Bad case of siirine dwindling, we c;illed it." That " 30 left of !im" was worse than your loss, for the 1(10 was siiring count, and your if.o was fall count. In my own locality it was a good de;tl worse. .-Xside from my own bees. I think I have heard of nothing less than i;o percent loss, and t>erhaiis in most cases the loss was entire. Although my own loss was not so bad as that, it was the worst I have had in many a year. I put iij colonies in the cellar-or had them put in— had 81 taken out, and in lune had 1.4 left. That made the Bad SrRiN(j Dwindling— 30 Colonies Lkft ok i6o. total loss nearly 45 percent. I try to excuse myself a little with thethought that my bees didn't have a fair chance In the fall there was sickness practically in the family, end- ing with death, which kept me from giving the bees the attention they ought to have had. When they were taken out in the spring I was sick abedwith the worst illness of 30 years. But I don'tknowhow much bet- ter it would have been if I had had all the chance in the world. I suppose you have given a pretty good answer to your own question when you say your bees dwindled. It was a case of spring dwindling, and a pretty bad case. too. That leaves still the duestion why there should be such an urt- usual spring dwindling. And that's the hard question to answer. The winter was an unusually hard one. In this locality at least I never knew such a killing one. Hardy roses and other shrubs were killed outright, root and branch. I never before knew grass to be so badly killed. Ihe severe winter was no doubt hard on the bees that were wintered outdoors. And it was also hard on bees wintered in cellars which are none too warm in ordinary winters. But it ought not to be bad in cellars like mine with a fur- nace, where the problem is to keep the cel- lar cool enough. The principal trouble. I think, both with you and v.'ith me. dates farther back. The season, last year, was bad. Breeding stopped early, and this spring the proportion of very old bees was so large that they died off rapidly at the time when most needed. That left, in many cases, brood with not sufficient bees to cover it, and when that happens there are no bees to go a-field. the bees dwindle, become discouraged, and sometimes desert their hives, leaving a good stock of brood and stores— everything ap- parently necessary for their prosperitv. In your case, no doubt, the severe winter ag- gravated the case. You may take comfort in thinking that the same thing may not oc- cur again in the next 50 years. Italianizing Swarms Making Increase 1. Page 335 of " Forty Years Among the Bees." headed, " Italianizing with Natural Swarming," is given a iilan as follows: Call Italian colony A the strcuigst. B. C and D the next. When A swarms, hive the swarm and set it on the old stand, muting A in place of B. and B on a new stand, :ind so on. At the last you s;iy, if you have only '^ or u colonies, the whole lot may be thus Italianized. Now. is it not a fact that the new swarms will only be Italians, and the old colonies will be the same as before the oiuration .' 2. I have 3 colonies, and will call them i. 2 and 3. No. I has 7 frames. :ind the comb is built so it cannot be removed; No. 2 is of the same stock. a lid has straight combs which can be removed; No. 3 is comimsed of black bees and is weak. I would like to increase from mv 2 best colonies, and as I cannot find any- thing in my books to fit my case, how will this plan work: Remove Ihe frames only in No, 2. then take half the brood from .No. 2 and pi, ice it in a new hive, and set the new hive in place of No. i. setting No. i ou a new stand. Shall I leave the queen in the old colony, or give her to the new one ? Tiie idea of putting the new colony in place of No. I is to catch the flying force, as they would not be apt to keep any old bees from No. I. Will the queenless half rear a queen ? If this is not a good plan, what would you advise? Missouri. Answers. — I. Yes. the old colonies remain the same. It might have been more clearly written, but if you will notice the context you will see that the swarms are referred to. for immediately preceding it is said "each of your swarms will have for its queen a daughter of an Italian queen. 2. Yes your plan will work. Better leave the queen on the old stand, for if she is in tlie hive that is put on the stand of No. r, there is some danger that she may be at- tacked by the returning fielders of No. i. Be on tfie lookout 10 or more days after making the change, for it is possible that a swarm may issue with the first virgin that emerges. Can You Destroy European Foul Brood and Save the Combs? Tell us how to tlestroy Kuropean foul brood without destroying a lot of nice, straight combs. Illinois. Answer.— When I discovered European foul brood in my apiary. I melted up hun- dreds of beautiful worker combs. If Iliad it to do over again I would try to save them. I have been blamed for encouraging any- thing of the kind, because in the hands of careless bee-keepers there is danger that the disease may be spread through the combs that are saved. But you'll promise to be very careful, won't you. if I tell you how I would do — how I have done ? The first thing is to have the colony strong. Foul brood is not a great strengthener of colo- nies, and if it has proceeded to any great ex- tent you will need to strengthen thecolony by giving brood or young bees, or both, from healthy colonies, or by uniting diseased colonies. But. remember. ///(■ <.'/('//r must be stii'Nt;. The Alexander treatment requires the removal of the queen, and then 20 days later the giving of a ripe queen-cell or a virgin just hatched of best Italian stock. The bees do the rest. I l/iiir/.- 1 have had just as good success without leaving the colony so long without a laying queen. So instead of waiting 20 days, give the colony a cell or a virgin just as soon as it will accciU it after the removal of the queen. Sometimes you may find only a single bad cell, or perh:ips Hor 10. In that case it may not be necessary lo do anything, .\ week or two later you may find that the bees have cleaned out all liiul brood :ind left nothing but healthy brood ill the hive. But you may find the case worse than it was. although not yet a very bad case. If the queen is vig- orous, and the colony appears prosiierous, cage the queen and leave her in the hive. After a certain period let the queen out of the cage, ami if your bees do as mine have done the disease will have disappeared ill most cases. I say after a certain period. I August, 1912. American Hee Journal think a week is long enough, but perhaps lo days is better. You notice that I also say. " in most cases." Because in more cases than I like the disease has reappeared. But so it did in some cases when 1 brushed the bees upon foundation and melted the combs. Queens Laying Drone-Eggs — Are they Old Queens? JAVhatkindof a ciueen-bee is it that lays part drone and part worker eggs in worker-cells; is she an old iiiieen. young, or not fertilized? I bought 50 queens, this spring, from one of the most popular ^lueen-breeders in the South, and i of them lay part drone and part worker eggs in worker-cells, antl one more laid all drone-eggs in worker-cells. I know what "ABC of Bee Culture*' says, and I am sure it is right, but wish to see this an swered in the American Bee Journal. California. Answer.— .An old. played-out ciueen may begin laying occasionally a drone-egg in a worker-cell, and gradually increase until she lays nothing but drone-eggs. But this is by no means always the case with old queens. Occasionally a young queen begins laying without being fertilized, and. of course, will layonly drone-eggs. Sometimes a yonng queen lays part drone-eggs in work- er-cells, either because imperfectly ferti- lized or on account of some functional dis- ability. Sometimes a young queen lays drone-eggs fora while, and then lays worker- eggs all riglit. You do not say what kind of queens yon bought, but buying as many as 50 at a time it is practically certain that you bought them as untested queens. That would rule out the chance of their being old queens, always supposing you bought from an honest man. .-An untested queen is generallyshipped as soon as convenient after she begins to lay. and all that the breeder is supposed to know about her is that she is reared from a good mother, that she is physically perfect so far as appearances go. and that slie has begun to lay. The purchaser takes his chances on whether she is purely mated or whether tlie eggs she lays in wprker-cells will all produce worker-bees, unless, in- ileed. they are sold as warranted queens. Yet it is probably not often that so many as 4 out of 50 turn out bad. Queen at the Entrance^What Was the Matter? luly II. early in the morning. I went to my bee-yard. It was cloudy, and a few bees were tlying out from hive No. 5. On the alighting-board I found a nice queen with one solitary bee beside her. She appeared weak, so I took her up and put her in at the entrance The bees gathered around, but did not ball her. I saw them feeding her; they seemed glad to have her. I'retty soon she moved around, and in five minutes she went into the hive. She was a young queen. Bees are doing well; plenty of bees and honey. What was the matter f' In all my readings. I never read of a case like this. Indiana. Answer.— I don't know what the trouble was It is among the possibilities that the colony swarmed the day before, and the queen, for some reason, was not able to go with the swarm, but remained over night outside. But in that case there ought to have been a number of bees with her. It is barely possible that the queen may have been from some other hive, and although re- ceived kindly at first was badly used after she got into the hive. Both those guesses are poor ones, but they're the best I have in stock. Prospects Good for Next Year There was considerable loss here from the severe cold winter, as some colonies perished from lack of food, while others could not reach the stores on account of a continuous cold spell. There is not much white clover, as it was nearly all killed by last summer's drouth. but it is coming up nicely, and promises well for next year. Basswood bloomed more plentifully than it has for many years. so the bees stored considerable honey from that source. When basswood was in bloom there was considerable swarming. I The fall pasture may be good, as there is plenty of all kinds of weeds growing. Ma,\ Zahner. Sr. Lenexa. Kans., July 10. Prospects in Western Illinois On account of winter-killing of white clover, and a liuht rainfall in some locali- ties, there is a scant flow of nectar. Many colonies arc short of stores, and must be fed to carry them over to later bloom. The early, later bloom will be light unless we should have heavy rains. Bees must be looked after during this critical period. Basco. Ill, June 20. Wm. Kinuley. Black Bees the Hardier Race Some 20 years ago I lived here and had some 20U movable-frame hives, mostly with Italian bees, selling about 4010 pounds of honey one year. I left the bees here, and they became scattered throughout the com- munity. .Since then I have had a few bees in I'olk. Atascosa and Duval counties. Tex. This spring I am back here again, and have gathered up about 20 of my old hives, which are now filled with black bees. I bred and sold a good many Italian queens and some bees. A few pure-blood swarms absconded and took trees as ilomiciles. A few of mj- neighbors kept Italians then, but now I am unable to find even a cross-bred colony in all this, my old territory. Does this not almost prove that the blacks are the hardier race ? Almost exactly two-thirds of this season s new swarms have absconded I got a swarm from a tree that was cut this week, and have heard of 1 more being found and cut; all blacks. Where are the Italians ? Spurger, Tex., June 27. Geo. MoTT. Good Season in Ohio This is the best season that this locality has seen for years; honey has been coming in like a flood. Clover has yielded an im- mense amount of nectar, and the basswood flow is very heavy. There is also a good prospect for a flow from sweet clover. The honey-flow has been so heavy that we have to extract from the brood-chambers to let the queens have some place for their eggs. 1 never saw the brood-nests so honey- clogged before. Bees are doingthe best this summer that I ever saw, and I think that in spite of last winter's heavy loss, the majority of bee- keepers will have more bees this fall than they did last. J. C. MosGROVE, Medina, Ohio. July 8. California Prospect Not Encouraging The honey crop in this county is almost a complete failure this season. Everything looked promising in March for a good flow of honey, but owing to lack of sufticient ram to soak the ground to a lasting depth, we have had only enough to call it a surface moisture, and a few warm days dry this. The sage, on which we depend, withers very fast under such conditions. We have had about 20 days in which the bees gathered honey this season, while other seasons we would have at least 00 days. W. K. Hackmann. Salinas City. Calif.. June 18. Honey Crop Short in Switzerland The season in Switzerland is very poor. Up to June we had nothing but deficiencies. Many swarms, owing to the enormous popu- lations in the hives, but uo honey. With the large Dadant hives. I have always suc- ceeded in preventing swarming, but this year there is no way of succeeding in this. Ulrkh GlBI.ER, /^,/i/or ot liiillelhi D' Apkiillurc. Belmont. Switzerland, June 10. A Little Surplus Honey in Kansas .American foul brood has been ram- pant hereabouts. The farmer bee-keepers have lost aboutall; beemothskilled them (?). The honey-crop is light here this year, white clover was killed out last year by dry, hot weather, but we will get some surplus. J. K. Vigor. M. D. I'omona. Kan., June 20. Mr. J. W. Stink. 01 Sierrv, Iowa, and a 1'art of His .Apiahv Good Reports from Ohio 'Valley This section of the country is enjoying a very heavy honey-flow from white and sweet clover, both of which are abundant. Many colonies have already gathered more than luo pounds. Reports from Kentucky and Tennessee are equally flattering. We look for a honey harvest equal to iiajii. The Kreu W. Muth Co. Cincinnati. Ohio, June !•/, 248 August, 1912. American "Bee Journal Wants, Exchanges, Etc. [Advertisements in this department will be inserted at is cents per line, with no dis- counts of any kind Notices here cannot be less than two lines. If wanted in this de- partment, you must say so when ordering.] BEES ANI> QUEENS. NuTMKii Italian Queens, leather color. after June i. Si.oo. A. W. Yates. Hartford. Ct. KoK Sale— 20 strong colonies of Italian beis. ecuiiPDed for extracting, at a bareain. B. Walker. 6002 231h St.. Cicero. III. KOR Sale — Untested Golden Italian Queens 50c each. J. K. Michael. 8A2t Winchester. Ind. Fr(int Line Italian Queens by return mail at 7ic each. 6 for $4.2=;. 12 for 88.00. 25 and up (loc each. J. B. Hollopeter. Pentz. Pa. Virginia Queens now ready. Untested 7SC Tested Si. 00. All dead ones replaced. h.Aji S. Click. Mt. Jackson' Va. SUPPLIES, (ioi.DEN Italian Queens. Nuclei, and Full Colonies. See price-list in May number, page j)i. Isaac F. Tillinghast. Factoryville. Pa. Golden Queens that produce 5 andbband bees. Untested. $1 00. Tested. $3.00. Robert Ingliram. Sycamore. Pa. For Sale— Three-banded Italian Queens bred for honey, gentleness, and prolihcness. One. $1.00; h for $5.00. Wm, S. Barnett. 7,A4t Barnelt. Va. H'oR Sale— 50 colonies of Bees in Dove- tailed hives, all in tine working order; i^' story K and 10 F'rame Hives. Address. 7Ait Louis Werner. Edwardsville. 111. Mv System — Union bee-hive and Queen. Will increase both your colonies and honey crop, and improve your stock, making bee- keeping a real pleasure Cash orders $10.00. lAtf Joe Kgner. Box 552. Lavergne. III. Gulden Queens that produce (iolden Workers of the brightest kind. I will chal- lenge the world on my (Joldens and their honey-getting qualities. Price. $1.00 each; Tested. $2. 00; Breeders. $500 and $io. 7A4t J. B. Brockwell. Barnett. Va. Queens — Italians and Carniolans. Will exchange choice queens for bees by the pound, frame, or hive. Write, stating what you have. Frank M. Keith. 3Atf 8,j!4 Florence St.. Worcester, Mass. Ndktiiern Bred hardy Queens of Moore's strain of Italians, ready the last of lune. Untested. $1.00 each; h for $5,00; 12 for $0.00. Orders tiled and filled in turn. 6Atf P. B. Kamer. Harmony. Minn. QuiRiN's famous improved Italian queens nuclei, colonies, and bees by the lb., ready in May. Our stock is northern-bred and har- dy; five yards wintered on summer stands in 10118 and lony without a siilgle loss. For prices, send for circular. sAst Quirin-the-Queen-Breeder. Bellevue. Ohio. ~FoR Sale— Italian queens bred from the best honey-gathering strains obtainable. Untested. 7';c; Select. Si. 00; Tested. Si. 25; Select Tested. $1,50; Nuclei without queen, i-frame. SlSo; 2-fraiTie. S2.00; 3-frame. S2.7.';. For queens and nuclei in quantity lots, and bees by the pound, write for prices and cir cular. Robert B. Spicer. Wharton. N. I. Golden and 3-band Italian Ouecns (strict- ly free from disease). Tested (Jueens. Si.oo each; 3 for te.75; 6 or more. 8s cts. each. L n tested. 75c each; 3 Queens J2.00; from 0 to j;u. SSCts. each. Bees by the pound. $1.00. Nu- clei, per frame. $1.25. Safe arrival and satis- faction guaranteed. C. B Bankston. sAtf Buffalo. Leon Co.. I exas. For Sale— 160-lb. honey kegs at 50 cts. each f. o. b. factory. N. L. Stevens. Moravia. N. Y. For Sale-A full line of Bee-Keepers' Supplies. Agents' prices. Save freight. Dreamland Farms. Buckingham. !■ la. For Sale— limpty second hand 60-lb. cans. 25 cts. per case of two cans: 100 for $22..so. 7A4t I<:. R. Pahl & Co.. Milwaukee. Wis. Aluminum Hive Numhers i'b in. high. 2c each figure; soor more. i':C. postpaid, includ- ing brass nails. Henry Benkc Pleasantville Sta.. N. \. For Sale— New 60-pound cans, two in a case, lots of 10 cases, doc each; 25 cases. Soc each; 50 cases. =,Hc each; 100 cases. 57c each, f. o. b. factory, in Ohio or Illinois. A. G. Woodman Co.. Grand Rapids. Mich. For SAi.E-Several hundred empty bee- hives; size of frames 6x12^*. inside. Want to sell on account of sickness. Address. John Nydegger. 8Ait Koi W. Voorhees St.. DanyUle IIL HONEY Honey for SAi.E-Clover honey of the finest quality in new 60-lb. cans at 0 cts.per pound. 3Atf J. P. Moore. Morgan, ky. Wanted— Comb, extracted honey, and beeswax. R. A. Burnett & Co.. 6Ai2t 173 S. Water St.. Chicago. III. Fine White and light amber alfalfa honey put up in any size of tin packages, any quan tity. Dadant & Sons. Hamilton. Illinois. Wanted — Choice extracted white and amber honey in barrels or cans. Send sam- ple, and price delivered f. o. b. Preston. iiAtf M. V. Facey. Preston, Minn. MlSCELLANBOUS^_^_^^_^ Wanted— Second-hand 2-frame Extractor. aAit R. D. Lewis, Rt. 3. Alexandria. Va. For Sale— a very desirable home and or- ange grove on the famous Indian River, in FJorida. For particulars, address— A. I. Rogers. Georgiana. b la. Make Pure, delicious fruit acids from honey. Cures all diseases, man or beast. Patent allowed. Mailed. 25 cents. lAiy C W. Dayton. Chatsworth. Cant, For Sale— a brand-new Keumore anto- iiiobile. used only for demonstrating. Can be used for delivery or pleasure car. Will sell at a bargain. Louis Werner 7_.\2t Edwardsville. 111. Better Fruit Published at HOOD RIVER, OREGON, is the best, handsomest and most valuable fruit growers' pai)cr published in the world. It is handsomely illustrated and shows the Western methods which have been so suc- cessful in winning high i>rices. Subscription Price $1.00 Per Year in Advance Sample copii-' upon request. Better Fruit Pubishing Company, HOOD RIVER, OREGON. Select Italian Queens Xirgins. 40 cents each; Stoo per dozen. Untested, 75 cents each; 6 for 13 75; 57. 00 per dozen. lested. $1.2.=; each Two-comb Nuclei with (.)iic-eu, 52.^0. Geo. W. Barnes, Box 340, Norwalk, Ohio WANTED New Crop Honey BOTH COMB and EXTRACTED $ Are you looking for a market? S New York is as good as any. We < ^ handle on commission and buy W outright. Write us before dis- & posing of your honey. C^ HILDRETH & SEGELKEN, h I 265-267 Greenwich St. NEW YORK, N. Y. Please mention Am. Bcc Journal when writing. To The New Century Queen-Rearing Co. FOK Goldens, Caucasians, I Carniolans, I 3-b'd Italians Untested, $l.oi»; Tested, $1.50. Write for prices in large quantities. "Right Treatment and Quick Service" is our motto. Address as above, or JOHN W. PHARR, Propr. BERCLAIR, TEXAS. Please mention Am. Bte Journal when writing. Italian Queens stnins direct. Prompt shipments on superb uueens from these famous stocks. Untested Hoc each, $7.00 per do?.. Tested from Sioo to $1.50 each or $10.00 to Sis. 00 per do/.. .Nuclei and full colonies. Write for prices and catalog. No foul brood or other bee diseases. Safe arrival uuarauteed. 7A3t F. N. BABCOCK, Fndonia, N. Y., R. F. D. No. 17. Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. American Bee Journal for 1911 — We have a number of complete volumes of the American Bee Journal for 1911, which we offer for (iO cents for the 12 numbers, as long as they last. Or, should there be among our subscribers those who would like to have any copies of the American Bee Journal for 191 1 to complete their volume or other- wise, we will till such orders at 5 cents per copy. Address this office. August, 1912. American Bac Journal J txxxyyyyxxxxxyyyyxYYYxxyyyyxxyy^yyyyyyyyi N H N M N N N N N N N N N N RUSH orders for "falcon" Beeway sections. No 250 500 1000 5000 Price per lb. Light Section Foundation Brood " Hoffman Brood Frames, 10, 35c ; 100, $3.00. No.l4 1-story Dovetailed Hive, cover, body, bottom and frames : 8-frame 10-frame 1 5 10 1 5 10 $1..50 $7.00 $13.50 $1.60 $7.50 $14.50 Dovetailed supers complete without sections and starters. I (juality. f1.60 2.75 5.50 23.75 No. 2 (lualltv. $1.40 2.50 5.00 21.25 1 lb. 65c 58c 5 lb. 50 lb. 64c 5X^^l^yWWWWWW¥WWWWMMWWWyWWW¥^WWWW^W^>^M¥¥W S^^^^^^^^^^^^S^^^^^^E^^^^^^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ Section Honey Extractor FOR THE EXTRACTION OF HONEY FROM UNFINISHED SECTIONS All of the extractor is made of metal and well finish- ed so as to be strong and durable. It is in fact a Baby Extractor. Suited exactly to the use of the producer who has many sections which he is unable to market and which he wishes to use as bait sections the following season. Total weight of the extractor boxed is 10 pounds. It will come cheaply by express. Price for the reversible style $4.50. Price for the non-reversible $3.00. Section Uncapping Knife - 50c. Address"all orders to A. H. OFFER, 6259 Patterson Ave. CHICAGO, ILL. n ^ ^ ^ ^ S ^ E E Don't Worry About Robber Bees BE SAFE AND USE THE Schamu Patent Roller Entrance HIVE BOTTOM It also keeps the colony warmer, and allows breeding up in early spring. Allows feeding any time of day, even during a honey-dearth. Controls the supply of drones, and insures the best mating of Queens. Changes the amount of ventilation to suit the temperature. Closes the entrance so as to allow moving. Serves the purpose of drone-trap, feeder, bottom-board, entrance-block — and does the work infinitely better. Makes Bee-Keeping Pleasant as well as Profitable for either amateur or professional. Price, $l.-5i> f. o. b. Liverpool, N. Y. Ask for descriptive booklet, and send all orders to DR. CHAS. G. SCHAMU, Liverpool, N. Y. QUEENS OF MOORE'S STRAIN OF ITALIANS PRODUCE WORKERS That till ttie supers quick Witli honey nice and thick. They have won a world-wide reputa- tion for honey-gathering, hardiness, gentleness, etc. Untested queens. $i: six, 55; 12, Jo.oj. Select untested, $1.25: si.f, $6.00: 12, Sii.oo. Safe arrival and satisfaction guaranteed. Circular free. J. P. MOORE, Queen-breeder, Route 1 Morgan, Ky. I*lease mention Am. iiee Journal when writing. OUR HAND-MOORE STRAIN 3-Band Italians Are the best Honey-Gatherers. They spoil our white-clover honey by mixing it with red clover. Record tongue reach 23 100 of an inch. Breed strictly for business. Untest- ed. 75c; 12 for SH.oo; 50 for $25.00. LATSHAW HONEY COMPANY, CARLISLF,. IND. Pkase mention Am. Bee Journal when writiiig. I Breed Golden Queens and Bees by the best known methods, and best apiarist; in full colonies in prime con- dition for rearing Queens. Untested. 75 cts. Full 8-frarne Colonies. $?.oo each. Guaran- teed no disease. s.Atf M. Bates, Rt. 4, Greenville, Ala. Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. -' The Amateur Bee-Keeper " This is a booklet of 86 pages, written by Mr. J. W. Rouse, of Missouri. It is mainly for beginners — amateur bee- keepers— as its name indicates. It is a valuable little work, revised this year, and contains the methods of a practical, up-to-date bee-keeper of many years' experience. It is fully illustrated. Price, postpaid, 2.5 cents; or with the Ameri- can Bee Journal one year — both for $1.10. Send all orders to the office o{ the American Bee Journal. Adgust, 1012. American Vae Journal The Fruit-Growers' Guide Book is a complete En- cyclopedia of hor- ticulture. It has 3110 pages, and is well illustrated. All about spray- i n g, fungicides, insecticides ; how to can Fruits, Veg- etables,etc. It was written for the man with a thou- sand trees, as well as for the one with a few trees in the dooryard. It is the result of years of study and travel. The Fruit Grower, published month- ly, is tilled with up-to-date matter on horticulture. THE GUIDE BOOK, regular price $1.00 FRUIT GROWER, one year 1.00 AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, one year 1.00 We club all three of these sent to one address for $1.50, or we will send the first two for $1.00. Send all orders to AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, Hamilton, III. Pkase nifiUion Am. Bee Journal when writing. GOLDEN QUEENS that produce golden woriiLTS of the bright est Itind. I will challenge the world on the color of my GOLDKNS, and as good honey- getters. Price Si. 00 each, tested. $2.00. Breeders $5. 00 and Sio.oo. J. B. BROCKWELL, BARNETTS, - - - - VIRGINIA. Please mention Am. Bee Journal when wHJing Early ( FROFALCON ] Queens "ITALIANS" February and March deliveries— for Untes- ted, $1.50 each; April, $1.25. Tested Queens, 50 cts. additional ; Select Tested, Ji.oo extra. Breeders, prices on application. JOHN C. FROHLICER, 257-1} Market St.. San Francisco, Cal. Or Berkeley, Cal Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writinf SUPERIOR BEE-SUPPLIES Specially made for Western bee-keepers h^ G. B. Lewis Co. Sold by Colorado Honey -Producers' Association, Denvkr. Coi.o. Pkase mention Am. Bee Journal when writiii( "Bee-Keeper.s' Gui«le" This book on bees is also known as the "Manual of the Apiary." It is iti- structive, interesting, and both practi- cal and scientific, On the anatomy and physiology of the bee it is more com- plete than any other standard Ameri- can bee-book. Also the part on hotiey- producing plants is exceptionally fine. Every bee-keeper should have it in his library. It has hU pages, and 2!)5 illus- trations. Bound in cloth. Price, post- paid, $1.20 ; or with a year's subscrip- tion to the American Bee Journal— both for $l.i)l). Send all orders to *'•" "ifiice of the American Bee Jouriial;" STUDY AGRSCULTURE AT HOME The Campbell Correspondence School Has a course of thirty subjects and sixty lessons in Intensive Farming. This Course is the result of thirty years experience and demonstration by Prof. Campbell and associates. It applies to Irrigation, the humid regions, and the semi-arid country. It brings results. Send us your name and address and we will mail you a sample copy of the Scientific Farmer and a catalog of the Correspondence School. DO IT NOW. CAMPBELL SOIL CULTURE CO. LINCOLN, NEBRASKA. ECONOMY: ECONOMY TO YOURSELF ECONOMY TO YOUR BEES Are Two Essential Points Gained by Using- Dittmer Process Comb Foundation Because it is the same TASTE, and the same SMELL, and the same FIRMNESS, as the COMB the Honey-Bees make themselves. It is the more acceptable to them because it is not like their OWN COMB. Remember, Mr. Bee-Keeper, that to you HONEY IS MONEY— then use Dittmer Process Comb Foundation Work for a Full-Capacity Honey-Crop. Send for Samples. All Supplies at Prices you appreciate. Gus Dittmer Company, - Augusta, Wisconsin. DOOLITTLE'S "Scientific Queen-Rearing" This is G. M. Doolittle's master-piece on rearing the best of queens in perfect accord with Nature's way. It is for the amateur and the veteran in bee-keeping. The A. I. Root Co., who ouKht to know, say this about Doolit- tie s queen-rearing book : ■ It is practically the only comprehensive book on queen-rearing novir in print. It is looked upon by many as the foundation of mod- ern methods of rearing queens wholesale." Mr. Doolittle's book also gives his method of producing comb honey, and the care of rie; his management of swarming, weak colonies, etc. It is a book of 12'i pagi sam . mailed at the following prices . _ . ..es, and is Bound in cloth. $1.00: bound in leatherette,:75;cents. Special Clubbing Offer We offer a cloth-bound copy of this book with the American Bee Journal one year— both for $1.50; or a copy of the leatherette-bound edition, with the American Bee Journal one year— both for $1.25. The cloth-bound book given free for petting 3 new subscribers at $1. each ; or the leatherette-bound copy given for 2 new subscribers. Every bee-keeper should have a copy of Mr. Doolittle's book, as he is one of the stan- dard authorities of the world on the subject of queen-rearing and every thing else connected with bee-keeping and honey-production, American Bee Journal, Hamilton, Illinois. August, 1912. [~^>S^^^ 251 American ^^c Joarnalj )>.^ia^ I Missouri-Bred Queens! My strain of bers is the result of many years' breeding and selection. I believe they are equal to any. and surpassed by none. They are long lived, winter well, breed early, and are unexcelled honey get- ters. The workers are long-bodied, good- sized bees, uniformly marked with bands of orange yellow. They are good comb-build- ers, gentle and easy to handle, and yet pro- tect their homes from robbers. You will make no mistake in introducing these queens into yourapiary. I guarantee safe delivery at your post-ottice. and make a speciality of long and difficult shipments. I endeavor to keep a large supply of queens on hand. Prices as follows; Untested— One. 6oc: 6. $.!.2,s: i.:. $6.oo. Select Untested— I, 75c; 6. $4 25; 12. $8 00. Tested. I. $1.25; 6. $^.50; 12. $12.00. Select Tested— i. 1.50; 6. $ft.oo; 12.15.00. Two-comb Nuclei with laying queens. $300 each; 3Comb Nuclei with laying queens. $.^.50 each. Discounts on large orders. ^Aht L. E. ALTWEIN, St. Joseph, Mo. Fleue mention Am. Bee Journal when writinx ' W.H.Laws Will be ready to take care of your queen orders, whether large or small, the coming season. Twenty-five years of careful breeding brings Laws' queens above the usual standard; bet- ter let us book your orders now. Tested queens in March; untested, after April ist. About 50 first-class breeding-queens ready at any dale. Prices; Tested. St. 25; 5 for SS-oo; Breeders, each $5.00. Address W. H. Laws, Beeville, Texas. Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. 1 Please mention Am. Bee Journal wheo wniinR NEW QEE- ENGLAND D KEEPERS Everything in Supplies. New Goods. Factory Prices. Save Freight & Express Charges Cull & Williams Co, jAtf PROVIDENCE. coosh Names ol Bee-Keepers Wanted — We desire very much to have the names and addresses Oi all the bee-keepers who are in your locality who do not now take the American Bee Journal. We would like to get every one of them on our list of regular readers. If you will send to this office the names and ad- dresses of such bee-keepers, we will be pleased to mail each a sample copy of the American Bee Journal. Perhaps you could send in their subscriptions, and thus earn some of the various pre- miums that we offer from time to time for getting new subscriptions. We feel that every bee-keeper ought to read the American Bee Journal regularly. He would not only be more successful, but would be less of a competitor of his neighbor bee-keepers, if he were more enlightened on the subject of bees and honey. We would appreciate it very much if all who can do so will send us the names atid addresses of their bee-keeping neighbors who do not at present receive the American Bee Journal. BOOKS FOR BEE - KEEPERS l'<->K SAl K i;v AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, HAMILTON, ILLINOIS. First Lessons in Bee-Keeping, by Thos. (i. Newman, revised by i_'. I*. l)n(lant.— Intended mainly for beg"inner8. Nearly auo pag"cs. and over 150 picluren. Bound In strong" paper cover. Hhtiwlnt? bee-brood in all 8lug"eH of development from the newly-laid egg. Thi.s book contains the foundation principles of bee-keeping', as Us name indicates. Price, postpaid. 50 cts.; or free with the American Bee Journal one lull year If paid strictly In advance— by either new or re- newal subscription at 51.00. Fifty Years Among the Bees, by Dr. C. C. MlUer.^^JU pag"es. bound in cloth, and Illustra- ted with 112 half-lone pictures taken by Dr. Mil- ler himself. It is a erood. live st(.iry of success- ful bec-keepingr by a master of the subject, and shows with clearness just how Dr, Miller works with bees and produces tons of honey. Price. $1,00. postpaid: or with the American Bee Jour- nal a year. $1.80: or grlven Fkke as a premium for sending- ;i New subscriptions at $1.00 each. Scientific Queen-Rearing, as Practically Applied, by G. M. DoolUtle. — It tells how the very best Queen-Bees are reared in Nature's Way. A good authority says; " It is practically the only comprehensive book on Quecn-rearingr now in print. It is looked upon by many as the foundation of the modem methods of rearing: queens wholesale." Price, bound in cloth. 75 cts.. postpaid; or with the American Bee Jour- nal a year— both for $1.50. The same book bound in leatherette. 50 cts.. postpaid; or free with the American Bee Journal one full year if paid in advance strictly, by either new or renewal sub- scription at $1.00. Langstroth on the Honey-Bee, revised by Dadant.— This classic on bee-culture has been entirely rewritten. Fully Illustrated. No apia- rian library is complete without this standard work by the " Father of American Apiculture." Over 500 pag-es. bound in cloth. Price. $1.20; or with the American Bee Journal a year, $1.90; or grlven Fkee as a premium for sending- 4 New subscriptions at $1.00 each. Bee-Keeper's Guide, or Manual of the Apiary, by Prof. A. J. Cook.— This book Is very instructive, interesting-, helpful, and thorougrhly practical and scientific. It is perhaps the most complete of any bee-book on the Anatomy and Physiolog:y of bees, and also the Botany of bee- keeping:. Bound in cloth. 544 pages. '2vi5 illustra- tions. Price, postpaid. $1.20; or with the Ameri- can Bi-e Journal a year— both for$l.iiU; or g:lven Fkkk as a premium for sending- ;^ New subscrip- tions at $1.00 each. ABC&XYZof Bee Culture, by A. I. & E. R. Root.— Over 500 larg:e pag-es describing: ev- erything pertaining to the care and manage- ment of honey-bees. It is a veritable encyclo- pedia on bees. 400 engravings. Bound in cloth. Price, postpaid. $1.50: or with the American Bee .loumal a year— both for $2.25; or given Fhee as a premium for sending 5 New subscriptions at 11.00 each. Advanced Bee Culture, by the late W. Z. Hutchinson.— The author was an extensive bee- keeper, and a practical, helpful writer on bees and bee-keeping. Over 200 pages, cloth bound. Price, postpaid, $1.00: or with the American Bee Journal for a year— both for $1.80: or given Free for sending 3 New subscriptions at $1.00 each Southern Bee Culture, by J. J. Wilder, of Georgia, perhaps the most e.xtensive bee-keep- er in the State. It is a real hand-book of South- em bee-keeping, Bound in paper. 145 pages. Price, postpaid. 50 cts.: or with the American Bee Journal a year— both for $1,^0. Amerikanische Bienenzucht, by Hans Buschbauer.— A bee-keeper's hand-book of 138 pages, which Is just what German bee-keepers need. It is fully Illustrated and bound in cloth. Price, postpaid. $1.00; or with the American Bee Journal a year— both for $1,70. The Honey-Money Stories.— 64-page book- let of short, bright items about honey. Has 23 fine llUistralions, and 3 bee-songs. Its main object is to interest people In honey as a dally table food. Price, postpaid. 25 cents; or with a year's subscription to the American Bee Jour- nal—both for 11.10. Two copies for 25 cts. The Emerson Binder. — It has a stiff board outside like a hook-cover, with cloth back. Will hold easily 3 volumes (36 copies) of the Ameri- can Bee Journal. Makes reference easy, and preser\'es copies from loss. dust, and mutila- tion. Price, postpaid. 75 cts. ; or with the Amer- ican Bee Journal a year— both fortl.tiO; or given Free as a premium for sending 2 New subscrtp- Tions at $1.00 each. A Modern Bee Farm, by Samuel Simmins. The author is a live Knglish bee-keeper. He has kept up with the progress in this line not onip in his own country but all over the world. His views are determined, but very well taken, and his points are made with an accuracy whicli is convincing:, Cloth bound 470 pages. Price postpaid S2.00 or with the American Bee Journal one year both for$2.7S Anderson's Famous TexasQueens Italians Carniorns Banats The best to be found of each. Will be ready as soon as you can use them. Let me book your orders now. My Queen.s are Guaranteed Pure, Vigorous & Healthy PRICES : Untested, each. 75 cents; per dozen. $8.00. Tested, each, $1.25; per dozen. $12.00. Circular Free. GRANT ANDERSON, San Benito, - Texas QUEENS! QUEENS! Italians AND Carniolans The Keith System lLlllt%"nleiril,l\ can be produced. My Strain is the result of 20 years of careful breeding and selection. I feel confident that few, if any. can surpass them. Color has not been my special object; but to produce bees that will brint; in honey, and store it in supers where it is wanted. I am also paying a great deal of attention to Gentleness among my bees, so that almost any one can handle them. Annual importations of Queens has kept my stock absolutely pure. Prices as follows ; I 6 12 Virgins $ .65 $3. so ( 6.00 Untested i.oo j.oo 7.00 Warranted... 1.25 5.50 11.00 Tested 1.50 7.50 13.00 Select Tested. $2.00 each. Breeder. $3.00 and up. Nuclei and Full Colonies. Bees by the Pound. Write for Circular. Apiaries inspected for brood-diseases. FRANK M. KEITH, SSyi Florence St. Worcester, Mass. CARNIOLAN QUEENS! Superior Line Bred Strain. Carniolans are the best bees to continue rearing brood durint: a de.irth of nectar and through the fall months. Colonies populous with young bees stand the best chance of wintering well.other conditions being equal. PRICES: Select DDtested. $1 Hch. S9 pir dot Select teittd. $1.50 each. tl2.00 doi Bleeders. $S 00 Albert C. Hann, SclratUlc QiKB Breeder, PittstOWn, N.J. August, 1912. American Hee Joarnal LEWIS BEEWARE and DADANrS FOUNDATION ! ! Sliipped r-<>mi>fl.\ — ARND HONEY & BEE-SUPPLY CO. |;V Successors to the York Honey & Bee-Supply Co.) Send f«r Catalog. 148 West Superior St., CHICAGO, ILL. Enough said ! Pleaw mrntion Am, B^< Journal when wHtinff. THE SECRET OF Success in Bee- Keeping Is te Keep Your Colonies Strong ; to do This You Must Have GOOD LAYING OUEENS Wliicli We Guarantee at the Following Prices: Golden 3-Band Italian Carniolan Untested-i for Ji.oo; 6 for Jsao; 12 for So, 60; 25 for $17.50 Tested-i for $i,so; t. for $8.40: 12 for $15.60-, 25 for $30.00 Nuclei with Untested Queen— ifratne. $2.50; six i-frame. $15.00 ** *' ** ** —2 frame. $3.50; six 2-frame. $20.40 " " Tested " — i frame. $3.00; six i-frame. $17.40 " " " " —2 frame. $400; six 2-frame. $23.40 The Drones used in our Apiary for Matins purpose are reared from the very best selected Queens, which is as necessary as the selecting of a good Queen for Queen-Rearing. For good Queens and Quick service you can not do better than place your order with We guarantee safe arrival and satisfaction. Directions for building up weak Colonies will be mailed to you for 10 cents. The above Queens are all reared in Separate Yards. 2Att W. J. LITTLEFIELD, R. F. D. No. 3, LITTLE ROCK, ARK. Pkaae mention Am. Bee Jonnul when writinc. BINDER Dr. Peiro will continue to give the readers of the American Bee Journal free advice regarding the subject of Surgical and MEI)IC.^L treatment. Many have availed themselves of this offer. Return postage is all you need to send. Address, Dr. Peiro, 2148 Sun- nyside Ave., Chicago, 111. Attachment with Corn Harvester cuts and throws in piles on har- vester or winrows. Man and horse cuts and shocks egual with a Corn Binder. Sold in every State. Price. $20.00. W. H. Bi XTON. of Johnstown. Ohio, writes: "The Harvester has proven all you claim for it; the Harvester saved me over $25 in labor last year's corn cutting. I cut over 500 shocks; will make 4 bushels corn to a shock." Testimonials and catalog free, showing pict- ures of harvester. Address. NEW PROCESS MFC. CO., Salina, Kansas Red Clover and Golden Queens Are the Best Honey-Gatherers. Untested. 50c; Select, 75c; Tested. $1.00. Nuclei, $1.00 per frame. Evansville Bee & Honey Co., Evansville, Ind. Pjcase mention Am, Bee Journal when writing, Bee-Supplies We are Western Agents for lAtf "FALCONER" Write for Fall Discounts — we can save you money. C. C. demons Bee-Supply Co. 128 Grand Ave., Kansas City, Mo. { FIGURE THIS OUT FOR YOURSELF If you buy Bee-Supplies NOW that you will need in April, you save money at the rate of 12 percent on the $. THREE PERCENT is the amount of our early order discount on cash purchases in January, January to April is just three months — ^^ of a year. Now 3 percent for 3 months is interest at the rate of 12 percent per year — so you see why we urge early orders accompanied by cash tills month, ANOTHER reason is that we can serve you better now than three months hence. In a few weeks we will be putting up carload shipments for our dealers and distributing centers, and every effort in our big plant the largest establishment in the world devoted to the manufacture of bee-supplies — will be directed to filling rush orders. You will be just as anxious for your goods as our other patrons, and will deserve and receive the same attention — no matter what the amount of your order may be, but and we want to make it worth your while to place an early order. Try this on a part of your list anyway. Saving at the rate of 12 percent per year ought to interest everybody. We Manufacture Everything in Bee-Supplies Get our 11112 catalog which gives descriptions, illustrations and prices on everything from bee-hives to bee- books, from frames to comb foundation. Get this Cataiog NOW. THE A. I. ROOT COMPANY, 213 Institute Place, Chicago, Illinois S S i 2 We can Serve you Better Now • K. W. UOVDKN, Mgr. (Jem-ey Buiiaing) Tel. 1484 North. August, 1912. 253 AQUASUN The flavor of richest apple cider. A table delicacy that has no equal. A bevera^'o that refreslies and invigorates The strongest health eerms in Nature. Made from Honey& Water In any kitchen, at any hour, at a cost of 2 to 4 cents per gallon. Process and right to makr it. 2=;c. ("ircular ?"ree. sAi^t C. W. Dayton, Chatsworth, Calif. Ple^ase mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. CHOICE HOME-BRED and Imported Stock. Queens reared in Full Col- onies. Prices for July and After One Tested Queen Ji.io " Select Tested 1.30 " BreedingQueen.. 1.85 Untested queens .75 " Comb nucleus .80 Safe arrival guaranteed. For description of each grade of Queens send for Free Catalog. J. L. STRONG, 204 E. Logan St., Clarinda, Iowa. Plta»c mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. American l^ee Journal We Make a Specialty of Manufacturing SECTIONS They are the Finest tn the Land- None Better. Our Prices will make vou smile. We want 10 mail OUR BEE-SUPPLY CATALOG to every bee-keeper in the land. It is FREE. Ask for it. H. S. Duby. St. Anne, III., carries a full line of Our Goods, ami sells them at our regular catalog prices. AUG. LOTZ & CO. Boyd, Wis. PI^^sc mention Am. Bee lournal when writinR. **Griggs Saves You Freight" TOLEDO FOR ME! Is Every Man's Guide Who Wishes Goods QUICK. BIG STOCK ROOT'S SUPPLIES. Ready to ship day order is received Wholesale prices on ( "hick Feed. Beet Scraps. Cirit. Oyster Shells. Etc. Honey and Beeswax wanted. Catalogue Free. s. J. OKi(i(;s & CO. 24 N. Erie St., Toledo. Ohio )»^^e^»p' \ P-O-R-T-E-R Trade mark } SAVES TIME HONEY MONEY At All Dealers Each, 15c. ; Dozen, $1.65, postpaid. If your Dealer does not keep them, order from Factory, with Complete In- structions. R. & E. C. Porter, Mfrs. Lewistown, ill. I Irase mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. Bee-Keepers' Supplies, Berry Baskets, Crates, Etc. Sold at Rock Bottom prices. From Factory to Consumer. Send for prices. W. D. SOPER, Jackson, Mich. 3;3 to 325 Park Ave., on L. S. & M. S. R. R. 5!*ntion Am. Bee Journal when writtng. The Ideal Hive-Tool Free as a Premium Exactly half actual size. I Price, postpaid. 35 cents; or with the .American Bee Journal one year— both for $i.i.s; or mailed Free as a premium for sending us one new subscription at $1.00. This is a special tool invented by a Minnesota beekeeper, adapted for pry- ing up supers, and for general hive and other work around the apiary. Made of malleable iron, 8>2 inches long. The middle part is 1 1-10 inches wide, and 7-32 thick. The smaller end is 1,'s inches long, ji inch wide, and T-.'52 thick, ending like a screwdriver. The larger end is wedge-shaped, having a fairly sharp, semi- circular edge, making it almost perfect for prying up hive-covers, supers, etc., as it does not mar the wood. Dr. C. C. Miller, who has used this tool since 1903, says : " I think as much of the tool as ever." 50,000 Copies "Honey as a Health-Food" To Help Increase the Demand for Honey We have had printed an edition of over 50.000 copies of the 16-r.age pamphlet on Honey as a Health-Food." It is envelope size, and just the thins to create a local demand lor honey. The first part of it contains a short article on " Honey as Food," written by Dr. C. C Miller. It tells where to keep honey, how to liquefy it, etc. The last is devoted to "Honey Cooking Recipes" and "Remedies Using Honey." It should be widely circulated by those selling honey. The more the people are educated on the value and uses of honey as a food, the more honey they will buy. Prices, prepaid— Sample copy for a 2cent stamp ; 50 copies for 90 cents ; 100 copies for $1.50 ; 250 copies for $3.00 ; 500 for $5.00 ; or 1000 for $9.00. Your business card printed free at the bottom of front page on all orders for 100 or more copies. Address all orders to American Bee Journal, Hamilton, Illinois. 3-BAND ITALIAN and GOLDEN QUEENS F'oR Sale— All Queens bred from improved long-tongued Red Clo- ver stock, as good honey gatherers as money can buy. Reared by the Doo- little or Miller plan. One untested Queen. 75 cts. : 12 for $750. 50 for S25.00; 100 to 500, $45.00 per lou. One Tested Queen. $1.5": 12 for $15.00. No nuclei or worker-bees for sale. No brood-dis- Safe arrival guarranteed. ease m my tiAtf bee J. B. ALEXANDER, Cato, Ark. Mott's Strain of Italians— Also Carniolans lo-page Descriptive List free. L^ntested. 75c each; $7.50 per doz. Natural R. C. Golden from Imported Stock. Sel. L'ntested. 00c each: Tested, $1 50. Bees by pound and Nu- clei. Leaflets. "How to Introduce Queens." I5c each: on "Increase," 15c. or both for 25c. E. E. MOTT, Clenwood, Mich. Italian Breeding Queens at a bargain. I am offering just a few of my very finest breeders at $2.50 each while they last. Untested queens. $1.00: .Select Un- tested $1.25 6.\tf H. A. JETT, Queen-Breeder, Brooksville, Ky. Have You Bees for Sale? Owing to winter losses there is a considerable demand in the country for colonies of bees. Those having bees for sale should write at once to the American Bee Journal, Hamilton, Illinois. 2u4 August, 1912. American Hee Joarnal j '■ If goods are wanted quick, send t(i Ponder." Bee-Supplies Standard liives with latest improvements. Danzen- baker Hives. Sections. Foundation. Extractors. Smok- ers; in fact, everytliini; used about the bees. My equipment, niy stock of goods, the quality of my goods and my shipping facilities can not be excelled. PAPER HONEY-JARS Sample Mailed Free For extracted honey. Made of heavy paper and paraf- tine coated, with tight seal. Every honey-producer will be interested. .•^ descriptive circular free. Finest white clover honey on hand at all times. I buy bees- wax. Catalog of supplies free. WALTER S. POUDER, Indianapolis, Ind. Ss?s-hive8,eto.n 4a mak e. and we expect to do it with this Saw It will do ali you flay It will." Catalog and price-list fr»». f.<:SC< >SCCOaOS>ei! 1 MARSHFIELD GOODS BEE KEEPERS :— We manufacture Millions of Sections every year that are as good as the best. The CHEAPEST for the Quality ; BEST for the Price. If you buy them once, you will buy again. We also manufacture Hives, Brood- Frames, Section-Holders and Ship- ping-Cases. Our Catalog is free for the asking. Continental Cans are Cans of quality, manufactured in the most up-to-date can fac- tory in the World by expert can makers who, from many years of practical experience, know how. You cannot aflFord to overlook us when placing your can business. We Make a Specialty of Friction Top and other Cans for Honey carrying a large stock of same in our Chicago factory for prompt shipment. LARGEST INDEPENDENT CAN MAKERS IN EXISTENCE Factories at Chicago, Syracuse, Baltimore and Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. Write for prices. Continental Can Company Sales Office: No. 72 West Adams Street, Chicago, Illinois. N N N H N N M M N N N N N N If BEES could TALK THEY WOUIvD SAY : "GIVE US DADANT'S FOUNDATION It's Clean, it's Pure. It's Fragrant. It's just like the Comb we make ourselves.' If you are not using ** Dadant's Foundation " drop us a card and we will give you prices, or tell you where you can get it near you — Agents Everywhere. (Entered as second-class matter at the Post-Office at Hamiiton. 111., under Act of March ;i, I87y.) Published Monthly at $1.00 a Year, by George W. York & Company, First National Bank Building C. p. DADANT, Editor. DR. C. C. MILLER. Associate Editor. HAMILTON, ILL, SEPTEMBER, 1912 VoL LII-No. 9 Sugar iu Kiirope Bee-keepers in this country are in- clined to regret that sugar is so cheap, as the tendency of low-priced sugar is to depress the price of honey. On the other side of the water the case is a little different. From reading the Ger- man bee-papers one gets the impres- sion that if bee-culture is to flourish bee-keepers must be able to get sugar at a low price, and many pages have been occupied with discussing the matter ®f obtaining sugar free of duty. One proposition is to try to secure a law allowing denatured sugar to be im- ported without tariff. But it is difficult to put anything in sugar that will make it unfit for human consumption that will not at the same time make it ob- jectionable to the bees. Another plan which is perhaps already successful in some places, is to allow sugar to the amount of 1-5 pounds per colony, with- out being denatured, to be obtained duty-free. Bees Cleaning Out Combs On page 205 of the American Bee Journal for July, Mr. Wilder tells about setting out a lot of extracting- combs for the bees to work on at a time when they are inclined to rob, and says the bees will not tear down the combs, but clean them up nicely. While no doubt this was true with Mr. Wilder, it is only right to warn the be- ginner that under certain conditions there is danger that the combs may be badly torn. The probability is that the combs Mr. Wilder used were tough, old combs, and such combs may be safely left to the mercies of the bees. IE they are new and tender it depends upon cir- cumstances whether they may or may not be torn to pieces. Take a new comb at a time when bees are getting nothing from the field, and expose if to- where the bees of 10 or more colonies have free access to it, and you may rely upon the bees to gnaw away a large part of the comb. At least that is the case in this locality. There are two ways in which bees may be induced to clean the honey out of tender combs without tearing them. One is the B. Taylor plan. Have so many combs in proportion to the nu.Ti- ber of bees, that the bees will spread themselves over the combs without crowding in large numbers upon any one spot They do not tear the combs unless much crowded and struggling with each other. The other is the Miller plan. Pile up the supers of combs or of sections, and allow an entrance only large enough for a single bee to enter at a time. One such entrance may be al- lowed for every 2 or 3 supers. The bees may crowd at the entrance, but once inside there is no crowding, and hence no gnawing of the combs. The Taylor plan is the better wher- ever the number of combs is sufficient. Perhaps one super for everj 2 or 3 col- onies may be considered safe. Spread the combs out as much as possible, so as to give free access to all. Possibly it is safer to use the Miller plan when there are as many as 3 colonies to a super. Dr. Zander on Foul Brood This office is in receipt of No. 1 of a series of handbooks of bee-knowledge by Prof. Dr. Enoch Zander, of the Royal Institute for Bee-Keeping at Erlangen, Germany. This number is devoted to foul brood and its treat- ment, and contains 30 pages with 8 illustrations, besides 4 tine plates rep- resenting bacilli and diseased combs. Under the head of foul brood he dis- tinguishes 3 diseases : 1. Pickled brood (Sauerbrut). 2. European foul brood (Eaulbrut). 3. .American foul brood (Brutpest). The first two are called mild foul brood, and the third malignant. As the work was written two years ago, European foul brood is charged up to Bacillus ali'ei, together with Slriplo- coccus a/is. (We now know that ac- cording to the investigations of our Dr. White, the real miscreant is Bacil- lus f hit on.) In most respects the description of the diseases and their treatment is the same that we are familiar with, but European is called "stinking foul brood," and American " non-stinking." Surely, that does not describe the smells as they are known on this side, for an average case of European foul brood may be said to be pleasantly fragrant compared with a bad case of American. One might think there was a confusion of names, but that can hardly be, for it is the ropy kind that is called "non- stinking." Other German writers, at least some of them, agree with Dr. Zander in this. Is it possible that there is such a marked difference in odors there and here, or how can the matter be accounted for ? Dr. E. F. Phillips gives the answer to the puzzle. He says : " I think that the confusion concern- ing the odor of the two types of dis- ease originated with Dr. Burri. He examined his material entirely from laboratory samples, and in that way I judge did not get the full benefit of the odor of American foul-broody colonies. In his paper he specifies that in order to determine the odor, the dead larvx should be removed on a small stick and held close to the nose. If this is tried European foul brood really develops a stronger odor in most cases. It is un- fortunate, however, that any such name should be given to either disease, be- cause it has only led to confusion. Our descriptions of American foul brood, the special emphasis which we have laid on the odor, has led a consider- able number of Europeans to doubt whether our American foul brood is the same as the .yichtstinkende foul brood. I have found some European foul brood cases, however, that would do justice to old cheese when it came 262 September, 1912. American Vae Journal to odor. Of course, Zander was re- ferring to some of the good German varieties of cheese when he makes this comparison." I.s Bordeaux Mixture Poisonous to Bees? In the Agricultural Gazette, of New South Wales, quoted in Gleanings in Bee Culture for June 15, one apiarist sustains the harmlessness of spraying blossoms in regard to the bees. He reports that, in his experience, neither the Bordeaux mixture nor the subse- quent arsenate of lead had any affect upon the bees, when they worked upon the bloom. It may be opportune to state in this connection that the Bordeaux mixture, when unmixed with arsenates or other poisons, is of itself comparatively harm- less. Those who have had occasion to use it know that its copper taste makes it extremely unpalatable. The least quantity of it upon fruit or blossom would render the juices unfit to use on account of its extreme bitterness. Be- sides, the sulphate of copper and lime, which enter its composition, can hardly be listed as poisonous by the side of the arsenic or other insect poisons usually employed. The Bordeaux mix- ture is of value only upon fungi, like the black-rot, but is harmless to insects unless they are literally soaked with it. Concerning this question, we read the following in L'Apiculteur of Paris, June, 1912, over the signature of the renowned Dr. Carton : " Having a large area devoted to grapes in my garden, near my apiary. I made divers observations upon this matter. The addi- tion of sugar to the sulphate solution in- creases its adherence to the leaves of the vines, so that the first rain storm may not dissolve and remove the mi.xture. Usually molasses is used in doses of 5 grams per liter of solution. I have added totheanti- cryptogamic solutions different sweet prep- arations, first molasses, then pure sugar. During the past two years I have even used honey in the copper solution, and have never seen anv bees upon it." On the other hand, there is no doubt that the arsenical preparations are in- jurious to all insects, bees included. Feeding Sugar to Bees It is possible that it will to some ex- tent always seem, at least in some places, a matter of necessity to feed more or less sugar. Better to feed sugar than to let the bees starve, or to winter them on honey that will kill them. But. on some accounts, it would be better if no sugar were ever fed to bees. There is always danger of the suspicion that when sugar is fed it is with the intention of having it go into the surplus. However good sugar may be for bees as a food for winter, it can- not compare with honey as the proper food to be used for brood-rearing. Neither is there the gain linancially that some imagine in replacing honey with sugar. On paper it looks like a good thing. Say sugar can be bought at 5 cents a pound, and honey can be sold at I'l cents. A pound of sugar goes farther than a pound of honey, and if 20 pounds of honey be extracted from the brood-chamber and replaced with 2i) pounds of sugar, isn't that a clear gain of one dollar per colony ? But it is by no means certain that zcilh bees a pound of sugar goes as far as a pound of honey. Certain it is that at all times except /« icinler the honey is better for them, as already suggested, and even in winter, honey of good quality may be better food. Besides, there is a considerable loss in feeding. So when these things are considered, and the time reckoned that is taken for extracting and feeding, the dollar per colony would be dearly earned. face of the top-bars is clean. To keep the bees out of the way, an assistant plays smoke "ver the top bars. The editor of the South African Bee-Keep- ers' Journal commends the carbolic cloth to drive the bees down. This would at least have the advantage that one person could do the work, although possibly one alone might get along with the smoke. Improvement in Bees It is hardly necessary to say that the Editor does not accept responsibility for the opinions expressed in con- tributed articles. In the current number Mr. A. F. Bonney, of Iowa, and Mr. Slayden, of England, hold opposite sides in an argument on the improvement of the bee. Mr. Bonney, who shows deep thinking and a thorough education, writes entertainingly against the possi- bility of improving the bees. Among other things he says that " industry is Queen-Candy Witliout Honey Nowadays one who ships queens by mail must have an inspector's certifi- cate of inspection or else make affidavit before a notary that the honey used in mailing-cages is boiled. In the Bee- Keepers' Review it is suggested that it is not necessary to use honey at all in queen-candy. At least one queen- breeder is using candy that has no honey in it. "Syrup is made of granu- lated sugar, and then powdered sugar is added to make the dough. To pre- vent crystallizing he adds a little glyc- erine." It is simply a matter of using sugar-syrup instead of honey, and the One of the Scenes Which Help Make Sandpoint Attractive— Lake I^en d'Okeille (See Mr. York's article, page 276.) not a transmittable attribute, and that man is the only industrious animal alive." The Editor takes an opposite view. As Mr. Slayden argues, the fact that there are variations in the industry of the bee is evidence that there is possibility of improvement. addition of glycerine to the syrup gives to the syrup the quality of honey as to non-crystallization. Acid might do as well as glycerine. Cleaning ott' Top-Bars Bees are likely to build more or less bur combs above top-bars. Some think this a good thing to encourage them more readily to pass iiitn the super. more readily while m;i , . combs scrape . .. . _ _. ._ pass lUUI LIIC MipCl, while many prefer to have these bur :d off when thev become c ,.,.„„ fu;«i. ;* ,^„.,,- Age of Swarming Bees In these days of artificial increase there is danger that the behavior of a natural swarm may be forgotten, h'di- tor Herrod, of the British Bee Journal, is giving a series of excellent talks un- der the heading, "Helpful Hints for Novices." In one of them he says that one of the things the novice should always remember is that "it is the old queen and the old bees which consti- tute a natural swarm." Bro. Herrod, if you will visit some cottager at the time when he is having a swarm, you may revise your opinion. If British bees deport themselves in the same way as .American, you will find in the swarm old stagers with ragged wings, and from that down to those which have scarcely flown before. In the mother September, 1912. 263 American 'See Jonrnal colony will also be found bees of all ages. It is wll that it is so. If none but old bees were to go with the swarm, considerable readjustment would be needed to have work go on as it should in the new home. For "old bees" would hardly include those less than 16 days old, and at this age housework has ceased and bees are fielders. So these fielders would have to make a radical change and go back to the work of comb-building and brood- feeding. In the Irish Bee Journal J. Tinsley says that the bees of a swarm " are all at the best age for work in the fields." Is it possible that in Ireland, as well as in England, only field-bees go with the swarm ? Bee-Keeping and Honey Fairs In our last number we mentioned the large amount of premiums given by the Minnesota State Agricultral Society to bees and their products, the total aggregating $1062, divided into 158 awards. Other neighboring States are very far behind. Wisconsin leads with $')()0 in premiums, an increase of some $200 over last year, owing to a re- monstrance made by the Wisconsin Mk. F. Wii cox. Supt. of the Bee and Honey Exhibit at the Wisconsin State Fair. State Bee-Keepers' Association to the management of the State Fair, and to the untiring zeal of Mr. F. Wilcox, who is both superintendent of that de- partment and a director in our Na- tional .Association. Illinois follows with $453 in premiums and 61 different awards under 21 differ- ent heads. As young a State as Okla- homa is awarding $311 to bee-keepers with 57 different awards. Kansas ap- pears to have two State Fairs, one at Hutchinson, with J. J. Measer as super- intendent of the honev exhibit, offering $290 ; the other Fair at Topeka, with J. P. Lucas at the head of the bee-depart- ment, offers $200 for bee-exhibits. In- diana gives $248, while Missouri ex- tends a paltry sum of $148 to its bee- keepers. The Missouri State Bee- Keepers' Association has just taken notice of this, and proposes to ask for an increase. Missouri is reported in the census as having 40.000 bee-keepers, and can afford more money for pre- miums. As small a district as that of Greater St. John, N. B., gives $100 to bee-culture. There is no reason why the bee- keepers' associations should not ob- tain recognition by an increase in the number and amount of premiums at Fairs. As Mr. Herrod, of England, says : " There is no better way to push the sale of our products than good Fair exhibits." Each State association should keep this in mind, and take Minnesota as a model. obliging bees to take salt at a time when they cannot fly to quench their thirst. In Bien. Centralblatt it is re- ported that two apiaries, one of them containing 38 colonies, were entirely wiped out, and analysis showed no dis- ease present, but a notable quantity of salt; in one case as much a 1 percent in the syrup that had been given. The bees did not die upon the combs, but were mostly upon the bottom-board, as if they had left the cluster in a vain search for water. at the gjj^u Pj^jjj, ^^^ ^^^^ There is a more or less general be- lief that it is important to give salt to bees. As proof of this it is pointed out that bees frequent objectionable places as drinkingplaces, and it is supposed that they do so because of the salt contained in the liquids found there. It has been claimed, however, that bees do not go to such places be- cause of the salt, but because the liquid is warm. However that may be, it seems that great harm may be done by Ijegal Honey in Australia From the Australasian Bee-Keeper we learn that according to the pure- food law of New South Wales, honey may contain 26 percent of water as against 25 percent in this country. Here is the requirement : ■' Honey shall be nectar and saccharine exudation of plants, gathered, modified and stored in the comb by the honey-bee; it shall contain no more than 2t) parts per cen- tum of water, not less than 6o parts per cen- tum of reducing sugars, and shall not yield more than three-fourths of one part per cen- tum of ash. It shall not include the product of the bTees fed wholly or in part on sugar or glucose, artificial sweetening substance, added coloring matter or other foreign sub- stance." It is also required that a copy of the pure-food law be posted conspicuously in the honey-house. MiSCELUNEOUS ^ NEWS ITEMS Death of Hon. R. L. Taylor We are very sorry to have to inform the readers of the American Bee Jour- nal of the death of Hon. R. L. Taylor, of Michigan, which occurred at Lapeer Aug. 17. He was almost 73 years old at the time of his death. Hon. R. L. 1..,. ,. R. L. Taylor was born at Almont, Mich., Nov. 3, 183!t, being one of 14 children in the Taylor family. At the age of 10, the loss of his father threw the burden of the farm work on Mr. Taylor. Being of that sturdy and in- dustrious Scotch stock, however, he was able to meet the situation, besides pre- paring himself for a college education, which he in time acquired by attending the Michigan University. Hon. Taylor pursued a business voca- tion for some years, but finally drifted into law, and was admitted to the bar in 1860. He was at various times Re- corder of Deeds, District Attorney, as well as State Representative, all of which positions he filled with the great- est degree of efficiency. Like many others, Mr. Taylor grew gradually into the bee-business, begin- ning in 1878 with only two colonies of bees. Devoting the best of his ability to the bees, as he had alwavs done to his other business, he soon grew to be a large bee-keeper, one of the largest in Michigan, producing tons of honey each season. He always maintained that the successful bee-keeper must be a specialist, and he proved his point by his own experience. Being at different times President of the National Association, President of the Michigan .Association, State In- spector of Apiaries for Michigan, as well as holding many other important offices in the large associations, he al- ways fulfilled bis duties towards the people he was serving, as well as to his own conscience, so ably that his re- election was no uncommon occurrence. Although the bee-keeping world suf- September, 1912. American Vee Journal Members in Attendance at the Missouri State Meeting. Held at Mexico. Mo,. Aug. i and 2. From left to right-Mr. C. P. Dadant, J. F. Sandker. M. E. Darby. W. L. Kent. J. F. Diemer. Prof. Sliobe. Irving Lonj. Mr. Thomp- son. F.d (iladish. Mr. Jones. J. W. Rouse. Col. W. D. Kronville. K. C. S. Miller. John (iamble. Noble Barnes. John Bachman. t-'ront row — Mrs. N. Spencer. Miss Kena Rouse. Miss Gladys Robinson. Miss Bertie M. Rouse, Miss Ruth Rouse. Nathan Spencer. R. A. Holeiiamp. fers a great loss in the death of one of its great teachers, yet we may console ourselves with the fact that Mr. Taylor has left a memorial to himself in the shape of numerous teachings which he has left in his writings and in his con- versation. His valuable experience is not lost to the bee-keeping world. The Three Deadly Foods.— Under the above title. Dr. Carton, of Paris, a noted physician, treats of three prod- ucts in common use in civilized coun- tries, alcohol, meat and sugar. He de- clares tliem dangerous to public health. On the first of these products, many peoijle will agree, but with the second and third exceptions will be taken, However, much depends, in any case, upon the method of consumption and the amount of each product consumed. Meat is especially injurious when not sufficiently masticated. Sugar is held by Dr. Carton as responsible for the in- creasing number of cases of diabetes, as it appears that within the past .')(! years the number of deaths from that disease has quadrupled. He holds that fruit sugar and honey are healthful and "living sugars," while the product manufactured with chemicals from beets or starch is "dead food." Carton holds, like some contemporaries, that more people die from overeating than starvation. His book is worth reading. It is published in French. (Maloine, Paris, 1 f. 2o.) Missouri State Meeting The Mis- souri bee-keepers met at the home of their president, J. W. Rouse, in Mexico, on Aug. 1 and 2. Although the attend- ance was not large, important measures were taken and great interest was ex- hibited. Excellent and helpful remarks were made by J. W. Rouse, president; T. G. Wil'Son, Secretary of the State Board of Agriculture, Columbus, Mo. ; C. P. Dadant, President Illinois State Association, Hamilton, III. ; R. A. Holekamp, of St. Louis; M. E. Darby, of Springfield; W. L. Kent and E. C. S. Miller, of Mexico; E. B. Gladish, of Higginsville ; Irving E. Long, Marce- line; J. F. Sandker, of Woodlandville, and others. It was decided to continue affiliation with the National. President Rouse e.xplained that it was through a mis- understanding that he had reported, in the American Bee Journal, that the National Secretary had returned money remitted for memberships. On the contrary, the secretary, Mr. Tyrrell, had sent to the Missouri secretary, Mr. Diemer, a number of names of adher- ents which he had received from Mis- souri and other neighboring States having no representation, and had ac- companied them with a remittance of .jO cents, as the State's share in each membership fee of $1.50. In view of the fact that some mem- bers did not wish to become members of the National, it wasdecided to allow such persons as wished to do so to be- come members of the State Associa- tion only, by payment of hO cents in- stead of $1..J0. Attention having been called to the small amount allowed for bees and honey in the State Fair list, a commit- tee was appointed to interview the ofi'i- cers of the State Fair Board, and re- quest them to increase the premiums to bees and honey. Resolutions were passed requesting the Legislature to increase the appro- priation for the State Inspector. Mr. Darby, the inspector, gave a general statement of his work, and e.xplained that a number of deputies would have to be appointed in order to cover the territory for inspection at the proper season. He stated that there are some 4(1,000 bee-keepers in Missouri, and that a thorough inspection will require much labor. In order to secure recognition, it was resolved to take steps to incorpo- rate the State Association and ask the September, 1912. American ISae Journal State Legislature for an appropriation similar to that secured by the State Horticultural Association. .\t the close of the meeting Mr. Darby delivered an address on the "Need of Education in Bee-Keeping .'Vmong the Farmers." Mr. Darby is in favor of teaching bee-culture in the country schools, and gave very con- vincing arguments on this subject. Officers were elected as follows: .1. W. Rouse, of Mexico, President ; R. A. Holekamp, of St. Louis, Vice-president ; J. F. Diemer, of Liberty, Secretary- Treasurer. .\fter a very enjoyable meeting, the members parted with many thanks to Mr. Rouse and his three pretty daugh- ters for their hospitality. be as of old. In one respect, however, there is a sort of gain, for when the soil becomes a little too acid for red clover it may still do fairly for alsike. So the farmers in many places have replaced red clover with alsike, to the advantage of the bee-keeper. Statistics According to the Year- book of the Department of Agriculture for 1011, the import of beeswax into the United States for the year ending June 30, llUl, was 902,904 pounds, of a value of $27(i,H2, or practically 30 cents " Texas Bee-Keeping," by Louis H. Scholl. — This is a bulletin published as No. 24 of the Texas Department of .'Agri- culture. It may be secured by applica- tion to the Com mis si oner of .Agriculture at .\ustin, Tex. This is a real treatise, up to date in every respect (as might be expected from friend Scholl), con- taining 10 chapters, with a total of 144 pages, and profusely illustrated. Mr. Scholl describes the different methods of the production of honey, but his preference is for bulk comb honey. He divides the State apicul- turally into six areas, north, central, east, south, west and southwest. The most important of these areas to bee- culture he considers to be the south- Mk. York in His .Vewlv-.\ci.>i iked Apiary.— (See article on page 276.) a pound. The import of honey during the same time was 1 12,. 'i-V! gallons at a cost ot $62,042, or an average of about .50 cents a gallon. The exports during the same time were: beeswax Iul,73.j pounds at $31,- 404, or about 30 cents a pound (ex- ported comb foundation was evidently not figured under this head); honey, no number of gallons marked, value $81,040. The export of honey slightly exceeded the import in value, while the imports of beeswa.x were nearly nine times the exports. Lime as a Help to Honey Crop Gleanings in Bee Culture gives as one reason why the clovers do not yield honey as formerly, that the soil has be- come acid, and the application of lime will consequently cure it of its clover- sickness, when the yield of honey may west, where mesquite, huajilla and cat's-claw abound. It may not be out of place to remind our readers that Texas is by far the largest State in the Union, and this is evidenced in the in- troduction to the bulletin by a map of Te.xas, showing the outlines of 14 other States enclosed within its limits. There are many resources in so wide a re- gion. It will be interesting to mention some items in the work. Sixty-five pounds of surplus, of both comb and e.xtracted honey per colony, is a fair yield for the average bee- keeper. That means, of course, bulk comb honey, one part extracted to two parts comb honey cut out of frames. Three-banded Italians are preferred. "In most southwest Texas localities locp colonies is considered near the proper num- ber, while it has been found that better re- sults have been obtained with only 50 colo- nies in a place, as localities farther north- ward are reached. It has also been deter- mined that, in localities where ico in one place will do well, they would do better if only so were kept in each of two separate apiaries several miles apart." To prevent after-swarms, after a col- ony has swarmed, all queen-cells except one of the largest should be removed, which prevents immediate after-swarm- ing, and to prevent it a little later it is customary to leave the old hive near its old stand, on which the swarm now is, for a week or 10 days, at the end of which time the old colony is moved to a new location. It may be a question whether that cutting out of cells is necessary. In the instructions so often given in the American Bee Journal, it is supposed that when the old hive is moved to a new location after the end of a week or so, the bees will of their own accord destroy all cells but one. Mr. Scholl gives a bit of wisdom in few words when he says, "All colonies should be requeened as soon as they are found to have inferior queens, no matter at what time of the year." The book contains much information, and every Texas bee-keeper should secure a copy. ^ Meeting of Southern Idaho and Eastern Oregon Bee-Keepers — .\ field meeting of the above mentioned Association took place July 10, at the apiary of C. E. Dibble, of VVashoe, Idaho. Between 3.3 and 40 of the leading bee-keepers of these States were in attendance with their families. These men represented a total of about lO.Ono colonies, the out- put of which was between 17 and 18 carloads of honey last year. According to the report, the apiary of Mr. Dibble contains some 50ij colo- nies of bees. One of the features of the occasion was the presence of Prof. Wilson, of the State .'Agricultural Col- lege of Oregon, and instructor in bee- culture at Corvallis. We hope to give more concerning this Association and its doings in the future. The West has a fine prospect for success, and Idaho and Oregon are very progressive States. A Peculiar Enemy of the Bee A re- nowned French entomologist, J. H. Fabre, is the author of a work which was awarded a prize in December, 1010, by the French .Academy. The book is entitled, "Souvenirs Entomol- ogiques," and contains an interesting description of a European wasp which preys upon the honey-bee. This in- sect is named "philanthus apivorus." We quote the following abridged ex- planation concerning the philanthus from a newspaper clipping sent us by Mr. Bechley, of Searsboro, Iowa. It gives the pith of Fabre's interesting statement : "When a bee is near enough for attack, the philanthus draws up her hind legs, points the antenn.T- forward and suddenly sprint-s to the attack. The bee. in spite of its sling, is rolled over, and with the speed of lightning the philanthus curves her body under her so that the bee's sting— stabbing back and forth-can only encounter the mailed surface of the back. Then with an an which is wonderful, the philanthus drives its sting upward and forward at a microscopic point on the throat of the bee beneath which lie the nerves of the neck. There is a slight trembling of the limbs and the bee is dead. "So far. there is nothing very surprising in this attack, it is similar to that of many insects of prey. But what follows is most :>G6 September, 1912. American ISee Journal iiinisual. As soon as the victim is dead, the philauthus beitins a most elaborate system of massaee. manipulating the abdomen of the Ijee until, drop by drop, all the honey that was in the abdomen is squeezed out of the mouth of the corpse, the murderer eagerly sucking up every drop of the sugary juice. The process is continued until every (irop is sciueezed out of the body of the bee. It is an atrocious meal, but it clears up one mystery— the honey eating philanthus is not an eater of flesh, only of the nectar that has already been collected by the bee. " But the philanthus does not need to re- sort to this theft in order to obtain nectar; it is as well provided for as the honey-bee itself. Scarcely would it risk death from the bee's sting in order to secure that which could be obtained without danger. The mother insect has other duties beside food: slie has to provide for her offspring. When an investigation into the habits of the larva was made, it was ascertained that, like many other insect larva?, it must have flesh to feed upon. Experiments made by Fabre. proved that even the very smallest amount of honey is poisonous to the larva? of the honey-eating philanthus. and that the brutal slaughter of the honey-bee and the elaborate precautions made to exude every drop of honey fr.^m the abdomen were the only means whereby the insect mother could provide food for her little ones. "All sorts of insects prey upon others to provide food, not only for themselves, but for their larvK. but as far as known this is the only insect which prolits in this peculiar manner, securing food for itself by means of the stores of nectar while it is preparing the body of its prey for its young." devoted to the report of the lecturer in apiculture, Mr. Morley Pettit. The college apiary contained 4.5 colonies, and the student membership of the "apiculture club" was over 100. Producing, Preparing, Exhibiting and Judging Bee-Produce.— We have upon our desk a book with the above title, by W. Herrod, Esq., junior editor of the British Bee Journal. It is a splen- didlv composed work, with 131 illus- trations, exhibiting the best methods of preparing bee-produce for Fairs. As the publisher avers, " The show bench is the best means of creating a market for the produce of the apiary." It has been used to the utmost in Eng- land. It should be used more here. The book treats of all the products of the apiary, both comb and extracted honey, vinegar and mead, cakes, coii- fectionery, medicines. A chapter is devoted to observatory hives and ap- pliances, anotlier to packing, etc. The book has 168 pages, and sells at 2 shillings. We believe it would be well worth the money to many of our readers. Copies could be secured through this office, if desired. . Bee-Stings for Rheumatism.— Mr. John Bachmann, of Bass, Mo., some 20 years ago suffered acutely with inllammatory rheumatism in both arms and hands. His doctor had told him that he could never be cured. He read in the St. Louis Globe-Democrat about bee-stings being a cure for this trouble. So he bought some bees and went to work with them, and secured plenty of stings. He was cured in a few days, and al- though the disease has a tendency to reappear, he can always stop it with bee-stings. He was present at the Missouri meeting, and was as able- bodied as any man of his age. He is 6') years old. M. E. Darby, the State Inspector, re- ported a similar e.xperience, although with him the disease was not so acute, as he is a much younger man. Ontario Experimental Farm. —The an- nual report of this farm is on our desk. It contains 278 pages, and is replete with information. Some li pages are An English Apiarist Appointed in Canada.— Mr. F. W. L. Sladen, F. H. S., of Ripple Court, near Dover, has been appointed Assistant in Apiculture to the Dominion Entomologist. Mr. Sla- den is the author of a booklet entitled, " The Humble-Bees," written when he was only 1(1 years of age, and it is said that this work shows an acquaintance with the subject " far beyond his years." His work on " Queen-Rearing in Eng- land " originally appeared in the British Bee Journal in liH)4, and was published in book form 100.5. Mr. Sladen is 36 years of age. We welcome him to ac- tive work on the Western Continent. Men like him are needed everywhere. of the American Bee Journal, as well as all who knew Mr. Walker, goes to the family in their bereavement. ^ Meeting of Kansas Bee-Keepers. — Mr. J. J. Measer, in charge of the honey and bee exhibit of the Kansas State Fair at Hutchinson, Kan., has arranged for a bee-meeting to be held on Sept. 19, immediately after the awards are made. All bee-keepers in attendance at the fair, or who can possibly arrange to be present on Sept. 19, should not forget this meeting. It is hoped there will be a large attendance. Death of Mr. Walker. — We regret to report the death of Mr. Byron Walker, of Cicero, 111., formerly of Clyde, 111., which occurred July 2.5. He had been in failing health for some years. Mr. Walker, when in his prime, was a very large bee-keeper, raising both comb and extracted honey. The sympathy A Distinguished Apiarist Mr. Anto- nio Biaggi, of Fedevilla, Switzerland, on the Italian slope of the Alps, has been successfully rewarded for exhibits of bees in Berne, in Liege, in Geneva, in St. Louis, and later in Frankfort. Surely, very few men can boast of such a record in bee-exhibits. -^ Death of Dick Lankenau. — Missouri bee-keepers will be sorry to hear of the death of Mr. Dick Lankenau, of Seda- lia. He was accidentally killed while supervising the repairing of a well pump on his farm. Death occurred almost instantly. BEE-t^EPiNG ^ For W0I4EN Conducted bv Miss Emma M. Wilson. Marengo, III. She Can Keep Bees, Why Not Let Her Vote? In the columns of the Country Gen- tleman is reported "the case of a smil- ing, white-haired old lady who lives away up in the mountains of western North Carolina, in that country which the railroad people call the ' Land of the Sky,' and who has kept bees for the past 20 years. Despite the fact that she has been making from $2000 to $.3000 annual income from her colonies for years, the little, old lady will tell you that if she were not (15 years old she would show folks what real bee- keeping is. She has never had a case of foul brood, and but little bee-paraly- sis, which she quickly stamped out. She has had but two honey failures during her experience, in one of which she still managed to pull out $450 ahead; and she generally puts on the market between 0000 and 12,000 pounds of honey a year from her 120 colonies. Last season, she stated, was a fair one, her colonies averaging 7.5 pounds of honey each, with several producing as high as KiO. Prices usually range about 20 cents a pound, a figure which, she says, could be greatly increased if she were able to go into the marketing end of the business properly." Now, isn't that an argument for the suffragists? Why shouldn't a woman vote that can do things after that fash- ion ? Is there any mere man who ever secured $3000 for a crop of honey from 120 colonies? If there is, please trot him out. "Prices usually range about 20 cents a pound," but there must have been one year wlien the honey brought 25 cents, for it would need that price to make 12,00o pounds amount to $3000, But there's no need to quibble about getting 25 cents a pound from the na- bob neighbors of those North Carolina mountains. Fortunately the name and exact address are not given, else that locality would surely be overstocked by the rush of bee-keepers to locate there. ♦-•-^. Swarm Prevention by Dequeening~Re- queening by the Paper Plan Here is one of the ways that the swarming nuisance is dealt with in this locality. When a colony swarms, or seems de- termined to swarm, tlie queen is re- moved, and it is left queenless for a period of 10 days, then its own queen may be returned — if it has an unusually good queen it probably will be returned — but, in that case, we are not sure that it will not swarm again during the season, and it must be looked after. If, however, in place of its own queen we give it a queen of the current season's M rearing, we feel safe as to its swarm- H ing again. After the queen is safely introduced the word " I'.sss" is written in the record book, and that colony needs no further attention for the rest of the season except to attend to its supers. A common plan of procedure has September, 1912. American Hee Journal been to go to the colony, destroy all queen-cells, remove two frames, then go to a nucleus that has a laying queen, take two frames of brood with the queen and adhering bees and put in place of the two frames removed. We have always considered this a safe plan of introduction, and have rarely failed to write the word " P.\ss " as the next entry for that colony; so we were somewhat surprised this year, on open- ing up 3 colonies that had been thus treated, to find every one of them queenless. Just what the trouble was is hard to say. We have been having ■a lot of rainy, cool weather, and that may have had something to do with it. Clearly something else must be done. We have introduced by the caging plan, but do not like it as well on ac- count of its interfering with the laying of the queen. So we tried the news- paper plan; took off the supers, cov- ered the hive with one thickness of newspaper, without making any hole in the paper, placed an empty hive-body on this, placed the queen from the nucleus with her two frames of brood and bees in it, put one thickness of newspaper over this with no opening in the paper, and put on the supers which were full of bees. We left an opening just big enough for a bee to pass out under the cover over the su- pers. In a day or two we found the paper gnawed away, the bees united, and queen laying all right. It is a lit- tle more bother to introduce in this way, but evidently safer, no doubt owing to the fact that at first the unit- ing is very gradual. So far as we have tried it, and we have used it for several years, the newspaper plan of uniting has always been a success. Three Honey Recipes I have forgotten the source of these recipes, but I give the following for what they are worth ; 1. If threatened with a cold, take this drink just before jumping into bed; One spoonful of honey, one-half lemon juice stirred in a tumbler of boiling water. Drink as hot as possible. 2. For all burns, sor.es on the skin, chapped hands and kindred ills, take two tablespoonfuls of honey, one of camphor, and a small piece of wax, all heated together, and then let cool. .'5. For coughs and sore throats take one tablespoonful of spruce gum, pounded fine and dissolved in a pint of honey. — D. M. M.\cdon.'\ld, in Brilisli Bee Journal. *-•-* How to Interest the Boys and Girls Let bee-keeping mothers wishing to interest their children in bee-keeping, try this scheme ; Give to each child a colony of bees with the distinct understanding that everything that he can make with that colony belongs to him. You may be surprised at the interest awakened. Especially will this be true if there be more than one child in the family, for competition spurs their efforts. Even young children from tl to 7 years old may compete with the older ones. In- directly it may help to solve the prob- lem of how to keep the girls and boys on the farm. EMt Western W) Bee-Kjeeping Conducted by Wesley Foster. Boulder, Colo. A Bee-Keeper's Weeit — Over-confidence Sunday, July 20, George, a bee-keeper neighbor, and I went down the river 35 miles to transfer 4-!) colonies of bees from bo.x-hives. George had raised the boxes end up and placed our hives with drawn combs under them about a month before. It rained 4 times during the day, and we were soaked through as many times. Our bedding was damp, and we put it on the floor of the old adobe house the first night. Mrs. H., who sold me the box-hives, got a lunch for us at 9 o'clock p.m., so we did not go supperless to bed. Monday, July 21, we began transfer- ring the bees by smoking them down into the lower hives. They did not drive well, and we lost several queens in the operation. We cut out the combs, threw the brood out in a pile and ran the combs of honey through the capping melter. Large extracting knives were used to cut out the combs and separate the honey-comb from the sealed and unsealed brood. The bees seemed to be going out of the boxes well, so George went ahead smoking out and setting off the old boxes until he had 20 set off. Soon the bees began going back to the boxes, and after that we had an awful time to get them out at all. By night we had 35 colonies driven out, and had run (iO lO.-pound pails of honey through the melter. We worked until 10 o'clock p.m.. running the melter and filling pails. We were tired and awfully sticky with honey when we quit for the night. Tuesday, July 22, we began work at 6 o'clock, and had the last 10 boxes emptied of bees by 8 o'clock. We cut the honey out and threw away the brood, which the chickens relished. Bees worked on the old sticks, frames, and hives until about 8 o'clock, when the alfalfa and sweet clover bloom be- came more attractive. George and I did not think it would pay to save the brood, as it would be a sticky job fitting it into frames, and the combs would not be very good, even after we had fitted and fastened them in. I gave Mrs. H. all the wax for keeping the melter going on the kitchen range. We finished running the honey by noon, after cleaning the melter twice in the forenoon. When all the lit- pound pails were filled we counted 91 in all. Many of the colonies had stored ■ the lower stories full of honey so they weighed HO pounds or more. Some, however, did not have any honev. In the afternoon we screened the tops of the hives with wire screens, using lath to put around the hive edge. We stapled on the bottom with a hive staple at each corner. We had a hard time getting all the bees into the hives, and it was very warm and sultry. We set the frames up in front of the hives that were clus- tering out, and the bees crawled all over these combs. Then I took them to weaker colonies and shook the bees into them. In an hour I had the bees well equalized. I did this by moon- light, after supper. I went to bed dead tired on the hayrack, bedded with old hay for hauling the bees. Wednesday, July 23, we got up at 4 :30 a.m., and I closed up the entrances with cloth while George sawed lath and nailed the entrances tight. By 8 o'clock we had all the cracks and holes closed and the bees on the wagon. We started at 9 o'clock, and had not gone more than a half mile when one of the strongest colonies began to smother. We unloaded it and drove on. We had 4 horses and 4(; hives of bees ; the road was rough, and we went 5 miles before 1 p.m. We saw then that all the colo- nies would smother unless we un- loaded, so we took off the hives and released them. Some of the best ones seemed nearly gone, but we will not know the exact loss until we go back. The day we started out was coOl, but it became very hot about noon and water did no good. Wet blankets were laid and suspended over the tops. We left for home at 4 o'clock p.m. and drove 15 miles to a rancher's where we stayed all night. Thursday, July 24, we drove the re- maining 15 miles by noon, and made arrangements to go back after the bees next w-eek. We will take empty supers and screen the tops of therti. This will give clustering space so no smothering should be experienced. Friday, July 25, I put on more supers on the colonies at home. I walked to town, bought lumber, and engaged a carpenter to build a 12x14 foot honey- house at the new out-yard I am estab- lishing. Native common lumber costs $22 per thousand, and barn hinges for the doors and windows 50 cents a pair. The 3-ply paper roofing costs $3.25 a roll — it takes two rolls. The carpen- ter charges $1 a day, and my bill for lumber and all was $43. The lumber yard does not deliver, so I had to hire a team for $2 to haul the stuff a mile. Saturday, July 2l), the carpenter and I have the honey-house about half done. There are many loose knots in the lumber, and I will have a hard time to make the house mouse and bee tight. I will probably line the build- ing with 1-ply roofing on the inside, and tin the cracks and holes in the floor. I will raise the corners on heavy timber pillars about one foot off the ground, and place inverted tin pans on them to keep out the mice, a In corncrib. The room is built with the studding on the outside, so that piles of hives and supers can be stacked up well on the inside without coming in contact with the studding. Then some day I ?68 September, 1912. may want to sell it and it will make some rancher a good granary. A win- dow 2 feet by 4 feet 6 inches is placed on the north side. The door is close to the northwest corner on the west side, and the roof slopes to the north with a fall of 2 feet. The walls are 7;< feet on the north side, and l>>i feet on the south. The comb-honey scraping bench will be placed along the north side of the room under the window. I do not plan to have glass in the window, but will have a double screen and escape. A hinged door to close the window will hook up to the ceiling when the window is open. Two by sixes are used for joists and rafters. Next week I plan to finish the honey- house and bring the bees up the river. I shall buy a few more if possible, as I intend to build the yard up to a hun- dred colonies. Some shade is provided by apple and peach trees for the apiary, but I am not much of an apostle of shaded hives. Sweet clover and alfalfa furnish the honey, and the season closes from Sept. 15 to H^K American Vae Journal It has been a busy week, and would have been considered a successful one but for the smothering of some of the bees. It is the first time such a thing has happened to me, and I had become over-confident of the sufficiency of the screened top with clustering space. If at all convenient I shall move the bees at night. Part of the trouble was the rough road, although we had the hay- rack well bedded with hay. Bee-keepers make mistakes in two ways, through inexperience and over- confidence. I have moved bees so much with no losses that I did not take all things into consideration. [An account of mistakes is just as useful to the reader as the description of successes. We learn much by the experiences of others. But to appre- ciate a journey of the kind described by friend Foster, one must be some- what acquainted with Colorado condi- tions.— Editor.] Southern Beedom- Conducted by Louis H. Scholl. New Braunfels. Tex. That Texas Bee-Bulletin Since the announcement by the Texas Department of Agriculture of the publication of my bulletin, "Texas Bee-Keeping," there has arisen a de- mand for it, and a desire for information as to the proper place from which a copy may be obtained. Numerous re- quests were sent to the Texas Experi- ment Station, to A. & M. College, to the United States Department of Agri- culture, and to my old College Station address. The result is that some of these requests are delayed a long time; some never reach "the right place," and are returned to the writer. Those who are interested and desire one of these bulletins, should address a postal card to "Hon. Ed R. Kone, Commissioner of Agriculture, Austin, Tex.," asking for Bulletin No. 24, "Texas Bee-Keeping." The Depart- ment desires to place this bulletin, which was published at considerable expense, into the hands of those who are actually interested, instead of mailing them out haphazardly. It is well, therefore, that applications be made at once, as the supply is not in proportion to the demand for it. The bulletin will be sent free. Texas Bee-Keepers Meet The annual meeting of tlie Texas Bee-Keepers' Association at College Station, Tex., July 30, 31, and Aug. 1 was a successful one. The compara- tive merits of the diflferent races of bees, modern bee-keeping and its future, bee-keeping as a side issue and as an occupation, and the same for women, each received due attention. Also such topics were discussed as the manage- ment and care of out-apiaries, the best and most practical methods of increase, and the attractions, delays and disap- pointments in queen-rearing. Produc- tion of comb and extracted honey, its sanitary handling and preparing for market, best receptacles, how to get the best prices, how to improve the de- mand, the outlook for future market- ing, and the value of exhibiting at fairs, were all topics of special interest. The present condition of foul brood, what has been done, and is being done for its eradication, were given in the reports of several inspectors. It is one of the mos/ important subjects for every bee-keeper, in any part of the globe, and it is h'-'ped that every bee- keeper will take the precautions to ac- quaint himself, at the very first oppor- tunity, with this dreaded disease. Although there may never be foul brood in the neighborhood of many bee-keepers, it behooves ei'ery one to prepare himself before hand in case such disease should appear. It is nec- sary to be posted, yea, well posted in order to know what to do to save the bees if the disease should make its ap- pearance in one's apiaries. As a rule, too much time is wasted on the very a-b-c's of the various sub- jects under discussion. This is al- right in a local meeting, but during the three half-day sessions of the State association, time is too short and val- uable for this. It should be discour- aged. To those present at these meet- ings, the rudiments of modern bee- keeping should be well known. For those who are not acc|uainted to this extent, they should procure a copy of the many bulletins published on the subject by the Uniteil States Depart- ment of .Xgriculture, and the various other departments of their respective States in which these persons are located, or buying a bee-book, or sub- scribing for a bee-paper should be sug- gested. The question-box is another outlet to take care of such things. But in handling the main subjects of the program, the details should be mentioned as little as possible, putting the most stress on the more important parts, and bringing out as many new points as may be known by the few in attendance. That should be the chief object kept in view when attending a State association meeting. It is to be hoped that it can be arranged in such a way that the more important new things will receive more attention in our programs hereafter. The following officers were elected : President, T. P. Robinson ; vice-presi- dent, B. M. Caraway; secietary-treas- urer, W. C. Collier, of Goliad. The regular time and place of meeting is in July, at A. & M. College, College Sta- tion, Tex. How Often Queens Male It is conceded that, as a general rule, queens mate only once, but it has often been reported that queens have been known to mate several times. A defi- nite reason for the probable cause of these several matings has as yet, I be- lieve, not been given. In discussing the subject of queen- rearing at the recent annual meeting of the Texas bee-keepers, Mr. F. L. .\ten mentioned, in going into the details of mating of the queen and drone, that the male appendages brought along by the returning queen, from her success- ful mating trip, might possibly be re- moved by the bees. The muscles pro- truding from the queen's abdomen are generally removed by the bees, follow- ing the return of the new-mated queen. This can often be seen by the apiarist, and Mr. Aten contends that it may be possible for the bees to draw out the entire mass constituting the male ap- pendages, together with the contents the seminal, or fertilizing fluid. In that event, since the seminal fluid may not have been absorbed into the sperm- sac, or sperniatheca of the queen, she does not become fertilized. Mr. Aten stated that this might happen several times to a queen, and may be the rea- son why she mates several times. One thing ought to be understood by the reader, and that is the dilTerence between a queen being mated and actually becoming fertile; that is to say. a i|ueen may have mated, and yet under such conditions as tiie above, for instance, may not be fertilized. Fertilization takes place after mating, or after the seminal fluid from the drone, to which she was mated, is stored away in the sperniatheca. There may be something in this, although 1 have thought that it would be impossible for the bees to remove the entire mass of the male appendages, together with the contents. My de- ductions were mainly based on the fact that the hold of the queen on the male organs during copulation is of such force that they are torn enti'-ely from the drone's body when the two separate. This is the cause of the im- mediate death of the drone. If tliis September, 1912. American l^Qe Journal k 269 -w^^^K firm hold on the male organs by the (|iieen remains, it is doubtful Whether the bees can remove them as intimated. Considering, however, that this firm hold may exist only at the time of cop- ulation, and that the muscles of the female organs in the queen may rela.x after this period, the male organs may not be held as firmly, and, therefore, may be easily removed. In that event, this would be a good explanation for some queens mating more than once. Of course, after a queen becomes /'tr- /i7i:i(i she remains so the rest of her life, and our authorities agree that she- does not mate again. This matter is intensely interesting to me. It is of some scientific value, as well as giving us an explanation for queens mating oftener than ordinary. If other observations of this nature have been reported, we would like to hear about them. [The only other explanation we have ever heard is the possibility of the spermatheca not being sufficiently filled by one copulation. — Editor.] Canadian Beedom- Conducted by J. L. Byer, Mt. Joy. Ontario. Foul Brood and Pickled Brood While I have been much interested in the recent discussion about the vari- ous kinds of dead brood, for various reasons I purposed to have nothing to say on the question, but as the Editor has urgently requested me to give my opinion on the matter, I will do so in as few words as possible. It is quite unnecessary to give the various de- scriptions of the dilterent maladies, as they have been so well described in the American Bee Journal that any one should be able to diagnose dead brood of any kind that might be found in his apiaries. I wish to emphasize though the statement made by Mr. Millen, that starved brood does not have that "greasy appearance" so characteristic of a bad case of European foul brood, and that peculiarity was the first thing that impressed me so forcibly when I first found the outbreak in Northum- berland county some years ago. How any one can confuse this disease with " starved brood " is a mystery to me, and in the words of Mr. Pyles, "It is beyond my comprehension." I was not at all surprised at Mr. Mc- Evoy's statement that 90 percent of the so-called European foul brood is only starved brood, as that opinion is right in line with his position on the ques- tion. He has more than once told me, when the disease was at its worst in New York State, that if they " would turn on the feed " that " black brood " would disappear. .^fter finding the genuine thing in Northumberland county a few years ago, I have ceased to agree with Mr. McEvoy on this matter. .\s to pickled brood being "starved brood," I cannot see it in that light, for as Mr. Pyles says, "There is quite a ditTerence in the two." I believe that pickled brood is caused by some or- ganic or constitutional weakness in the queen, and a simple e.xperiment should prove this. Go to a colony that has a lot of pickled brood and kill the old queen, requeening with a young, vigorous queen of Italian or Carniolan stock. The very first lot of brood reared from this queen will be perfect, and as the nurse-bees are of the same variety as those that were there when the pickled brood was in evidence, how can it be caused by poor feeding ? The starva- tion theory, as applied to pickled brood, is that the nurse-bees are poor feeders, and do not properly care for the larvae. I have repeatedly seen pickled brood stay in a hive right through a heavy honey-flow, but when requeening is done it disappears as soon as the first batch of brood is in evidence from the new queen — is it not plainly evident that the queen is at fault ? I have re- peatedly proven this to my own satis- faction, and if there are any doubters on the question it certainly is an easy thing to try the plan. From the dis- cussions in the American Bee Journal, it is plainly evident that ei'ery bee- keeper should know the different bee- maladies at a glance, and unless he does know them he will be sure to get " stung " badly. .Another thing I have been glad of, is that it is made pretty plain that Ital- ians are not hnmuiie to the disease. While Italians or Carniolans usually resist the disease betterthan the blacks, yet this is not always the case. One well-known strain of Italians suffers just as badly as the blacks, while an- other strain is more immune. Please do not ask me to which strain I am re- ferring, as I have no desire to hurt one man's business and give another free advertising. Dr. Miller's Queen-Rearing Plan The latest plan of queen-rearing, given by Dr. Miller in the August American Bee Journal, " looks good " to the writer of these notes, and again a resolve has been made to try some queen-rearing experiments in the near future. Very humiliating to make such a confession, but the truth is that such " resolves " have been made before, and only once put into execution. While that solitary trial at rearing queens by the "new fangled" schemes was en- tirely successful, somehow I always seem too busy to do much of that kind of work when I have half a dozen yards of bees to look after. While I have bought lots of queens that would hardly qualify as " good," yet the most of them have turned out fairly well, and I expect that for some time yet I shall keep paying out hard-earned dol- lars each year to the commercial queen-breeders. Some bee-keepers like to rear their own queens; perhaps I would, too, if I had but one or two yards, but as it is I would rather keep more bees and let some one else rear my queens, provided I can get good value for. my money. "Red Clover" Bees? '. Talking about "red-clover" bees, I have them this year. This afternoon, about 2 o'clock, the bees were working hard on the buckwheat, as the forenoon had been misty — ordinarily with us no bees will be seen on buckwheat after 1 p.m. Passing a field of second crop red clover, I left the horse in the road and climbed over the fence to see if there was anything doing — any of the rest of you fellows ever do such ramb- ling around like that ? Imagine my surprise to see the clover blossoms literally covered with bees ; in fact, just as many bees on the blos- soms as though it were alsike instead of red clover. Other years, when our bees worked some on red clover, it would always be in time of a drouth, but at present the ground is literally soaked with rain. \'ery few Italians in the field, as at the yard I had just left there are no more than half a dozen colonies of this race, the bees being mostly Carniolans and their crosses, with some black blood still present. This would seem to prove that it was not a case of "long tongue," and that the clover blossoms were either shorter in the tubes than usual, or that the nectar was SD profuse that it literally bubbled out so that the bees could reach it. I prefer to take the latter view, as with abundance of moisture in the ground, and the air warm and full of humidity, the conditions were ideal for nectar secretion. From the fact that the bees were there at the time when the buckwheat was yielding freely, is proof that theywere getting honey. _ Bee-Escapes — The Steam-Heated Knife This season, for the first time, we have used bee-escapes for taking oH honey. While they were used in only 2 of the 7 yards, yet our experience was extensive enough to give a general idea as to how they work. Placed on the hives at noon, and the supers taken oflt the ne.xt morning, gave best results, but as the weather was cool all the time they were used, I cannot say how they would have worked in real hot weather. As to their value, no question but what they are a good thing to use in a yard which is near neighbors, or at any place where it is not desirable to have cross bees. When it comes to a question of mak- ing time, they are not to be considered, and I would not be bothered with them in a large apiary where it is de- sirable to " hustle off " a lot of honey in a short time. .\t one yard I bought 40 boards all complete, and they cost quite a lot of money, too ; in fact, I think that the bee-escape itself is about the dearest thing in the whole line of bee-keepers' supplies. Using all of American Vae Journal September, 19 12. »=^^^^ ] them, 40 supers could be cleared, and they would average about 40 pounds each — IGOO pounds in all. At the home yards, Mrs. Byer, myself, and one to turn the extractor, could run off 3o0 pound'^ of honey per hour even when combs were all sealed; we couldn't do this though until we used the steam-heated uncapping knife. As a little honey was coming in all the time we were extracting, and no rob- bers bothered, needless to say we had no use for the escapes at that time. However, I believe they will come handy in taking off supers when the harvest is over, so I shall refrain from unduly criticising them until they have had a more extended trial. Speaking of the steam-heated knife. it is one of the new things that will stay with us. The capping melter was in our estimation, more bother than help when all features were taken into consideration, and it is laid aside at least for the present. A small tea-ket- tle, holding about a quart, will go half a day without refilling, and will gener- ate enough steam over a small coal-oil stove, that costs less than a dollar, to keep the knife so hot that it will liter- ally slip through the combs no matter how thick the honey. The ordinary spout of the kettle was taken ofif, and the spout of a common machinist's oil- can soldered on in its place. On this the rubber tubing fits snugly. With this simple equipment much hard work is saved when there is a lot of uncap- ping to do. Feeding for Winter Stores Just now many are enquiring as to the proper time to feed bees for winter. This is a question depending upon locality. For any northern section that has no fall flow the work should be done early in September. In our local- ity, of late years, buckwheat is grown quite extensively, and we have had to alter our old-time plans to meet new conditions. Buckwheat is in bloom up to Sept. 1, and sometimes later, and that means heavy brood-rearing later than is the case where there is no f^ow after clover or basswood, Of late years we do not feed until Oct. 1 to I.'i, and have found that it works all right. At the same time I advise earlier feeding wherever it is practicable. Bee-Keeping In Dixie^ Conducted by J. J. Wilder. Cordele. Ga. Suwanee River Apiaries The photograph given shows one of the writer's apiaries " Away down upon the Suwanee n'bber," in Florida. The man on the hive in the rear is Mr. R. L. Landrum, who has charge of these api- aries, and those seen with him, are his helpers. I have never seen these peo- ple, or even any of the bees. Mr. Landrum was reported to me as a man who " delighted in work," and when I wrote and asked him to take charge of these apiaries, he wrote : " I will take charge of the apiaries, and if I don't make them a paying proposi- tion I will not expect any salary." I wrote him that he had the job, and from what he has done with the busi- ness, he surely "delights in work." Would that we had thousands of just such men in Dixie engaged in bee-cul- ture. The most of these Suwanee river apiaries were established and owned by the late Mr. R. W. Herlong, of Fort White, Fla., whose death occurred over a year ago. We always prefer to locate apiaries , under natural shade, and this one is shaded by turkey and live oaks. The scattering grass seen is wire-grass, One OF Mr. J. I. Wn.DER's Apiaries ON tuk Si wanee Kiver. An Aiiakv Wuku its Owner Has Nkvkr Seen. ItTakks Unlimited Confidence to Run Aimakies by Letter Alonk. anh it also Takes an Kxtra Good Man as Manager to Carry Out the Insttctions ol riiK Owner. September, 1912. 271 American ^ee Journal which covers a large section of Dixie. The clump of low, scrubby bushes at the rear of the hives on which the boys are standing, are chinquapins, and one of the main honey-plants of that sec- tion. The sand along the famous Suwanee river is very deep, fine and white, and the natural growth is not very heavy. Information Wanted Dk.\k Mr. Wii.dkk: — My parents are soon going to settle at Orlando, Kla. How wonid that section do to start in the bee-business ? Suppose I purchase a copy of your book. "Southern Hee-Culture," and use it as my handbook, would it be necessary to take a correspondence course in bee-culture ? Cambridge. Mass. Leon P. Jones. The vicinity of Orlando, Fla., does not appeal to me as being much of a place to start up an extensive bee-busi- ness. I rather believe the venture would be a failure, as there are but few reliable honey-plants there, but not far out in the country, in the sand ridges, you will find a good partridge-pea range, and there it will pay you. It would be best to look the country over for 30 or 4() miles around before be- ginning to locate out-apiaries or to embark in bee-keeping extensively. Yes, by all means obtain in every way you can all the bee-knowledge possible. Take up and finish the cor- respondence course, then take " South- ern Bee-Culture " as your hand-book, and you will attain success if the neces- sary amount of energy be expended. mer and fall honey-flows. This is true of all the cotton-belt countrv. comb with new, and a good number do so at their own loss. Does Changing Location Pay? Dear Mr. Wiliier —I once lived in Wash- inston Co . Ga.. and while there became in- terested in bee-culture and established a good apiary, but I was not content with the returns from my bees, and desiring a better location came to Hawk's Park. Kla. But I have found it no belter for bee-keeping than dear old Georgia, and I would like to go back there and engage in honey-production, if I could supplement the regular honey-flow witli clover or some other honey-plant simi- lar. Poplar trees are about all the honey- giants I hey have there, and it has been ium- ered closely. Have you succeeded in getting clover, or any other honey-plant, started which would supplement your honey-flow in Georgia ? I know you have there everything possible to help out your honey-flow. Hawk's Park. Pla. S. 'W. 'Whitfield. Friend Whitfield, since you left Wash- ington Co., Ga.. a man just two coun- ties away became interested in bee-cul- ture and has been very successful. There is no doubt that it does not pay to leave one location and move to another with the sole object of produc- ing more honey. If a bee-keeper wanted to change climate for his health, or if he wanted to produce a certain kind of honey, the plant of which did not grow in his present location, a move would be justifiable, otherwise it would not. If I were located elsewhere I surely would not leave and move here, and I am not going to leave this location for any other. I am going to be content and do the best I can. I might do better elsewhere, or I might do worse, so I will run no risk. No, I have not succeeded in supple- menting my honey-flow here with any other kind of honey-plants, although I have made several efforts. I don't think any one else can succeed. The acreage of cotton and field peas is rap- idly on the increase, as are the sum- Removing Supers and Replacing Old Comb With Foundation Dear Mr. 'Wilder:— Should 1 t from what he knows. He may imagine strange things, but, like dreams, all must be founded on knowledge. We know not how the bees and other insects com- municate information to their kind, though it seems that they do. Aside from the raw fact, we know nothing more about parthenogenesis than we did at first. We are ignorant as to when the male egg of the bee is ferti- lized, while all knowledge of life tells us it must be. It is claimed and de- nied that the poison of the bee-sting is formic acid, but, in all, about habits, mentality, and a disposition to reason, we must ever go back to what we know about man for argument. Man is the only intelli;^'e)itly industrious animal on earth, but there are those who claim that the liahit of industry can be devel- oped in the bee. I believe, from present knowledge, that mana};emetil has more to do with surplus honey crops than the breed or color of bees, and a very pertinent illustration of this is a small book issued by Mr. Doolittle a couple of years ago, in which he details how he got 114 pounds of honey to the hive when his neighbors got none. If my memory serves me, there was not a word in the book as to the kinds of bees used. It was all 7nanaffcment. A letter from Mr. Darbishire, author of " Heredity and the Mendelian Discov- ery," confesses ignorance of the sub- ject, but promises to let me know if he finds out anything. What have we accomplished toward a fermanenl improvement of this in- sect in the past -Ml years ? A few men, and some professional queen- rearers claim much, but I defer vastly more to the opinion of professional bee-keep- ers; and few, if any of them, seem to be satisfied that anything has been done. They all seem to hope for re- sults by and by. Mr. Wesley Foster, in a recent letter to me used the term, " Hand-picked drones." I think the term original with him, and it expresses better than any other three words the vast diffi- culty of trying to breed bees. While we always have had the bee just as it is now, and especially that branch known as the .///.•; family, we can trace the development of some of the domesticated animals through the ages, as the horse, for we find the bones of the original Eqitiis fossilized in the rocks. The horse has devel- oped from a little l!-toed (?) animal about 18 inches high to what we have now, but the knowledge of man goes not back to the time when the bee was dif- ferent from what it is now, excepting that we have yellow Italians. Enthusi- astic breeders of goldens make great claims for them, but the verdict of the bee-keeping world seems to be against them as honey-gatherers and for hardi- ness. Before the Langstroth liive was in- vented there was but little talk of im- proving the bee, and I suspect that once more fiVeel is being taken for cause, and that manaf;enienl as a factor in securing a crop is ignored in an effort to prove a claim. I know from persistent observation that a colony which gives a large surplus this season may in subsequent seasons prove to be of little value, and I have letters from American Hee Journal old bee-keepers who tell me they have observed the same thing. What does it mean ? When I took up the study of Men- delism 1 hoped to be able to solve some of the problems pertaining to the bee, notably its improvement by selection and breeding, but the student will be disappointed with me, for the Men- delian law cannot be applied to the parthenogenetic insects. Could we "hand-pick" our drones we might do something //' we could know what the queen was, that we were about to mate ; but unfortunately for us, we cannot hand-pick our drones before mating, or know whether the queen is going to be worth a politician's promise. Her mother was a tine queen. Hum! Own- ers of trotting mares and stallions would give a pretty price if they could know when they bred them that the progeny would trot in swift time. We seem to be able to keep up fam- ily markings in the bee-family, but as long as bee-men will find colonies of "scrubs," which produce enormous crops of honey, so long will bee-keep- ers doubt that there is much in "breed." One of the most prominent bee- keepers in the United States says: "It is almtis/ imf colonies now, but only show 4 in the picture. I also en- close a picture of my home with Mrs. York in the buggy. We have a good garden, with peas, beans, rhubarb, currants, gooseberries, strawberries, raspberries, a large patch of potatoes, and over 40 fruit-trees of bearing age ((J years), such as apples, pears, cherries, prunes and plums. You ought to see some of the apple trees — how loaded they are. I must thin them out or they will break the trees down. And the plums and prunes are over- loaded, also. This is a great fruit country. My bees were all small nuclei, so I don't expect much honey this year. Still, if the season is as long here as I But I must not go on, else some may think I am another Western land- boomer. I have no land for sale. I simply desire to give something con- cerning this part of our great country that may be of general interest to the Methods of Destroying Moth and Wax Worms BV FRAXK F. FK.\Nt K. In the June number of the American Bee Journal I notice a paragraph on " What to do with wa,x-worms." Here are two ways I keep moth-worms from combs : At the end of the extracting season, instead of placing the combs back on the hives to be cleaned, I put 8 combs in a 10-frame super, so that the combs are well apart. I then stack one super on top of another, making a stack of 8 supers. All this is in a good shed or house. To make the supers perfectly tight, I fold up newspapers and put under the edges of all. On the top and bottom of the piles I put a full newspaper and a good cover over that. The bee-moth, if it happens to get in the combs (wet, sticky combs) through some unknown place, will be stuck fast as on tanglefoot fly-paper, or will be daubed so that it cannot live. I have kept lots of combs this way without a moth-worm. One season the web-worms were very bad on some of our forest trees, and one day I took one of these webs and placed it in a bo.x that was seem- ingly air-tight. In this box I placed 4 or 5 moth-balls, such as you buy at drug-stores. In about 12 hours I ex- amined the box and found every worm in the web dead on the bottom of the box. The experiment proved good, and suggested a similar action on combs witli moth-worms. This I tried, and it worked the same way, but to make doubly sure of the job, I put some bi- sulphide of carbon in a thin cover and placed it over the combs for 12 hours or more. At the end of this time the combs were placed in racks in the comb-room, with a moth-ball here and there for safety. This comb-room has not had a moth since the trial, and I believe I will hereafter continue on this idea. Platteville, Wis. Dr. Miller*s ^ Answers^ Send Questions either to the office of the .American Bee Journal or direct to Dr. C. C. Miller. Marengo. III. He does not answer bee-keepine questions by mail. Interesting Experience With Poor Laying Queens and Queenlessness I have a colony of l)ees whicli seemed to have a poor queen at the beginninsof the harvest, but I put on a comb honey super, thinking I would kill the queen later and let the bees requeen themselves from their own brood. A few days ago I moved the hive from its stand and put an empty one in its place, with a strip of perforated zinc nailed across the entrance Then 1 shook the bees off the c:mbs in front of the empty hive, .ind put the combs, after shaking, ir it To my surprise there was no brood sealed or unsealed in any of the combs. There was a fair sized colony of bees. The second day after, I eave the bees a comb with eggs and unsealed larvje from another colony. Three days after this was done. I found that the bees had not started queen-cells. There was not much lioney coming in at this time, but there was con- siderable in the hive and a super half full on top. What was the matter, and in wltat way would you proceed to requeen this colony? The story I told you the other day about a colony of bees that I tried to requeen has a sequel. Today. July 20. I looked into the hive and found two or three comlis with some sealed brood and considerable un- sealed brood in them The colony had not swarmed, and there were no queen cells or remains of queen-cells to show that any at- tempt had been made at supersedure. 278 American Vae -Journal Sepfcmbpr, 1912. The case puzzles me. The queen was an old one. Will queens sometimes suspend eeg-layinB until all brood is matured and then begin laying again? My impression is that the work going on in the hive now is that of a young queen. What is true of this colony is true of another treated in the same way at the same time. The old queens were not found, but zinc was left at the entrances so they could not possibly go back into the hives. I feel quite sure they had died be- fore I attempted their removal. .Suppose the old queens were dead, and that the bees were hopelessly queenless. and that they would not start queen-cells from brood given them for the purpose, in such a case how would you proceed to requeen ? ICWA. Answer.— Pity we haven't exact dates for everything. Still it might not help. lean only make a guess in the case, and any guess that I make would likely occur to a sea- soned beekeeper like yourself. The most plausible guess that occurs to me is that a young queen from some other hive returned from her wedding-trip and entered the hive in question. The thing sometimes happens, and she might be kindly received In a queen- less colony. But it is not entirely clear that there was a free entrance for such a queen, for at least part of the time you had ex- cluder zinc at the entrance. Bees do strange things, but it is not very likely that a queen takes a vacation at lay- ing while honey is yielding. In case of a hopelessly queenless colony that would not even start cells, I think I should resort to the newspaper business. Put a newspaper over the queenless colony, and over that set a hive- body into which you will put a nucleus with a queen. A mere body-guard of bees with the queen might be sufficient. As soon as the bees gnaw a pas- sage through the paper, bees from below will gradually join the queen, and in three or four days queen and bees can be moved to the lower story. Giving Up a Position of $100 a Month for Bee- Keeping I have been trying to decide on a move for several years; that is, in the keeping of bees. I had a slight experience of 2 years with bees, but just became greatly interest- ed in them when I left the country to accept a position in the Postal Department in New York city. I still hold such a position, but my desire and love for bees has increased so much that I am contemplating a change to the country. My hesitation comes from the doubt whether I could make a good liv- ing from them alone should 1 devote my en- tire tune to them. What is your candid opinion ? Would it be a wise and profitable step to take, to give up my position of Sioo a month to lurch into bee-keeping ^ I would not go in extensively at the start, but try and feel my way as I advance. Will you kindly give me the advice I seek as to whether there is a profitable field in the keeping of bees as a business proposition ? New York. Answer.— Your question is one that is ex- ceedingly difhcult to answer. If it be a mere matter of dollars and cents. I should say that beekeeping is a good business to let alone, for the same amount of brains and energy that will make you a living at bee- keeping will make more than a living at almost any other business. But if you have the great love for bee-keeping that some men have, then if you can barely make enough to warrant you a moderate living during the remainder of your life, it may be the part of wisdom for you to choose bee- keeping in preference to any other business that would net you ten times as much money. Kor your true bee keeper doesn't have to wait until he has made his pile before he begins to enjoy life, but every day is a vaca- tion day. and a day of enjoyment. But you //«/.(/ have a living. Can you make a living at bee-keeping? I don t know. There are a few who make a living at bee-keeping alone. There are probably a few who can. You may be one of them, and you may not. It would not be advisable for you to cut loose from everything else and start in at bee-keeping with the idea of making a living at it from the very start. If you have enough ahead so that you can afford to do nothing for a year or two. with a fair assurance that you couUl again take up your old line of work at the end of the year or two. if you should so elect, then all right. I'or you must count it among the possibilities that the next two years maybe years of failure in the honey harvest. If you can not take such a risk, perhaps you can grow into quite a business with bees while still continuing at your present business. Indeed, that might be the best way. In a suburban home you could prob- ably care for 25 or 50 colonies mornings and evenings. Or. you might have a roof apiarv m the city. The profit from them would be all the while bringing you nearer to the point when you could cut loose from everything else. Afterayear or two you could judge better than any one else whether it would be feasible and advisable to try bee-keeping alone. Cross Bees— Swarms— Stingless Bees— Miscella- neous Questions 1. I have a colony of bees that are very cross. I took a super of honey from them, and in the operation killed a number of bees, and now they seem to be worse than ever What shall I do for it ? 2. A few days ago one of my colonies svi-armed. and was hived in the usual way. About an hour afterward another colony swarmed, and before I could get my veil on they began clustering on the hive in which 1 had hived a swarm before. (Nearly all of them being about the entrance.) I brushed them off as quickly as possible on the ground, thinking they would cluster in a tree, and set the hive about a rod away to prevent them from going into it. I then took my smoker and tried to find the queen, but failed. 1 then found that they had discov- ered the hive, and were goine into it I tried to find the queen as she was going in. but failed. I took an empty hive and set it in front of this one. thinking they would go into it. Some of them did. I then thought I could do nothing more with them, so I went off and left them. When I returned in an hour or so both swarms were gone. The question is. why did this swarm cluster on and go into this hive ? 3. One of my colonies has built three combs in the back part of the hive cross- wise of the frames instead of lengthwise I would like to get them straight. When is the best time of theyear to do this, and how shall I do it ? 4. Will bees eat candied honey? Is it all right to feed it to them ? 5. Is there any difference betsveen an Ital- ian queen, golden Italian, and red clover Italian ? If there is. what is it ? 6 Have honey-bees ever been known to work on red clover ? 7. I have read somewhereabout a stingless bee. Is there such a bee ? Washington. Answers.— I. Sometimes a colony will be cross with apparently no sufficient excuse for it, and then a little later appear all right. In such a case give them careful treatment, using smoke judiciously, and do as little as possible to anger them. Do not use smoke more than needed, but be sure to use when needed, or a little before needed. Give them a little to start with, and if they show fight give them more afterward But if a colony is chronically ill-tempered, the only remedy is to pinch the queen's head and give them a queen of better-natured stock. 2. Not much guessing is needed. When a swarm is in the air it is a common thing for them to be attracted by the call that is made at any hive where another swarm has just been entering, and it is wonderful how they will follow that call. Once when a swarm was thus entering a wrong hive. I put the hive on the wheelbarrow and started travel- ing with it. So long as I kept on the move all was well, but the minute I stopped, no matter where I was. the bees heard the call and promptly assembled in response to it. I don't remember how it came out. 3. A good time is in the spring when not much honey is in the hive. Not too early, for they do not build comb and make repairs so early, but after they start well at brood- rearing, before they begin storing. Since only three combs have gone wrong, vou can lift out thcotlier frames until you come to them. Then cut away any attachments necessary to get out the faulty combs. If they are bent only a little out of place, vou may be able to force them into their proper frames, and if too straight across you must cut them out and then you may be able to patch them into the frames, tying strings around them, which strings the bees will in time gnaw away if you do not take them out yourself. 4. Yes, only sometimes they waste it by throwing out the grains if you do not moisten it. 5. Yes. there is the difference indicated by the names. Goldens are those which have been bred by selection in this country until tlicy are yellow to the tip, or nearly so. 6. Oh. yes. I ve seen them. Sometimes the corollas of the blossoms are shorter than usual, and at such times the ordinary bee can reach the nectar. 7. Stingless bees are found in South Amer- ica, but are of no value commercially. Bees Hanging Out- Remedy This is what we call a dry year here. I am in the southeastern part of Alameda Co.. Calif. Last summer I observed something that puzzled me. As I was walking among the bees I discovered a colony hanging out- quite a big bunch. I looked in the super' and there was hardly a bee in it. I got some blocks and raised the hive up all around about half an inch, and concluded I would give them a super the next dav with an abundance of unfinished bait. Well when I came the next day with my extra super, to my astonishment every section was full of bees, and along the center of the super the sections were half drawn out. Why did they not go into the super before I raised "'em up? California. Answer. -It looks as if you made the right guess yourself, when you raised the hive on blocks. The bees had been driven out by the heat, and when sufficiently cooled off they went back into the super. Queen Oeformed When Hatched Can you give me the cause for a young Ital- ian queen hatching with only a part of a ™ing' Te.xas. Answer. -Insuflicient nourishment or a slight chilling, which may occur in a weak colony. Even in a strong colony a cell on the lower edge of a comb might be chilled on a very cold night. It has been said that letting a queen-cell fall, or shaking it might result in crippled legs or wings. Is Not the Life of a Bee More than Six Weelis During the Honey-Flow? Are you sure that the life of a bee is only SIX weeks during the honey-How? I have a case in point that proves to me that the life of a bee must be much longer. June 13 one of my best colonies cast a swarm froni a •>- story hive (lb Hoffman frames), and I hived the bees on the old stand in an 8-frame hive of old combs, with an excluder and 4 comb supers on top. The ninth day they swarmed out and I re- turned them. Thinking perhaps more room was needed. I put on 2 more supers, making 6 in all. 1 hey again swarmed out and I le- tnrned them, only to have the performance repeated, until June 27 uust 14 days) they had swarmedand been returned five times By this time the queen had (> frames well filled with brood, and as they had some very fine queen-cells started, I removed the hive- body and returned the bees to the same place in another hive of empty combs Now you will please note that this was 14 days after the first swarming, and if the queen commenced laying the same day it would be 35 days from the first date, )une 13 before there could possibly be a single young bee, but as they swarmed out again June 2a, I assume that the queen had not yet commenced to lay. 1 immediately returned them and I think they were completely cured, as they have remained in the hive up to the present. Today (July 22; is 3') days since the swarm first issued, and granting that a portion of the bees that had lust hatched that day were in theswarm, the rvvr iv««i',-.>/ of then' would be 3« days old today, while the vast majority would necessarily have to be from several days to several weeks older. .\'i'!e, tOil:v. those beesareworkingwithout any apparent decrease in numbers or efti- ciency. and those 6 supers are full with the excetition of a very few sections which still lack the finishing touches. Now. according to our best authorities, this colony should be reduced to practically nothing, and in \ more days should be completely dead, bar- ring the young brood which is supposed to be hatching now. ,iihI only a few of which would be old enough to fiy bv that time. Do some queens produce longer-lived bees than others ? We are having quite a good How from clover this year, and the honey is as white and fine as any I ever saw in my life. Bass- wood bloomed i-rrv iirof usely. but the bees did not work on it much. Indiana. Answer —Beginning at the your letter, I suppose there is tail-end of no doubt J September, 1912. 279 American Hee Journal decided difference in the lonsrevjtyof bees. It is a matter of no small importance, and if by selection \vc can secure a strain of bees tliat live bill a day or two longer than usual there will be a decided gain, provided dhat a day or two be added to their storing tays. and not to the time spent as nurse- bees. If you have such a strain of bees you are fortunate. It certainly looks a little that way. .And yet I'm not so sure that we have established that the average lives of . your bees is iiinre than six weeks. You say "without any apparent decrease in num- bers." It would lie more satisfactory if we could have the actual count then and now. for a look at theni now with only the recol- lection of a few weeks ago for comparison is not the most reliable thing in the world, 'rhen there's another thing. Those bees werenot in a normal condition. We know that work makes a liigdifference in the lives of bees. In the winter they live several times as long as in summer. If work makes so much difference it is quite possible that there is a further difference depending upon the kind of work. May not nurse-work be iiiuch harder on them than field-work? A lot of those bees of yours did not do their regular "stunt" of nurse-work, and their lives may have been lengthened accordingly. The fair wav is to take bees under normal conditions. To a colony having a black queen give an Italian queen, allowing all work to go on regularly, and then see how lone it will be until the blacks have disap- peared. This has been done many times. and I think in no case has the average life run beyond about six weeks. If it has in your case it is exceptional. with young bees. But Im not the best guesser in the world. Carrying Nuclei Over Winter — Amount of Honey Necessary 1. In the spring I had one colony of blacks in a modern hive, and .: in home-made hives. I transferred the latter, and got i fine Ital- ian queens from a reliable breeder. I have reared lit queens. I want to take as many queens through the winter as possible. How can this be done under the following cir- cumstances; Honey comes in up to the latter part of October, and begins early in March. 2. I have several hives which hold 3 nuclei of 3 regular-sized frames each. About how much honey will it take for each? 3. If it takes 30 pounds of honey for a 10- frame hive, can we be safe in allowing 3 pounds to each comb of bees. i. c, 0 pounds for 3 combs. 12 pounds for 4 combs, etc.? 4. What is the least number of frames, well filled with bees this is the only way I know how toestimate) and honey w-ill it take to go safely and profitably through the win- ter ? 5. Poplar blooms about May 10. linden about June 10. so we must be ready for sur- plus by May i. Can I expect a 2. 3 or 4 frame nucleus this fall to be ready to store by May I ? KENTtCKV. Answers —1. There will be no trouble as to rearing almost any number of queens, so the question resolves itself into finding out the least number of bees that will bring a queen safely through the winter. You will accomplish that by assembling several nuclei in the same hive. You have already had in the same hive 3 nuclei of 3 frames each. It is possible that four 2-frame nuclei will do all right. A lo-frame hive having an inside width of 14'^ inches would allow 3 compartments each 3 inches wide, and a fourth compartment of 4'^ inches in which you could have a 3 frame nucleus. This is on the supposition that your 3 partitions are made i^f -h stuff. These 4 nuclei well stocked with bees would likely go through all right in your Kentucky climate. But the three 3frame nuclei might be safer. 2. May be 12 pounds. 3. No. If it takes 3 pounds for each of the 10 frames when they are snugly crowded to gether. any spreading apart will make more honey needed. It is the outside of a cluster that is hard to keep warm, and when you put in division-boards you are to some ex- tent making additional outsides. If you need 30 pounds for 10 frames, and then put in 2 division boards and u frames. I think the i;will need more honey instead of less than the 10 did. .And the more divisions you put in the more honey per frame must be figured. 4. From what has already been said you will see that I would estimate 2 frames to the nucleus, with just a litlle question whether 3 frames might not be better. .s. I should guess that a 4-frame nucleus miglit. or even a 3-frame if well crowded Inquiry from Japan, Wliat Kind of Bees are Best? I would be glad to know what kind of bees are best for section or extracted honey goldens. 3banded Italians or Carniolans ? Can you kindly supply me with golden Italian and vbanded queens this autumn ? Japan. Answer. -All things considered you can hardly do better than to choose the 3-banded Italians for either comb or extracted honey Some say they do not seal comb honey so white as they should, but I have not been troubled in that way. There is no doubt a difference in different strains. Black bees have the very best reputation for making white combs, but the blackest bees 1 ever had made the darkest sections. They were, however, Tunisians from Africa, and not the common blacks. I cannot supply you with the bees you de- sire, as I rear bees only tor my own use. the fire begins to die down in the evening, then shut the door and leave it until morn- inir. I'lit the stove-handle in the oven, and then in the morning you will not forget to take out the wax before building the fire Then you will scrape off the dirt from the bottom of the cake, which you can do more easily while the cake is a little warm. With a large amounl of such scrapings it may be worth while to melt the whole of it to get out the littte wax in it. but with a small amount It IS not worth the trouble. Giving Queen-Cells to Nuclei- Carbon Bi-sulphide of Purifying Beeswax Please tell me how I can purify beeswax. I can melt it and get it out of the combs by the hot-water process, but after I get it melted I cannot get the dirt separated from the wax. as underneath the wax there is some kind of fine dirt: that is. the dirt does not settle to the bottom of the vessel that the water and beeswax are in. I would like to know some way to get this dirt out of the wax. and will you please give me a way to mould the beeswax into one or two pound blocks. I have read many bee papers and books, but I cannot findanything about puri- fying beeswax. Oregon. Answer.— Your wax is only following the general rule A large partof the impurities, while heavier than wax are lighter than water, so they settle between the water and the wax. In other words, you will find a layer of sediment on the under surface of the cake of wax when it cools. There is not very much difference between the weight of the wa.x and the sediment, so that it takes it a long time to settle. So if the wax cools very rapidly much of the sediment will be mixed up with it. Your effort must be to keep the wax in the liquid state a long time: or, as it is often expressed, you must let the wax cool slowly. One way to do this is to cover up warm with blankets or something of the kind. If the amount of wax is small, it will be longer cooling if you have a good deal of water under it. Another way. with a small amount, is to put it in the oven of the cook-stove, leaving the oven-door open until 1. Desiring to start a new colony, I did ex- actly as you advised in May issue, page 150— .'\ little variation." etc.— with only the one difference that I left the nucleus on top of the other hive 2 or 3 days longer than you advised. I did not succeed. Is that the rea- son r' Possibly the queen, on emerging, was detained from her mating Hight. or squeezed through the excluder and got killed down- stairs. I think I put two queen-cells in pro- tectors, deeming that two would be better 2. About treating brood-frames full of honey with bisulphide of carbon, after re- moving the same from the hive, what about the danger of enough of the scent remaining so that later, when feeding it back, the bees object to it. In doing this I had 2 colonies act queerly. Bee-Keeper. Answers.— t. Perhaps I was not explicit enough. I intended to instruct that the queen-cell should be given at the time the nucleus was formed. ,i//cr the brood had been in an upper story for a week. If that had been done it would probably not have done any harm to leave the brood in the upper story 2 or 3 days longer. If you put a ripe queen-cell into such an upper story, you woiild be likely to fail in the majority of cases. The queen would likely hatch out all right, and might continue unmolested until the time for her wedding flight, when her frantic efforts to get out might induce the bees to ball her. Of course, there would be a gain in time by putting the cell in the up- per story in advance of putting the nucleus on its own stand, but in that case it would be safer not to leave the brood in the upper story even so long as a week. Three days would be safer. I don't suppose putting in the two cells did any harm. 2. I never tried giving back to the bees frames that had been fumigated with bi- sulphide of carbon, until they had been out of the hive a good many days: but I should not have supposed it would take more than 3 or 4 days to air the combs sufficiently. But that may be a wrong view. If you have any definite proof in the case it may be useful. Bee-Papers Necessary in Bee-Business I have been taking bee-papers ever since I was 14 years old. and I am 2H now. I am tak- ing all the papers, and have almost all the books, and still I do not have enough to read on bees. I have been keeping bees for my- self the last a years. I would have been out of the bee-business if it hadn't been for the papers and books. I have never made less than double my expenses, and have in- creased from 5 colonies to 17?: have bought all dovetailed hives, and built a good honey- house in the 8 years. I have full sheets of foundation in all the hives, getting breeder- queens, queen-rearing outfit, and mating hives, but I could not have done it without the bee-papers. If I only had one colony of bees I would w-ant the bee-papers. If a man hasn't time to read a bee-paper he isn't a bee-keeper, and never will be. I have put a lot of money in good Italian breeding queens. I am always looking for something better in the line of bees, and I am getting results. But I couldn t have done it without the bee-papers. I am getting pleasure and happiness, big honey crops. and better profit by taking bee- papers so why doesn't it pay? If I hadn't taken any bee-papers I would have today one or two colonies of black bees in box hives, and lost all the pleasure and profit. Erie Co.. N. Y. Emu. W. Gutekunst. Increased from 2 Colonies to 7 I had 2 colonies last fall, and they came through the winter in fine shape. I made 3 nuclei from the strongest colony, and they each cast a prime swarm, so that I have 7 in all. 1 think they are just the common bee. They have one band of yellow, and the rest is mostly black, and when the workers get old their bodies are nearly black and glossy. I thought I would requeen with a good grade of Italian stock while my apiary was small, and protect myself against foul brood and the bee-moth. Geo. H. Elskamp. Maurice. Iowa Bad Stores Caused Heavy Loss in Wis- consin We have liad a hard winter and spring, and a heavy loss in bees. " .Minnesota " asked on page 181 of the .American Bee Journal for June. " Why the bees died ?" Now. my bees had plenty of honey, and so did many others 280 September, 191' American Hee Journal I looked through several yards and found the same condition. Nearly all the honey was Kranulaled. and bees cleaned out every bit of pollen and daubed tlieir hives badly, it beiuK of a dark color. Some of the bees starved to death with honey in their hives; others dwindled after being put out in the spring, so I concluded it was in the honey gathered last fall, and perhaps the pollen was not riylit. Plenty of clover, but no yield. Basswood is fair. K. C. Smith. Plum City. Wis.. July 15. Gross Returns from One Colony $52 Before coming to Oregon I lived for a number of years in Maywood. a suburb of Chicago, where I kept a few colonies of bees. One hive was kept in the basement of my house the year around, sitting on an ele- vated platform just insideof a west window. During cool weather, and in the winter, a covered passage-way the full width of the hive-entrance led to a corresponding slot sawed in the bottom rail of the window, while, during the warm months, the window was removed entirely. This arrangement maintained a very uni- form temperature at all times, and the col- ony thrived amazingly. The last season I lived on the place this colony commenced rearing brood in March. An examination on a warm day the latter part of the month, disclosed three patches of capped brood several inches in diameter in the center of the hive. During apple-blossom and dande- lion time they tilled up ail available space in the hive, and tilled one 24section super with yellow honey which was very bitter. Although the queen was clipped, the col- ony swarmed out in June, just at the time the sweet clover began to bloom. They clustered on a small tree in the yard, and it was the largest swarm I ever saw. During their absence I pulled the old liive from its stand and replaced it with a new one tilled with 10 extracted combs saved over fron rod is yet to come. Winter losses were very lieavy in this part. Edgar Ricard. Canaan, N. H., July ii. California Outlook Still Poor FiKsT Letter. Our honey season is a total failure so far, The last two honey-plants are now coming on with very little secretion. The same condition exists along the Coast as far at least as Santa Barbara. Alfalfa is the only resource. Geo. V. Merriam. San Marcos, Calif.. July 6. Second Letter. We had lo days. July lo to 20, that our bees lilled their hives pretty well, but on the 20th it all slopped and the season ended. There will be some honey sold, but no white, and not much anyway. CiEO. K. Merriam. San Marcos, Calif,. luly ;fi. 1911 and 1912 Honey Crop Compared My rsport for imii is lo? pounds of ex- tracted honey from .53 colonies, and for igi2, up to date, 8ou pounds from 0 col6nies. Last winter was a hard one on bees win- tered on the summer stands. 1 saved only 9 out of 12. Fred Bechly. Searsboro, Iowa, July 25, Another Report from Iowa My bees are doing fine this year. I think I will get the largest crop of honey I ever got in one year. Rev. Jus. Drexler. Norway. Iowa, Aug. i. dry enough to burn. We need rain badly. Bees are at a stand still. J. .1. Measer. Hutchinson. Kan., July 13. Texas Crop Short But Prices High Our honey crop is very short, and taking the State over, there is less than a third of a crop. Demand is good, and prices up 2 cents a pound. Letters from California bee- men show a very light crop there. Our Slate Entomologist, with his band of able inspectors, is rapidly wiping foul brood out of the State. May the good work go on. ("lUANT Anderson. .San Benito. Tex., July 30. Bees Doing Little in Western Iowa Bees in this locality are not doing very well. It has been very cool and wet for the last 3 weeks; very little swarming. I have been feeding for the last 2 weeks. There is very little in the fields for the bees. Winter losses were very heavy in this part of the country. J. B. Esi'Y. .Sioux City, Iowa, lune 10. Very Few Bees Left Most of the bees in this section were de- stroyed last winter from bad honey, no honey, or cold and damp weather In this section I believe our bees also die for want of change in stock, Geo, M, Hartvvick. Sadorus, III,, June 17. Dry Report from Kansas It is very hot and dry here; pastures are Finest Honey-Flow in 33 Years We have had the finest honey-flow from white and sweet clover that I ever saw in my 33 years experience as a beekeeper. Almost all of my hives are 4 and =; stories high, and full of the finest honey that it is possible to produce. J. P. Moore. Morgan, Ky., July 6. 01 ine lamiiy. w nen iney uommencea 10 return to the hive. I had to pile on three su- pers in order to allow them all to enter the hive That was on Thursday, On the sec- ond following Saturday, 10 days after the swarm issued, the three supers of sections werecompleted and two others well under way. I took off one or two supers each Saturday from that time until I had taken off 10 su- pers, or 240 sections, and they were so well filled that when sold to a local groceryman they weighed above 230 pounds, net. As the hive was still boiling over with bees, I re- placed the supers with a tiive of extracting combs, which were completely filled once and partially filled again, giving in all 140 pounds of extracted honey as a sort of fol- low crop. The sale of the hon ey, comband extracted, brought in $44 5C-all sold locally. The old hive was placed in the yard, one cell allowed to hatch a new jueen, and by fall they were so strong and vigorous that I sold the colony to the local station agent for S7 50, delivered in his yard. That made a total of S52 as the gross returns from theone colony. A neighborof mine in May wood,. Stoughton Coolcy, reported a crop of 35ft pounds from one colony the same summer, but as to its cash returns, or what part of it, if any, was comb honey, I cannot now recollect. Bees are not a pronounced success in this part of Oregon, from the fact that our nights are too cold, and too much time is lost early in the season on account of wet days East of the Cascades, however, in the alfalfa sec- tion, they are very profitable and turn off enormous crops, G. S. Crego. I'ortland, Greg., July 18, IThe foregoingis a fine illustration of what maybe done under the most favorable cir- cumstances.—(j. C. MlI.LER I Idaho Has Ear-Marks of a Bee-Country I am not settled yet for sure. But right here this country has the earmarks of a bee-country, and it is settled up with people anv one must like, L. W. Benson. Rupert, Idaho, July 11. New Hampshire Reports Fair Crop White honey season is about over, and a very good crop was gotten. Mees were very light up to June 15. I increased from 30 to ^.i. and secured 1500 pounds of honey: golden- Mountain Apiary of Mr. Cmas. Burkk. the Largest Bee-Keepkr in Bonner County Northern Idaho.— See page 276.1 FAMOUS QUEENS DIRECTLY from ITALY BEES MORE BEAUTIFUL, MORE GENTLE, MORE INDUSTRIOUS, THE BEST HONEY GATHERERS »^'' Universal Exposition, St. Louis, Mo., 1904, highest award- ICxtra Breeding Queens, t3; Selected, $2, young, fertilized. Si. so; lower prices, per do/., 50 or iu(t (Queens. S,-ifc arrival guaran- teed. Write Anthony Biaggi, I'edeville, near Bellin/.ona, Italian ,S\vii/er land, Thiscountry. politically, Switzerland Re. liublic, lies geographically in Italy, and pos- sesses the best kind of bees known. n.MtTKnUI). f'oNN., ,\prll 20. r.tii". Dear Sir:— Pleane rind ericloHeU Posl-onice money order for 511. tor .six iiueenw. Hope I shall ect as Rood onoH as 1 received before. If I do, Hhall want more, Please send them as boon as poBHlblc, And obll^:-e, (.Sluruedi A, \V. Y.\tks. •-SPECIAL OFFER ON QUEENS— g W'f liave on hnnil about zoo testi-d Italian Queens thai arc one yi-ar ohi thatwe will offer at 60c each ; and in hits of 2s or more. 50c each. These are very clioice Queens, ami we will guarantee them to k'ive jjood service for iwn nnue seasons. This adv. will not anpear auain. so order at oiiee. FRED LEININGER & SON Delphos, Ohio rica-sfi mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. September, 1912. ?81 iMerican l^ee Jonrnal )>=.^[^B^ i Wants, Exchanges, Etc. [Advertisements in this department will be inserted at 15 cents per line, with no dis- counts of any kind Notices here cannot be less than two lines. If wanted in this de- partment, you must say so when ordering.) BEES AND QUEENS. Fine Italian Qceens, untested. 70c each. J. K. Archdekin. Kt. 7. St. Joseph. Mo. Nutmeg Italian Queens, leather color. after June i. $1.00. A. W, Yates. Hartford. Cl. For Sale — Untested Goldon Italian Queens 50c each. J.F.Michael. 8A2t Winchester. Ind. Front Line Italian Queens by return mail at 75c each. 6 for $4 25. 12 for $8,00. 25 and up 60c each. J. B. Hollopeter. Pentz. Pa. Virihnia Queens now ready. Untested 75c Tested $1.00. All dead ones replaced. 6A3t S. Click. Mt. Jackson' Va. Golden Italian Queens. Nuclei, and Full Colonies. See price-list in May number, page 131. Isaac F. Tillinghast. Factoryville. Pa. Golden Queens that produce sand 6 band bees. Untested. $i-oo; 'I'ested. $3.00. Robert Inghram. Sycamore. Pa. For Sale— Three-banded Italian Queens bred for honey, gentleness, and prolihcness. One. $1.00. 6 for $5.00. Wm. S. Barnett. 7A4t Barnett. Va. Hardy. Northern grown Queens of Moore's strain of Italians, ready for prompt ship- ment. Untested. $1.00; 6 for $5,00: 12 for Jg.oo. Less in lots of 50 or more. P. B. Ramer. Harmony. Minn. My System — Union bee-hive and Queen. Will increase both your colonies and honey crop, and improve your stock, making bee- keeping a real pleasure. Cash orders $10.00. 3Atf Joe Egner. Box 552. Lavergne. 111. Golden Queens that produce Golden Workers of the brightest kind. I will chal- lenge the world on my Goldens and their honey-getting qualities. Price. $1.00 each; Tested. I2. 00; Breeders. $5.00 and $10. 7A4t J. B. Brockwell. Barnett. Va. Queens — Italians and Carniolans. Will exchange choice queens for bees by the pound, frame, or hive. Write, stating what you have. Frank M. Keith. 3Atf 83^ Florence St.. Worcester, Mass. Northern Bred hardy Queens of Moore's strain of Italians, ready the last of June. Untested. Ji. 00 each. 6 for $5.00: 12 for $0.00. Orders tiled and filled in turn. 6Atf P. B. Ramer. Harmony. Minn. Quirin's famous improved Italian queens nuclei, colonies, and bees by the lb., ready in May. Our stock is northern-bred and har- dy; five yards wintered on summer stands in 1008 and igo or more. 85 cts. each. Un- tested. 75c each; 3 Queens $2.00; from 6 to 50. 5S cts. each. Bees by the pound. $1.00. Nu- clei, per frame. $1.25. Safe arrival and satis- faction guaranteed. C. B Banksion. 2Atf Buffalo. Leon Co.. Texas. Carniolan Queens— Bred from best im- ported stock. Many colonies can be manip- ulated without the use of smoke or veil. Un- tested, one for 75c; six forj4.25; twelve for $8.00. Tested, one for Jr. 00; six for tsoo; twelve for $10. William Kernan. Rt. 2, Dushore. Pa. SUPPLIES. For Sale— A full line of Bee-Keepers' Supplies. Agents' prices. Save freight. Dreamland Farms. Buckingham. Fla. For Sale— Empty second-hand 6u-lb. cans. 25 cts. per case of two cans; 100 for S22.i;o. 7A4t E. R. Pahl & Co.. Milwaukee. Wis. Aluminum Hive Numbers i'/4 in. high. 2c each figure; soor more. i}4c. postpaid, includ- ing brass nails. Henry Benke. Pleasantville Sta,. N. Y. HONEY Honey for Sale— Clover honey of the finest quality in new 60-lb. cans at 0 cts. per pound. 8Atf J. P. Moore. Morgan. Ky. Wanted— Comb, extracted honey, and beeswax. R. A. Burnett & Co.. 6Ai2t 173 S. Water St.. Chicago. 111. Fine White and light amber alfalfa honey put up in any size of tin packages, any quan tity. Dadant & Sons, Hamilton. Illinois. Wanted — Choice extracted white and amber honey in barrels or cans. Send sam- ple, and price delivered f. o. b. Preston. iiAtf M. V. Facey, Preston. Minn. Wanted — White extracted honey. For Sale— Empty second hand 60-lb. cans, two in a case. 25c Also want to sell 85 colonies of bees. Will rent for a term of years five acres of well improved land adjoining city limits of Des Moines. Address, oAit Milo Smith. Berwick. Iowa. MISCELLANEOUS Make Pure, delicious fruit acids from honey. Cures all diseases, man or beast. Patent allowed. Mailed. 25 cents. lAiy C. W. Dayton. Chatsworth. Calif. For Sale — A brand-new Kenmore auto- mobile, used only for demonstrating. Can be used for delivery or pleasure car. Will sell at a bargain. Louis Werner. 7A2t Edwardsville, III. For Sale— Rosabelle Horse Ranch, con- sisting of 320 acres: 135 acres in alfalfa. 160 acres with perpetual water right: the other 160 all ditched and ready. Ideal place for bees. Sweet clover and alfalfa in abun- dance, and a sure honey crop every year. Winters are mild, and stock may be kept with but little shelter. Elevation ^ooo feet above sea-level, with pure and dry air. The place that puts cream on the milk; bone, muscle and fat on the stock; and honey in the hives. Write me for particulars. 8Ait J. D. Kaufman. Cody. Wyo. Better Fruit Published at HOOD RIVER, OREGON, is the best, handsomest and most valuable fruit growers' paper published in the world. It is handsomely illustrated and shows the Western methods which have been so suc- cessful in winning high prices. Subscription Price $1.00 Per Year in Advance Sample copies upon request. Better Fruit Publishing Company HOOD RIVER, OREGON. WANTED New Crop Honey BOTH COMB and EXTRACTED Are you looking for a market? New York is as good as any. We handle on commission and buy outright. Write us before dis- posing of your honey. HILDRETH & SEGELKEN, 265-267 Greenwich St. NEW YORK, N. Y. Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. To The New Century Queen-Rearing Co. FOR Goldens, Caucasians, Carniolans, 3-b'd Italians Untested, $1.00; Tested, $1.50. Write for prices in large quantities. "Right Treatment and Quick Service" is our motto. Address as above, or JOHN W. PHARR, Propr. BERCLAIR, TEXAS. PkaK fnention Am. Bee Journal when writing. AAny HARVESTER with Binder At- wUICN tachment cuts and throws in '"'■■"■ piles on harvester or winrow. Man and horse cuts and shocks equal with a Corn Binder. Sold in every State. Price. $.;o. W. H. BUXTON, of Johnstown. Ohio, writes : "The Harvester has proven all you claim for it; the Harvester saved me over $25.00 in labor in last year's corn cutting. I cut over 500 shocks: will make 4 bushels corn to a shock." Testimonials and catalog free, showing pictures of harvester, .\ddress. NEW PROCESS MFC. CO., Salina. Kan PltMe mention Am. B«e Journal when writing. Make Your Hens Lay Tou can double yoar egg yield by feeding fre»b-L-ut. raw bom*. It */ > contains over four times aa much eifj: maKlnK material as grain and takes the plate of bujfs auti worms lu fowls' diet. That's why It gives mure t-t:^-s— ^^roater fertility, ytrunger chicks, larirer fowls. MANN'S ^M*Jo%Y BONE CUTTER Cuts ea.-Jily and rapidly all large and small l>nnes with adhering meat and grititle. Automatically adapts to your strength. Never clogs. 10 0«y«* Fr«« Trial. No money down. Send for otir Iree books today. F. W. III*NH CO. Bom 34a MtLFORD. MASS 282 September, 1912. American Vae Journal The Fruit-Growers' Guide Book is a complete En- cyclopedia of hor- ticulture. It has 300 pages, and is well illustrated. All about spray- i n g, fungicides, insecticides ; how to can Fruits, Veg- etables,etc. It was written for the man with a thou- sand trees, as well as forthe one with a few trees in the dooryard. It is the result of years of study and travel. The Fruit Grower,published month- ly, is filled with up-to-date matter on horticulture. THE GUIDE BOOK, regular price $1.00 FRUIT GROWER, one year 1.00 AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, one year 1.00 We club all three of these sent to one address for $1.50, or we will send the first two for $1.00. Send all orders to AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, Hamilton, III. Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. GOLDEN QUEENS that produce golden workers of the bright- est kind. I will challenge the world on the color of my GOLDENS. and as good honey- getters. Price $1.00 each; tested. $2.00. Breeders $s 00 and Sio.oo. J. B. BROCKWELL, BARNETTS, . - - - VIRGINIA. Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writiog Early (FROFALCON) Queens "ITALIANS" February and March deliveries— for Untes- ted, $1.50 each; April. $1.25. Tested Queens. 50 cts. additional; Select Tested, Jt.oo extra. Breeders, prices on application. JOHN C. FROHLICER, 257-Q Market St.. San Francisco, Cal. Or Berkeley, Cal. Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writinf. SUPERIOR BEE-SUPPLIES Specially made for Western bee-keepers by G. B. Lewis Co. Sold by Colorado Honey-Producers' Association, Denver. Colo. Pkase mention Am. Bee Jourtul wtien writing. "Bee-Keepers' Guide" This book on bees is also known as the "Manual of the Apiary." It is iii- structive, interestin)», and both practi- cal and scientific. On the anatomy and physioloKy of the bee it is more corn- plete than any other standard Ameri- can bee-book. Also the part on honey- producing plants is exceptionally fine. Every bee-keeper should have it in his library. It has T) 14 pages, and 2115 illus- trations. Bound in cloth. Trice, post- paid, $1.20 ; or with a year's subscrip- tion to the American Bee Journal— both for$l.i)0. Send all orders to •■'— iftice of the American liee Jour lal. STUDY AGRICULTURE AT HOME The Campbell Correspondence School Has a course of thirty subjects and sixty lessons in Intensive Farming. This Course is the result of thirty years experience and demonstration by Prof. Campbell and associates. It applies to Irrigation, the humid regions, and the semi-arid country. It brings results. Send us your name and address and we will mail you a sample copy of the Scientific Farmer and a catalog of the Correspondence School. DO IT NOW. CAMPBELL SOIL CULTURE CO. LINCOLN, NEBRASKA. ECONOMY: ECONOMY TO YOURSELF ECONOMY TO YOUR BEES Are Two Essential Points Gained by Using Dittmer Process Comb Foundation Because it is the same TASTE, and the same SMELL, and the same FIRMNESS, as the COMB the Honey-Bees make themselves. It is the more acceptable to them because it is not like their OWN COMB. Remember, Mr. Bee-Keeper, that to you HONEY IS MONEY— then use Dittmer Process Comb Foundation Work for a Full-Capacity Honey-Crop. Send for Samples. AH Supplies at Prices you appreciate. Gus Dittmer Company, - Augusta, Wisconsin. DOOLITTLE'S "Scientific Queen-Rearing" This is G. M. Doolittle's master-piece on rearing the best of queens in perfect accord with Nature's way. It is for the amateur and the veteran in bee-keeping. The A. I. Root C<}.. who ought to know, say this about Doolit- tle s queen-rearing book : ■ It is practically the only comprehensive book on queen-rearing now in print. It is looked upon by many as the foundation of mod- ern methods of rearing queens wholesale." Mr. Doolittle's book also gives his method of producing comb honey, and the care of his management uf swarming, weak colonies, etc. It is ' same mailed at the following prices : Hound in cloth. $1.00 ; a book of 12fi pages, and is bound in Ieatherette..75.cents. Special Clubbing Offer We offer a cloth-bound copy of this book with the American Bee Journal one year— both for $1 w: or a copy of the leatherette-bound edition, with the American Bee Journal one year— both for $1.25. The cloth-bound book given free for petting 3 new subscribers at Ji. each ; or the leatherette-bound copy given for 2 new subscribers. Every bee-keeper should have a copy of Mr. Doolittle's book, as he is one of the stan- dard authorities of the world on the subject of 'queen-rearing and everything else connected with bee-keeping and honey-production, American Bee Journal, Hamilton, Illinois. September, 1912. American Hee Journal Missouri-Bred Queens! My strain of bees is the result of many years' breedinu and selection. I believe they are equal to any. and surpassed t)y none. They are long lived, winter well, breed early, and are unexcelled honey get- ters. The workers are lone-bodied, sped- sized bees, uniformly marlted with bands of orange yellow. They are good comb-build- ers, gentle and easy to handle, and yet pro- tect their homes from robbers. You will make no mistake in introducing these aueens into your apiary. I guarantee safe delivery at your post-office, and make a speciality of long and difficult shipments. I endeavor to keep a large supply of queens on hand. Prices as follows: Untested— One, 6oc: 6, $3.25: 12. $6.00. Select Untested-i. 75c: 6. $4.25; 12, J8.00. Tested,!. $1.25; 6, $5.50; 12. $12.00. Select lested-i. 150 6 $800: 12. i.i.oo. Two-comb Nuclei with laying queens. $3.00 each; 3-comb Nuclei with laying queens, $3-5° each. Discounts on large orders. .';A6t L. E. ALTWEIN, St. Joseph, Mo. Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writtaR W.H.Laws Will be ready to take care of your j^ queen orders, whether large or small, yj the coming season. Twenty-live years < of careful breeding brings Laws M queens above the usual standard: bet- -' ter let us book your orders now. Tested queens in March: untested, < after April ist. About 50 first-class W breeding-queens ready at any date. \ Prices: Tested, $1.25: 5 for Ss.oo: " Breeders, each $5 00. Address W. H. Laws, Beeville, Texas. ^ Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. CHOICE HOME-BRED and Imported Stock. Queens reared in Full Col- onies. Prices for July and After OneTested Queen.... $1.10 " Select Tested .... 1.30 " Breeding Queen.. 1.85 " Untested queens .75 ■■ Comb nucleus .80 Safe arrival guaranteed. For description of each grade of Queens send for Free Catalog. J. L. STRONG, 204 E. Logan St., Clarinda, Iowa. Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writing QUEENS OF MOORE'S STRAIN OF ITALIANS PRODUCE WORKERS That till the supers quick With honey nice and thick. They have won a world-wide reputa- tion for honey-gathering, hardiness, gentleness, etc. Untested queens. $1: six, $5: 12. Jq.oo. Select untested. $1.25; si.t, J6.00: 12. Shoo. Safe arrival and satisfaction guaranteed. Circular free J. P. MOORE, Queen-breeder, Route 1 Morgan, Ky. BOOKS FOR BEE - KEEPERS FOR SALE BY Please mention Am. bee Journal when writing. AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, HAMILTON, ILLINOIS. First Lessons in Bee-Keeping, by Thos. G. Newman, revised by C. P. Dadaiit.- Intended mainly for begrlnners. Nearly 2U0 pagres. and over 150 pictures. Bound In strong: paper cover, showing- bee-brood In all atagres of development from the newly-lald egrg-. This book contains the foundation principles of bee-keeplngr. aa Us name indicates. Price, postpaid. 50 eta. : or free with the American IJce Journal one full year If paid strictly In advance— by either new or re- newal subscription at Jl.OO. Fifty Years Among the Bees, by Dr. C. C. Miller — 340 paeree. bound In cloth, and illustra- ted with 112 half-tone pictures taken by Dr. Mil- ler himself. It Is a g"ood. live story of success- ful bee-keeplng^ by a master of the subject, and shows with clearness jr.st how Dr. Miller works with bees and produces tons of honey. Price, $1.00. postpaid: or with the American Bee Jour- nal a year, $1.80: or given Phke aa a premium for sending 3 New subscriptions at $1.00 each. Scientific Queen-Rearing, as Practically Applied, by G. M. Doollttle.— It tells how the very best Queen-Bees are reared In Nature's Way. A ETood authority say.s; "It is practically the only comprehensive book on Queen-rearlng now In print. It la looked upon by many as the foundation of the modem methods of rearing queens wholesale." Price, bound In cloth. 75 cts.. postpaid: or with the American Bee Jour- nal a year— both for $1.50. The same book bound In leatherette, 50 cts., postpaid ; or free with the American Bee Journal one full year If paid In advance strictly, by either new or renewal sub- scription at $1.00. Langstroth on the Honey-Bee, revised by Dadant.— This classic on bee-culture has been entirely rewritten. Fully Illustrated. No apia- rian library Is complete without this standard work by the " Father of American Apiculture." Over 600 pages, bound In cloth. Price. $1.20; or with the American Bee Journal a year. $1.90: or grlven Free as a premium for sending- i New subscriptions at $1.00 each. Bee-Keeper's Guide, or Manual of the Apiary, by Prof. A. J. Cook.— This book Is very Instructive. Interesting, helpful, and thoroughly practical and scientific. It is perhaps the most complete of any bee-book on the Anatomy and Physiology of bees, and also the Botany of bee- keeping. Bound In cloth. 544 pages, 295 Illustra- tions. Price, postpaid, $1.20: or with the Ameri- can Bee Journal a year— both for $1,90; or given Pbee aa a premium for sending 3 New subscrip- tions at $1.00 each. ABC&XYZof Bee Culture, by A. I. & E. R. Root.— Over 500 large pages describing ev- erything pertaining to the care and manage- ment of honey-bees. It Is a veritable encyclo- pedia on bees. 400 engravings. Bound In cloth. Price, postpaid. $1.50: or with the American Bee Journal a year— both for $2.25; or given Free as a premium for sending 5 New subscriptions at $1.00 each. Advanced Bee Culture, by the lateW. Z. Hutchinson.- The author was an extensive bee- keeper, and a practical, helpful writer on bees and bee-keeping. Over 200 pages, cloth bound. Price, postpaid. $1.00 : or with the American Eee Journal for a year— both for $1.80: or given Free for sending 3 New aubacriptions at $1.00 each Southern Bee Culture, by J. J. Wilder, of Georgia, perhaps the most extenalve bee-keep- er in the State. It Is a real hand-book of South- em bee-keeping. Bound in paper, 145 pages. Price, postpaid. 50 cts.; or with the American Bee Journal a year— both for $1.30. Amerikanische Bienenzueht, by Hans Buschbauer.-A bee-keeper's hand-book of 138 pages, which is just what German bee-keepera need. It is fully Illustrated and bound in cloth. Price, postpaid. $1.00; or with the American Bee Journal a year— both for $1.70. The Honey-Money Stories.— 64-pa?e book- let of short, bright items about honey. Has 23 fine Illustrations, and 3 bee-songs. Its main object Is to Interest people In honey as a dally table food. Price, postpaid. 25 cents : or with a year's subscription to the American Bee Jour- nal—both for $1.10. Two copies for 25 cts. The Emerson Binder.— It has a stiff board outside like a book-cover, with cloth back. Will hold easily 3 volumes (36 copies! of the Ameri- can Bee Journal. Makes reference easy, and preserves copies from loss. dust, and mutila- tion. Price, postpaid. 75 cts. : or with the Amer- ican Bee Journal a year— both for 51.60; or given Free aa a premium for sending 2 New eubscrip- tlona at $1.00 each. A Modern Bee Farm, by Samuel Simmins The author is a live English bee-keeper. He has kept up with the progress in this line not only in his own country but all over the world. His views are determined, but very well taken, and his points are made with an accuracy which is convincing:. Clotli bound 470 pages. Price postpaid $2.00 or with the American Bee Journal one year both for $2.75 Irish Bee Guide, by J. G. Digiies.- Any one who wishes to become acquainted with the manner and methods of bee-keeping in the old country, and In Ireland particularly, ought to read this hook. Price. $1.00. postpaid; or wVth the American Bee Journal for one year, f 1.76. Quinby's New Bee-Keeping, bv L. C. Root. —This Is a modem edition of " Quinhy's Myster- ies." Mr. Qulnby Is well known to all bee- keepers. He. with Mr. Langstroth. was re- sponsible for much of the early growth in bee- keeping In America. Cloth bound. 220 pages. Price, postpaid. $1.00: or with the American Bee Journal for one year. $1.75. British Bee-Keepers' Guide, by Thomas W. Cowan.— This is without doubt the standard work for the English bee-keeper. It Is very much condensed, containing 170 pages, and 1b nicely Illustrated and well bound. Price, post- paid. $1.00: or with the American Bee Journal one year. $1.75. Townsend's Bee-Book.— If there is one bee-keeper who can claim the right to a thor- ough knowledge of bees through practical ex- perience. It is Mr. E. D. Townsend, of Michigan, author of this book. He has kept large numbers of colonies for many years. He not only ex- plains to the beginner how to get a start, but gives much Information of great value to the experienced bee-keeper. 90 pages, paper bound Price. 50 cents ; or with the American Bee Jour nal one year. $1,25. Biggie Bee-Book — This is a very small cloih-bound. well gotten up book. Its size is 4x6 1-2 inches, and it was designed to be carried in the pocket of the amateur bee-keeper. It contains concise information regarding the best practice in bee-culture. An eJtcelleni book for use when a person has only limited time to give to bee-keeping. Price by mall, 60 cents; or with the American Bee Journal one year. $1.35. QUEENS! QUEENS! Italians AND Carniolans TliP Ifpith ^vctam o^ Breeding insures ine Reiin dySiem the best Queens that can be produced. My Strain is the result of 20 years of careful breeding and selection. I feel confident that few. if any. can surpass them. Color has not been my special object: but to produce bees that will bring in honey. and store it in supers where it is wanted. I am also paying a great deal of attention to Gentleness among my bees, so that almost any one can handle them. Annual importations of Queens has kept my stock absolutely pure. Prices as follows; I 6 12 Virgins $ .65 $3.';o % 6.00 Untested i.oo 4.00 7.00 Warranted... 1.25 S-So 11.00 Tested 1.50 7.50 13.00 Select Tested. $2.00 each. Breeder. $3.00 and up. Nuclei and Full Colonies. Bees by the Pound. Write for Circular. Apiaries inspected for brood-diseasea. FRANK M. KEITH, 83>i Florence St. Worcester, Mass. Pkase mention Am, B€« JoumaJ when writiag. CARNIOLAN QUEENS! Superior Line Bred Strain. Carniolans are the best bees to continue rearing brood during a dearth of nectar and through the fall iiionths. Colonies populous with young bees stand the best chance of wintering well, other conditions being equal. PRICES: SelKt aatistcd. tl iich. {9 per doi Selict Icital, tlSOtuk. tl2 00iloi BiKdcri. tS 00 Albert C. Hann, SdatificOictiBrMder. PittSlOWH. N. J. Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writinf. September, 1912. American ^ee Joarnal LEWIS BEEWARE and DADANFS FOUNDATION ! ! Shipped Promptly ARND HONEY & BEE-SUPPLY CO. NOT INC. Send for Catalog. Enough said ! Successors to the York Honey & Bee-Supply Co.) 148 West Superior St., CHICAGO, ILL. Please mention Am. Bee Joamal when writing. THE SECRET OF Success in Bee- Keeping Is to Keep Your Colonies Strong ; to do This You Must Have GOOD LAYING QUEENS Whicli We Guarantee at the Following Prices: Golden 3-Band Italian Carniolan Untested— I for $1.00: 6 for $5.40; 12 for $q 60; 25 for J17.S0 Tested— I for $1.50: 6 for $8.40; 12 for $15.60; 25 for $w.oo Nuclei with Untested Queen— ifraine. $2.50; six i-frame. Tested {.5 $20 -2 frame. S3. 50: six 2-frame. 520.40 -I frame. Ji.oo: six i-frame. J17.40 -2frame, $4.00. six 2-frame. $23.40 The Drones used in our Apiary for Mating purpose are reared from the very best selected Queens, which is as necessary as the selecting of a good Queen for Queen-Rearing. For good Queens and Quick service you can not do better than place your order with us. We guarantee safe arrival and satisfaction. Directions for building up weak Colonies will be mailed to you for 10 cents. The above Queens are all reared in Separate Yards. jAtf W. J. LITTLEFIELD, R. F. D. No. 3, LITTLE ROCK, ARK. Please mention Am. Bee Joamal when writinK. Ur. Peiro will continue to give the readers of the American Bee Journal free advice regarding the subject of Surgical and Medical treatment. Many have availed themselves of this ofTer. Return postage is all you need to send. Address, Dr. Peiro, 2148 Sun- nyside Ave., Chicago, 111. Crown Bone Cutter FEED Tour hei)3 cut creen bone ami (Tft more eggs. With a Crown Bone Cutter you can cut up all scrap boiiea easlty and quicklj, aod without anj trouble, and have cut bone fresh every day for your poultry. Send Pt once for free catalogue. WILSON BROS., B0I814 , Easton, Pa. Best Made Lotvest in Price S ||EW BEE- » S II ENGLAND D KEEPERS § Q Everything in Supplies. K New Goods. Factory Prices. Q Save Freight & Express Charges X Cull & Williani-s Co. Q 4Atf PROVIDENCE. R. I. x>oe>aeiOoe»soooooscoscccccoi}i Bee-Supplies We are Western Agents for lAtf "FALCONER" Write for Fall Discounts— we can save you money- C. C. demons Bee-Sapply Co. 128 Grand Ave., Kansas City, Mo. FIGURE THIS OUT FOR YOURSELF If you buy Bee-Supplies NOW that you will need in April, you save money at the rate of 12 percent on the $. THREE PERCENT is the amount of our early order discount on cash purchases in January. January to April is just three months — % of a year. Now 3 percent for 3 months is interest at the rate of 12 percent per year^so you see why we urge early orders accompanied by cash this month. ANOTHER reason is that we can serve you better now than three months hence. In a few weeks we Swill be putting up carload shipments for our dealers and distributing centers, and every effort in our big plant — the largest establishment in the world devoted to the manufacture of bee-supplies — will be directed to filling ^P rush orders. You will be just as anxious for your goods as our other patrons, and will deserve and receive the ^^ same attention — no matter what the amount of your order may be, but 2 We can Serve you Better Now { and we want to make it worth your while to place an early order. Try this on a part of your list anyway. Saving at the rate of 12 percent per year ought to interest everybody. We Manufacture Everything in Bee-Supplies Get our 1912 catalog which gives descriptions, illustrations and prices on everything from bee-hives to bee- books, from frames to comb foundation. Get this Catalog NOW. THE A. I. ROOT COMPANY, 213 institute Place, Chicago, Illinois K. W. BOYl>EN, Mgr. (Jeffrey Building) Tel. 1484 North. I September, 1912. 285 American Tiee Jonrnal fSSO .o«>onoos<>occ<>6<>c<>ooc<2e<>eo90Qooocceceooecoeooooooceocoo9eoooeooosccc^ 1^ ^ u falcon QUEENS ^ Three-banded Italians October 1 to July 1 In tested one. ti.oo; six. Select Untested " 125; Tested " 1.50; Caucasians $550: twelve, tio.oo ii.TS; ■■ 12.75 8.00; " 15.00 Golden Italians Carniolans July 1 to Octobor 1 Untested one, t .75; six, $j.25; twelve. S 8.00 Select Untested " 1.00. " s.50; " 10.00 Select Tested " 2.00; " 10.00 " 18.00 We charge 10c for clipping a queen's wings. All queens are reared in strong, vigorous colonies, and mated from populous nuclei. Instructions for introducing are printed on the reverse side of the cage cover. Virgins from good mothers, -lOc. Safe arrival and satisfaction guaranteed. "falcon" SHIPPING-CASES "falcon" Insure safe arrival of your comb honey, and better price, by using the best protection cases made. Get our prices of safety cases, and regular cases with corrugated pad, top and bottom, and cor- rugated follower. Dealers everywhere. Red catalog postpaid. W. T. FALCONER MFG. COMPANY, FALCONER, NEW YORK Where the good bee-hives come from QoooooouooooeoooscooscoososQosoQooaoooooooooscoQOOOOOQOoscooeceooocoosoccosQor K ^ E ^ ^ ^ ^ E E E ^ ^ Section Honey Extractor FOR THE EXTRACTION OF HONEY FROM UNFINISHED SECTIONS .\11 of the extractor is made of metal and well finish- ed so as to be strong and durable. It is in fact a Bsby ExtrSCtOr. Suited exactly to the use of the producer who has many sections which he is unable to market and which he wishes to use as bait sections the following season. Total weight of the extractor boxed is 10 pounds. It will come cheaply by express. Price for the reversible style $4.60. Price for the non-reversible $3.00. Section Uncapping Knife - 50c. Address all orders to A. H. OFFER, 6259 Patterson Ave. CHICAGO, ILL. ^ [ssss^sssss^sE^ss^s:^^^^^^^^^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ "Criggs Saves You Freight" TOLEDO FOR ME! Is Every Man's Guide Who Wishes Goods QUICK. BIG STOCK ROOT'S SUPPLIES. Ready to ship day order is received Wholesale prices on Chick Feed. Beef Scraps. Grit. Oyster Shells. Etc. Honey and Beeswax wanted. Catalogue Free. S. J. GRIGGS & CO. 24 N. Erie St. Toledo. Ohi Bee-Keepers' Supplies, Berry Baskets, Crates, Etc. Sold at Rock Bottom prices. From Factory to Consumer. Send for prices. W. D. SOPER, Jackson, Mich. 323 to 325 Park Ave., on L. S. & M. S. R. R. We Make a Specialty of Manufacturing SECTIONS They are the Finest in the Land- None Better. Our Prices will make you smile. We want 10 mail OUR BEE-SUPPLY CATALOG to every beekeeper in the land. It is FREE. Ask for it. H, S. Ouby. St. Anne, III., carries a full line of Our Goods, and sells them at our regular catalog prices. AUG. LOTZ & CO. Boyd, Wis. Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. SWEET CLOVER SEED for fall sowing, both yellow and white bloom; new crop now ready. Best legume fertilizer good pasture and hay. Price and circular, how to grow it. free. Also Kentucky blue grass seed. John A. Sheehan, Falmouth, Ky Pkase mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. P-O-R-T-E-R (Trade mark SAVES TIME HONEY MONEY At All Dealers Each, 15c. ; Dozen, $1.65, postpaid. If your Dealer does not keep them, order from Factory, with Complete In- structions. R. & E. C. Porter, Mfrs. Lewistown, III. t-lease mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. AQUASUN The flavor of richest apple cider. A table delicacy that has no equal. A beverage that refreshes and invigorates. The strongest health-germs in Nature. Made from Honey& Water In any kitchen, at any hour, at a cost of 2 to 4 cents per gallon. Process and right to make it. 25c. Circular Free. 5Ai2t C. W. Dayton, Chatsworth, Calif. Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. Mott's Strain of Italians— Also Carniolans lo-page Descriptive List free. Untested. 75c each; $7.50 per doz. Natural R. C. Golden from Imported Stock. Sel. Untested, ooc each; Tested, $1.50. Bees by pound and Nu. clei. Leaflets. " How to Introduce Queens.'- ISC each : on " Increase. " 15c. or both for 2Sc E. E. MOTT, Glenwood, Mich. 2S6 September, 1912. American ISec JonrnaJj ■■ If eoods are wanted quick, send to Pouder." Bee-Supplies Standard hives witli latest improvements. Danzen- balter Hives. Sections, Foundation. Extractors. Smok- ers in fact, everything used about the bees. My eaiiipment. my stock of goods, the quality of my eoods and my shipping facilities can not be excelled. PAPER HONEY-JARS Sample Mailed Free For extracted honey. Made of heavy paper and paraf- fine coated, with tight seal. Every honey-producer will be interested. A descriptive circular free. Finest white clover honey on hand at all times. I buy bees- wax. Catalog of supplies free. WALTER S. POUDER, Indianapolis, Ind. 850 Massachusetts Avenue. You Can Have the Cash For your Comb cV Extraotet Charl- ton» N. Y., sajBi "TVe cut with one of your Combined Machines, last winter. 60 chaff hives with 7-iiL cap. 100 honey-racka, 500 brDDd-frameSj 2,000 honey-bojes, and a great deal of other wDrk. This winter we have double thsamoant of b?e-hlve8,eto^ to make, and w© aspect to do it with "Jxie Saw It will do all you eay It ^■111." Catalog and price-list Crea, lAiTse^ W. r. ft XOHH BAKHSS. Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writing If YOU want them YELLOW try the GENTLE strains of Swarlhmore PEDl- CREED GOLDEN QUEENS. Swarthmore, Pa. rj^ Please irention Am Bee Tournal when writing. EVERY BEE-KEEPER KNOWS Ttie Worth of A Good Queen Knows the worth of a eood strain of bees and also knows how worthless is a poor queen and inferior bees. Try our strain of three-banded Italians, they will not disap- Doint you. Tested nucen. Sioo each; Un- tested 75c; $7.00 per doz. No disease Send for price-list. ''Atf J. W. K. SHAW & CO., Loreauville, Iberia Parish, La. in-ase mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. BEES FOR SALE The following parties have bees in full colonies for sale: Name. Address. No. Cols. L. Werner. Edwardsville. Ill So Rev. A. J. Horner, Youngsville. Pa.... 55 Frank Gessner. Forest Lake. Minn.... S5 y. V. (;eorBe. Fraser. Idaho 20 Ralph Shaw. Windsor Locks. Conn — 10 Pleue mentioo Am. Bee Jounul wbcn wiitlnf. English Honey-Spoon. This fine goo Honey-Spoon and the Ameri- can Bee Journal for one year-both for only J1.75. Send all orders to the American Bee Joiirn.il. Hamilton. 111. Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. Septpmbpr, 1012. 287 American ^Bac Jonrnall CmrAGO. Aug:. 21. — Comb honey has sold promptly upon arrival during the month, and lip to this date there is none that lias been on the mariees. and I hope to see an exhibit there this fall for the first time. Mr. Krank K. Meredith, of Salem. Oreg.. is the secretary, and I am certain that he will be glad to send you a premium list if you will write to him. Very truly yours. Corvallis. Oreg., Aug. 15. H. F. Wilson. Bonner County, Idaho. — We are in re- ceipt from friend York of the Bonner County Fair premium list. In this list, the bees are recognized to the extent of $20 in premiums, besides several premiums in donations. Friend York is the Superintendent of this depart- ment. ^ Bees Which Visit Only One Species of Flowers. — The Popular Science Month- ly for August contains a very interest- ing article from the pen of John H. Lovell, of Waldoboro, Maine, with the above-named heading. It refers to varied numbers of insects belonging to the same order as our honey-bee, and incidentally to the honey-bee itself. We quote a few passages : "When a female bee. in gathering pollen for brood-rearing visits but one kind of Hower, it is termed a nionotropic bee, or if only a few allied species an oligotropic bee: but if it visits many flowers it is called a polytropic bee. These terms were first proposed by Dr. Loew. and signify adapted to one. few or many flowers. "The oligotropic habit is not beneficial to flowers, it concerns the bees alone. The oligotropic bees are almost without excep. tion solitary forms, to which there are no flowers specially adapted. The social bees, as a rule, visit a great variety of flowers, though in Europe it is stated that there is a bumble bee ' /itim/'f/s jrfr\-/intum hc(Htoniim^. Here, of course, the adaptations are mutual. This mode of flight, however, has not in general been determined by floral adaptations. Certain species of bees have become satellites of certain flowers because of the advantage thus gained for themselves, and partly also, perhaps, as the result of habit. Just as there are fly. flowers, butter- fiy flowers and bumble-bee flowers, so. on the other hand, there are willow bees, gold- en rod bees, a pickerel-weed bee. a loose- strife bee. a violet bee. and a strawberry bee. "Two most important influences are the season of the year and the length of time the bee is on the wing. It is clear that bees which fly only in spring or autumn for about a month, have not a great choice of flowers. Usually the length of time an oligotropic bee flies, and the flower it visits is in bloom are about the same. The honey-bee is prac- October, 1912. American Hae Journal tically a monotronic bee at certain seasons of the sear. While the b isswood and wliile clover are in bloom, the honeybee visits these Howers almost exclusively. Again in the fall, in Maine, it confines its attention solely to the KoUien rods. In California, at times, it collects nectar exclusively from the sages, in Michigan frinn the willow lierli. and in other regions from other plants. If from any one of these olanls it also obtained its simply of Dollen.and was on tlie wing only while it was in blonin.it would be re- garded as a monotropic bee in the strict sense of the word That it exhibits a strong tendencv. when collecting pollen, to be con- stant to one plant species is well Unr)\vn; and the little packetsof pollen it brings into the hive seldom consist of two kinds of pol- len But. when a bee flies from spring until fall, and requires a large amount of stores' it is evident that it can never become oligo- tropic." Horsemint Honey. — By the ki-idness of my friend. Prof. Wilmon Newell. I have received a liberal sample of honey from horsemint {Moiiartia fiiiulala). Horsemint is widely distributed, but is especially at home in Te.xas, and there does its most important work as a honey-plant. So I was interested in the sample, and especially so as it was put up in the style of the famous bulk- comb honey so popular in Texas. The sample was of the June flow, put up in a Simplex glass jar, containing piece. In larger vessels the comb is supposed to be twice as much as the extracted. It does seem to me that a thorough search over a .State as lari»e as Texas ought to have resulted in finding a bet- ter name than b Ik-comb honey, That name can appropriately apply to some- thing that is all comb honey, but hardly to that which is from a third to two- thirds extracted. The flavor of horsemint honey is quite pronounced. Those who sampled it agreed that it had a good taste, but a little too strong. The sampler said, "I like it better than clover honey it; has a richer flavor." That same samp- ler prefers buckwheat to clover. So what one calls rank another calls rich. Where a pronounced flavor is favored, it is easy to believe that hosemint honey should be popular. Mter writing the foregoing I sent a copy of it to Prof. Newell. A response from him showed that I didn't know all that was to be known about honey down Texas-way. I might make cor- rections according to the new light re- ceived, but Prof Newell's letter is so interesting and full of instruction that I prefer to make no corrections, but A Lesson in Extracing Honev. Manoiba. Tlnis— (See page 203.) about ^ of a pint,or a pound of honey. The general appearance was to me dis- pleasing, for it took me back to the days when the sight of a piece of comb honey resting in a liquid was a sure sign that the liquid was nothing but glucose. But that isn't fair to bulk- comb honey, for the days of such adul- teration are past and gone, and the average consumer — indeed, the pro- ducer of today — sees only a beautifully clear honey of light amber, containing a piece of comb honey that appears a bit lighter still. I didn't think to weigh the liquidand comb separately, but the mouth of the jar is of such size that it admits, with- out crushing, a piece of comb honey about a third as large as the contents of the jar. But by crushing the cor- ners one could squeeze in a larger print his letter, even if it does show up that I don't know as much as I thought I did Here is the letter: Coi,i,EGE Station. Te.x.. Aug. 24. IQ12. Dr C. C .Miller. Marengo. Ill — Dear Dr. Miller: — \ have your very kind letter of the 20th and copy of your note on the horsemint honey, prepared for the .■\merican Bee Journal. I gave you a wrong impression aboui the packingof that bit of honey I placed it in a Simplex jar because that was the right size for a sample, and \ put in both comb and extracted because I I wanted you to see both: but I certainly never intended to give the impression that //;.;/ was the way they pack bulk-comb honey in Texas. or that theproportion of extracted and comb in that jar was any indication of the proportion which ordinarily holds in the packing of bulk-comb honey. I have never seen any bnlkcomb honey put up for the general market in glass jars, and while it may be done, certainly the number of Texas bee-keepers that put up bulk comb in glass— as a regular practice- must be very scarce. It is invariably in tin pails or cans. The proportion of comb to extracted varies with the individual bee- keeper, but. for my i)ari. 1 -idvocate the *'//- /w of the p,-iil or can with comb honey after which the extra space is ftlled with extracted for the principal purpose of keeping the comb from mashing down- which It will most ceriaiiilv do if ihere is no extracted in with it Most of the bee-keep- ers, however, do not HII the cans full of comb, but only from one-lialf to three- fouthsfull. in order that they mav get full weight into the cans. A 60 pound' can, for i!n'"i"( Vi^V" ""1' ''"i''^,'' '"lly *"> pounds if tilled full of combandthenextracted added However, honey shoulj be sold by //,-/ weight' regydlessof how it is packed or what the container is. Am sorry you got the impression that I was sending you a sample of "bulk comb" ^?"MjAr ^"'■^?-J ^^"Sjust sending a sample of horsemint honey and the proportion ftaH^e extracted was purely haH-en- If youdori't like the term '■ bulk comb." sou might adnptonethat we heard of a short ime ago. away back in the slicks-in the big woods, to be explicit. The term was slug honey and the appellation is syn- onymous with bulk-comb honey " ^='" Sincerely yours. Wilmon .Vewell. ♦■ Bees Versus. Roses — Some time ago, quite a discussion was brought about by the assertion of Gaston Bonnier president of the French Central Bee- Keepers' Association, that one never saw bees upon roses, no matter how colored or how fragrant. Dr. Miller replied that he had often seen them upon the Crimson Ramblers, and that they even tore the buds open. The magazine " L'Abeille de I'Auhe," in its August number, quotes the differ- ent assertions which were made upon the subject since then, in Europe. I .Mr. Bonnier came back with the as- sertion that the bees were only hunt- ing for pollen, as. according to him, there is no nectar in roses. P Jean Huppin.of Fontenay-Aux-Roses, saw his bees take pollen on the roses, but never any nectar. .A. Martinot saw the bees often on the Crimson Rainblers and other sim- ple roses, never on the double flowers. F. Pitrat believes they find both honey and pollen on the simple flowers. Louis Rosseil, Consul of Belgium in Athens, says that in the island of Eubea, the bees work upon fields of roses, and produce a white honey much esteemed. Unicuique Suum — Under the above proverb, L'.Apicoltura Italiana, of \n- cona, Italy, in its .August issue, asks who is the discoverer of "enforced fasting" for the cure of foul brood. Dr. Cesare Colantoni quotes his own letters to L'.'\picoltore, in date of 1896, showing that he supported this method of treatment of the disease as early as 1882. We had the curiosity of looking up the records to find the earliest method of cure in the United States. Lang- stroth, in 1 8-57, gave in his book the following from a German apiarist, whom he does not name: " Drive out the bees into a clean hive and shut them up in a dark place without food for 24 hours; prepare for them another clean hive fitted up with combs from healthy col- onies, transfer the bees into it, and feed them with pure honey." This was not fully the fasting sys- tem, but a little later Quinby, in his "Mysteries of Bee-Keeping," 18Utl, page 219, says: "All the bees should be driven into an (tnply hive. If it is desirable to put them in October, 1912. American ^ae Journal a liive containing comb, they may be trans- ferred to it after tliey have been in an empty one ionsr etioui:h to lonstititc all the hont-y they ha-ce carried with them." E. P. .^bbe, of Massachusetts, in September, 1879, reported in the Ameri- can Bee Journal for that year, page 4."i0, that he successfully practiced the confining of bees until they had used up all their honey, as a cure for foul brood; L. C. Whiting, in the National convention of that year made a similar report. It was probably at this meeting that the attention of D. A. Jones, of Canada, was drawn to the " starvation method," which resulted in its being adopted by Canadian apiarists and becoming known as the " McEvoy cure." Many of us have read about it. but so many different methods were claimed as suc- cessful that but little attention was paid to it by the general public until the !)0's. Schirach is said to 'have been the first man to try this method and suc- ceed. Comb Honey. — Farmers' Bulletin No. .503, of the Department of Agriculture, has been sent to us by Dr. E. F. Phil- lips, to whom we extend our thanks. This bulletin was written by Geo. S. Demuth, Apicultural Assistant. It is quite exhaustive, contains 48 pages and 20 illustrations, some of which are original. In perusing this work we notice that Mr. Demuth lays stress upon what we consider a very important point in honey-production, too often neglected. It is the necessity of securing the force of workers at the proper time for the honey-flow, building up the colony early enough, providing sufticient stores and available brood-space, preserving the heat of the brood-nest, etc. There are also most judicious instructions for preventive measures in regard to swarming. Three pages are devoted to caring for the crop. The bulletin may be obtained free by addressing the Secretary of Agri- culture, Washington, D. C. Northern Illinois and Southern Wis- consin Meeting.- The annual meeting of the Northern Illinois and Southern Wisconsin Bee-Keepers' Association will be held in the Court House at Rockford, 111., on Tuesday, Oct. 1.'), 1012. All those interested in bee-keep- ing are cordially invited to attend. B. Kennedy, Sec. 2.507 W. State St., Rockford, 111. A New Cage for Shipping Bees. — The Eclitor received, from Mr. ¥.. K. Root, Sept. \'.^, a 3-pound cage of bees, of which we give cuts, both full and empty. The cage was accompanied by a letter, stating that experiments were being made of shipping bees in hot weather without combs, for migratory bee-keeping. A tin water bottle and vertical wooden slats are the principal new points of this method. The bees came through in splendid shape, but the liot weather had just abated, and the temperature at the tiine when the bees were received was only about ().5 degrees. But as there were not more than a dozen dead bees in the cage,-^ and the swarm was apparently con-1 tented and had ventilation all around, "• it is our opinion that this method will prove a success in almost any kind of summer weather, and our thanks are heartily extended to Mr. Root for his judicious experiment. It cannot fail to be useful to bee-keepers all over the country. Judges Kansas Exhibit. — Mr. C. P. Dadant was judge of the honey-e.xhibit of the Kansas State Fair at Hutchin- son, Kan., Sept. 18. The exhibtt was very fine. An account of it will be given in our next number. Fire at Cincinnati A fire destroyed a part of the F. W. Muth Co.'s stock of honey and supplies Sept. 10, but Mr. Muth reports that most of the loss was covered by insurance, and that they will sulTer but little in consequence of this. They are moving to 204 Walnut Street. , ^ 1 Illinois Bee-Keepers to Meet The Illinois State Bee-Keepers' Association will hold its annual meeting at the State House in Springfield Oct. 30 and 31, 1912. Matters of importance to the bee-keepers of the State will be dis- cussed, and a large attendance is ex- pected. Bee-Keeping ^ For Women Conducted bv Miss Emma M. Wilson, Mareneo. 111. Not Afraid of Bees We have received the following let- ter and photograph from Mr. J. C. Mosgrove, of Medina, Ohio : Will you permit mere man to contribute something for your page in the Bee .Journal. The enclosed photograph was taken in my apiary. The young lady shown never had a finds a more economical and healthful substitute for sugar, but also for the reason that the bees fill the honey with a natural preservative that keeps cakes fresh for an indefinite period. In fact, the Germans use honey in their salad- dressing, which not only gives it a de- licious flavor, but it has also been found that it satisfies the child's crav- ing for sweets so that he has no desire for any subsequent dessert, — Lathes' Home Journal. Oh. PsjiAw I VVims AiKAip? frame of bees in her hands before, but she had the grit to hold it and pose for her picture. *-*-^' The Value of Honey as a Food We do not as yet begin to realize the wonderful food that the bees offer us in their honey, and no child is apt to overeat it, owing to its cloying nature. Ill Germany the intelligent housewife uses honey in her cakes, puddings and gingerbread, not only because she thus Queer Doings of Bees Bees are freakish things. Sometimes they seem to be practical jokers, doing some unusual thing to discomfit the bee-keeper and then chuckling over it. July 20, this year, a queen-cell with .3 eggs in it was found in colony No. 2. The presence of more than one egg in a queen-cell is a sure sign of laying workers, but this case, instead of a sure sign, proved a joke, for 10 days later brood showed that the queen had been present. August 12 a swarm was seen issuing from this same hive. No. 2. Pretty soon a queen was caught issuing from the entrance, but instead of having clipped wings, her wings were whole — she was a virgin ! She was caged, and the cage was stuck in the entrance. E.xamina- tion showed that no queen-cells were in the hive, nor any unsealed brood. The swarm returned after a time — it was a big one — and the queen was lib- erated in the evening. So far as we know they did not swarm again, and 8 days later she was found laying nicely. The question is whether the bees in- tended to abscond, leaving no sign of a queen or a queen-cell in the hive, whether they were trying to accompany the young queen on her wedding-flight, or whether it was all a joke. August 10, a swarm issued from No. 49, and returned. The next day the hive was opened and a virgin was found present. A day later a large swarm issued again, settled on a tree, then arose and settled on anotlier tree. It stayed there so long that it looked October, 1912. American ^Bee Journal j 299 as if the next move would be to go off for good. So it was hived, and a frame of brood was given to it. Soon after being put on its stand the swarm came out again and returned to its old liive — all but a few bees which stayed on the frame of brood, making a nucleus to which a virgin was given 3 days later, and today she is busy laying eggs. A few days later a young queen was found laying in No. ID, and she was promptly clipped. It would seem that No. I'J had no no- tion of going off any of the time, but was only making believe so as to frighten us. No. .'3:! swarmed and its clipped queen disappeared. Five days later a young laying i|ueen was dropped on one of the combs among the bees. A rather reckless way of introducing, but when there is a good flow of nectar it is often successful. Three days later neither eggs nor queen were found in the hive, and a lot of queen-cells had been started. It was marked queen- less in the book, and a virgin was given, When she was old enough to be laying, plenty of eggs were found, and search was made for the queen so as to clip her. But when she was found she was already clipped. Clearly the laying queen that was dropped on the comb had not been killed, but had re- mained in the hive 3 days or more without laying. Was she hidden in some corner of the hive chuckling to herself when the fruitless search for eggs was made ? Of course, the virgin queen had been killed, but if the laving queen had not been clipped the mistake might have been made of supposing that the virgin had succeeded in introduction. European Foul Brood A bee-keeping sister who has a little European foul brood in her apiary de- sires to know whether we still prefer to treat that disease by temporarily stopping brood-rearing rather than by melting up the combs. Yes, we do. We have returns of the disease after such treatment, but so we did when we brushed the bees upon foundation and melted up the combs. But if watched reasonably close no case ever becomes very bad. One of the most important things in the treatment is to make sure that the colony is made slio?iff, either by uniting colonies or by giving frames of sealed brood from healthy colonies ; of course, unless the colony is already strong. No use trying to do anything with a weakling. The queen may be killed, and, at the same time, with proper precautions, a queen-cell or a just-hatched virgin of very best stock, Italian preferred, may be given, and the bees will do the rest. If there are only a few bad cells in the hive, and a vigorous queen is present, the queen may be caged in the hive for 8 or 10 days and freed at the end of that time, all queen-cells being killed. Last year every case was thus treated, even if only a single bad cell was found in the hive. This year there are about a third as many cases as last year, so the matter does not look hopeless. Of course, we cannot tell how many or which cases came from diseased colo- nies outside, and which from'germs within their own keeping. It is proper to remark that we have had several cases with only a very few bad cells in the hive where the bees have cleaned it up without any killing or caging of the queen. Dandelion HV NELLIE .\l. GARAHKANT. [To get the full effect of the follow- ing dainty bit of verse, read it aloud: — Editor.] There's a dandy little fellow Who dresses all in yellow- In yellow with an overcoat of green; With his hair ail crisp and curly. In the spring-time, bright and early. Atripping o'er the meadow he is seen. Through all the bright, spring weather. Is seen his yellow feather. As he wanders o'er the hillside down the road. In mossy hollows damp. Where the gypsy fire-flies camp. His companions are the woodlark and the toad. Spick and spandy little dandy. Golden dancer in the dell ! Green and yellow happy fellow. All the children love him well. But at last this little fellow. Doffs his dandy coat of yellow. And very feebly totters o'er the green— For he very old is growing. And with hair all white and flowing, A-nodding in the sunlight he is seen. The little winds of morning Come a-flying through the grass. And clap their hands around him in their glee. They shake him without warning— His wig falls off. alas ! And a little bald-head dandy now is he. Oh. poor dandy, once so spandy, Golden dancer on the lea! Older growing, white hair flowing. Poor little bald-head dandy now is he '. — Canadian Bcc Journal. A Swarmy Season In nurtliern Illinois the season of 1!I12 has been perhaps the swarmiest on record. No doubt the heat coupled with the great dampness had something to do with it. When a young queen is reared in a hive and begins laying, we figure that there is no need to count on any swarming from that hive before the ne.xt year. Well, this year we had two cases in which a young queen was reared in the hive and began laying beside her mother, and yet those young queens issued with swarms. It was not be- cause these two queens were reared so early, for a queen reared very early may be counted somewhat as a queen reared the previous year. In No. 7 the young queen did not begin laying until after June 11, In No, G4 the young queen did not begin laying until after July 11. And yet that miserable young- ster came off with a swarm Aug. 26. It seems that there has been trouble elsewhere with swarming. In the British Bee Journal is given the follow- ing case of one of the British sisters: " A lady began bee-keeping with a 4-pound swarm, hived on May 20 on eight sheets of foundation. As the queen was not fertile a week later, two frames of brood were given to the colony. By June 28 the queen had filled every available cell with brood and the bees began a case of sections. On July 12 a 5-pound swarm issued from the hive, and as the honey season was considered at an end it was not returned, but placed in a new hive on six sheets of foundation and one frame of brood. The next day, the 14th. was very hot. and a splendid honey day. and. strange to say. the bees of this last swarm must have made up their minds to give off a swarm for this is- sued on the iQth, leaving three frames of bees, an abundance of eggs, and four queen- cells, some of them containing larvce appar- ently two days old. This small colony was given a frameof broodand a ripe queen-cell and will doubtless soon become a vigorous colony, I need hardly say. perhaps, that the queens which have played these "pranks" and their relatives will be dethroned before the winter. Emi Western W) Bee-Keeping Conducted by Wesley Foster. Boulder. Colo. More About Co-operation and the Middle- man In my small article on beekeeping and accounting in comment on Mr, Foster's arti- cle in the .June issue of the Bee Journal, 1 seem to have started something. I had no idea I was so far behind the times. In my simplicity I had taken for granted that the principles of accounting applied equally to all other business as well as the retail lumber business. But, according to ^Ir, Foster, it can not be fairly applied to bee-keeping. Again I learned that I was en- tirely wrong in figuring the labor account in bee-keeping. Instead of charging the bees with only the actual time for the work of caring for them. I should have followed the example of the "Professional Snow Shov- eler," who, on account of making a living for himself and family, insisted on charging prices accordingly for the few days he did have work at his trade in this climate. There is one matter mentioned by Mr. Fos- ter on which we seem to agree, that is where he marketed his honey direct to the con- sumer, and made him pay an additional price for the completed service, a thing which, when done in part by the middle- man, is quite generally regarded as a seri- ous offense against morals, and the vested rights of the producer and consumer. But these few cases of getting the goods to the consumer mentioned by Mr, Foster were easy. Take the case of the Iowa farmer, wanting a couple of boards from Washington to repair his hay-rack, or one piece of oak from Arkansas to repair his machine, or one thin poplar board from Tennessee to fix something about the house. Even that panacea for all the ills of the markets, the parcels post, with all its possi- bilities of graft and subsidy, would do no good. .After working the telephone to all the neighboring towns, in the hopes of salv- ing a nickel, he would still have to knuckle to the conscienceless " lumber trust." in the person of the retail dealer, as the cheapest source of supply. This question of doing away with the mid-t dleman is as old as the oldest recorded human history. It seems to be one of the unsolved problems comingdown through all recorded time. If there is any cheaper way to accomplish the services oerformed by the middleman, it surely would have been found by this time. To all appearance he will be with us up to the time when the producer and consumer shall have no further occa- sion to produce and consume In the mean- 300 Octobar, 1812. American l^ee Journal time, the middleman will insist on getting enoiiBh comi^ensation for his services so he and his family can Wsa. I'rm'ided lie eives h'ls scrviifs at UasI as (/ii'afi/v as anyfyvdv else does. In regard to returns on money invested. Mr. Foster's ideas are surely exaggerated when he exiiects them to at least ecinal i-ire- vailini; rates of interest on money. I can as- sure him there are many owners of lo>va high-priced land that would be willing to give something for information of a sure way to rent their farm land for cash to net them in an excess of i percent on its mark- etable value. Mr. Foster, in his off-hand way. says that the labor required for caring for bees amounts to $200 or $300 per colony. This might apply to a few colonies, but in case of a large number of colonies it looks like a " watered " labor account, after the manner of some of our great corporations issuing watered stock as bonuses or melons, this rolling and thinning out actual investment, so as to properly cover up the enormous profits. Now. Mr. Foster is a bee-keeper, and if he keeps records he can give us the exact hgures in his case. If he keeps no complete accounts, his guess is of little value as against actual records. With these few comments. 1 will be pleased, on my part, to close this unexpected controversy. It does not appear to me that any actual general in- formation of value can be secured by a lot of statements unaccompanied by actual facts, or by appeals to that time-tried preju- dire against the "unholy profits" of the middleman. Yours truly. Madrid. Iowa. G. W. Fehieisen. I gave my accounts in the June issue, and Mr. Fehieisen has not given his. I might say that a good western bee-man can do the bee-work for 100 colonies in about a month's time, but he will work more tlian K hours to do it, and perhaps 7 days in the week during the swarming season. The whole family generally help, so that as this addi- tional help is not counted in, it is prt tty hard to give exact figures. One dollar for supplies for a hive is the general estimate here in the West, where comb honey is produced. My figures showed only 83 cents per hive. If Mr. Fehiei- sen will set down as full an accounting as I have done in the June issue, I will be glad to see it. My accounting for 100 colonies there shown is belter than I have averaged for a .'i-year period. Mr. Fehieisen is not imbued with ihe spirit of the co-operative movement; he does not realize that this working together of producers is broader than parcels post, the marketing problem, or the eliinination of the unnecessary middlemen. The co-operative move- ment is an expre.viijan of the growing mind and heart of the people. Pro- ducers are getting together in Iowa under the leadership of Holden, and are raising more and better corn — that is one phase of the co-operative move- ment. Western fruit men are getting together in grading and packing schools wliere they can learn to put up a box of apples ; not one with a worm in it. and every apple larger than 'ZU or2'i inclies in diameter. An abso- lutely honest pack is being put out in a half dozen western States, fostered by the fruit associations. This is an- other phase of the co-operative spirit. Producers in Europe have the parcels post, and tlie demand for it here is an expression of the co-operative spirit which se''ks to have the utmost of elli- ciency in production and distribution. Every successful co-operative asso- ciation is proof that it is more econo- mical than the competitive method. If it were not, the co-operative association could not last. The greatest benefit of co-operation is that it makes the pro- ducers honest. If they ship with their fellow members, each has to put up honest goods. There is no chance of beating the buyer, as is so often tried by producers selling to dealers. I do not thinkthat producers are any more honest than any other class of men ; they are human, but the co-opera- tive method of distribution tends to make them honest. The members soon catch the spirit of co-operation, and they become better men. Co-op- erative associations are in a limited way doing the work of distribution where direct dealing with the consumer is impracticable. We probably never will have a direct dealing in all lines between producer and consumer. Dis- tribution is in a sense a part of produc- tion, and is the field for the activities of the co-operative association. Mr. Fehieisen considers the middle- man a permanent fixture, while I con- sider him a temporary means to be the easiest to rear that I have ever known, and nearly everything super- seded, sometim'es twice during the summer. Swarms were still issuing Aug. 2.5 in some of the Arkansas valley apiaries. Colorado is not alone in this swarming proposition, as Idaho had a like experi-nce. Not having any re- ports from other western States at hand, this is all that I can speak for, but the season was such that Utah and Wyoming probably resembled Colo- rado and Idaho in the matter. THE HONEV CROP. Colorado very nearly made up her loss in bees of the past winter in the increase by swarming, and honey will be shipped this year in about the same amounts as in 1911. The Western Slope will not have as much shipping of honey as last year. The Arkansas val- ley will have more comb lioney and a great deal more extracted. Northern Desckii'Tion of Native and Improved Hives at the Common Schools in Manoua. Tunis— (See page 205^. employed until we have direct dealing and co-operative distribution in suc- cessful operation. If the middleman can distribute goods as cheaply as it can be done by direct and co operative effort, the middleman will be with us for a long time. That is the question. Mr. Fehieisen thinks he can, while I believe that the producers and consumers will find greater profit to themselves to take over distribution along more economical lines. Sentiment will not rule liere. Producers and consumers will not allow an undue tax to be ex- acted for the act of distribution when they get wisdom enough to organize and keep more economical systems in operation. And 1 am satisfied that they are learning. Swarming in tlie West The increase in bees has been large this season. Swarming has been a problem to tlie extracted-honey men as well as the comb-honey producers. The increase has been as high as 300 percent in some apiaries near Denver. Many swarms were lost through lack of hives to hold them. Queens were Colorado will have about the same as last year, if not more. Reports from northern Colorado are a trifle conflict- ing. If I should write this 10 day^ later I could give a more accurate re- port. Idaho will ship more honey from the southern and western portion, and less from the eastern part if my informers have had yields indicative of the whole districts concerned. The quality of the comb honey in northern Colorado is below the average, our crop near Boulder being a decided yellow. the HONEV MARIkET. Comb honey buyers have bought the most of the honev in Idaho and eastern Oregon at $2.7.") for No. I and $2..")0 for No. 2. This is considered a good price when freight rates are noted. The honey was contracted for about the first of August. Idaho and eastern Oregon have a whiter honey than that of most of the Colorado districts, but their grading methods are not as close as those stipulated in the Colorado rules. Quite a large amount of cull honey is included in the No. 2 grades, and a rather wide latitude is given to the No. 1 grades. The shipping-cases used are O«tober, 1912. American Hee Journal of cheaper construction, as a rule. The claim is made that there is far more money in putting up comb honey, as they do in Idaho and some parts of Colorado, and selling at ■^'1 '>» and ^'i.lo than grading more closely and getting $2.8(1 to ^■■i:^:j. It certainly takes less time and effort than where one follows the new rules closely. Comb honev is selling in the Arkan- sas valley at $;i()0 to $3.10, and sales being made about as fast as tlie pro- ducers can get the honey ready. There will be but few carload shipments of comb honey from the valley this year on account of the demand in Kansas for local shipments. A sale was made late in August of nearly a car of ex- tracted honey at $8..')0 a case of two liO- pound cans. In local shipments of more or less size the price is $10 a case with good sale. Bulk-comb honey sells faster than the producers can cut out their baits and fill the cans with them at $(i 00 for a tiO-pound can. .A few get $t)..jO for this honey. In southwestern Colorado comb honey brings about $2.10 a case; the price would be better if the freight- rate was not so prohibitive, making it impossible to cater to anything but a local market. Extracted honey, how- ever, brings 8 to 1" cents a pound, which helps even things up a trifle. There is not going to be a large amount of comb honey left in Colorado after Christmas, and this is as it should be. There are a great many bees for sale in the State this year, and any one wishing to get a foothold should have no trouble in buying an outfit at less cost than moving a carload into the State and crowding some other bee- keepers' territory, or perhaps making him think he is being crowded. Southern Beedom^ Conducted by Lovis H. ScnOLi . New Braunfels. Tex. What Strain of Bees is Best for Soutfi- western Texas? One of the ditficulties the apiarist has to contend with in this iiart of Texas is the long-continued drouth, although taking: the State over, I don't siippo-;e it is more subject to drouths than many others. It is a very large State, and portions of it are almost a barren desert. Tlie extreme drouths are mostly confined to central west and southwestTexas. When they prevail it is next to impossible to get the bees to breed up; all vegetation dries. and there is practically nothing for them to get in the way of either pollen or honey. Queens stop laying, the bees cluster on the outside of the hive, and the novice is often led to believe that they are preparing to swarm. This goes on from day to day. even weeks, then a shower comes, followed with more or less bloom, and the queens soon till the hives with eggs, but by the time the mesQuite pronounced meskeet) blooms, which is from three to four weeks after the rain, the old bees have died off until there are very few left to gather the harvest. Such is the case here at the present w-riting. We are having a fine mesquite flow with very few bees to gather i-t. We often resort to feeding at such times, but unless there is something to furnish pollen, that is a failure, for the bees do not develop the eggs into brood. Some ^11 year^ago. when the Cyprian and Syrian bees were imported by n. .A. Jones and Frank Benton, we gave them a trial with the hope of overcoming this trouble. They were said to be great breeders by the late B. F. Carroll, of Dresden. Tex., and others tliat were favorably impressed with ttleiii. They were an improvement over the Ital ians as breeders, and perhaps as workers, but their extremely cross disposition was too much for me. I have since kept more or less Carniolans. and their crosses in one of my out-apiaries, but their excessive swarm- iOK. when everything is favorable, makes them undesirable for an out apiary, al- though they are good workers and comb- builders I would be pleased to hear from Mr. l^ouis Scholl.or others who have tried the Caucasians in the South, w-here we have these long drouths. I.. B. Smith. Rescue. Tex. Now, Mr. Smith, you leave the im- pression that we have an awful laud here in Texas, when you lament about the serious drouths that we have to meet sometimes. But is it not a fact that these drouths do not exist in all parts of the State at the same time, and that they do not always affect the honey crop ? We may say that we make just as good honey crops in vari- ous localities, with a long drouth at some time of the year, if we only have a fall or winter season to aid the plants and trees in nectar-yielding the follow- ing spring or early summer. Mes- quite is one of these. I hardly think that we can overc^ime the difficulty mentioned by you with any race of bees as readily as we might with the proper management and ma- nipulation of our colonies. I know that there are localities in north Texas where long, continued drouths exist between the early spring and the fall honey seasons. It is impossible to keep the colonies over this dearth suc- cessfully by leaving the honey on the the hives, for the reason that they will breed heavily until it is all used up. They may even swarm during the dearth and the swarms be lost by starva- tion unless fed or supplied with honey. To prevent this I recommended, many years ago, to take away the combs of honey and keep them stored so that a few at a time could be given when actually needed. This would help to discourage the heavy breeding and swarming during the drouthy period. Tiding the colonies over the drouth in this way would keep them in normal strength ; but witli some extra labor, however, they would be in good shape for the cotton honey-flow from which the main part of the honey-crop is realized. Another remedy that I have sug- gested is the planting of sweet clover, so that a moderate flow of nectar may be created during the drouth period. Since this generally lasts during May and June, sweet clover comes in very nicely, as it begins to bloom and con- tinues over the entire drouth period that usually plays havoc on the colo- nies as related by Mr. Smith. This same question came up at one time when I attended the North Texas Bee-Keepers' Association meeting. I recommended the aforesaid two reme- dies to be tried out by the bee-keepers who were thus located. What the re- sults were I have never learned, but being interested in these things, as well as all information on apicultural topics of the State of Texas in the capacity of Apicultural Expert of the Texas Department of Agriculture, it would give me great pleasure to hear from some of the north and central Texas bee-keepers on this subject. For the benefit of those who have not a copy of my recent bee-bulletin, the following concerning sweet clover is herewith reproduced: WHITE AND VELLOW SWEET CLOVER. As a general rule none of the clovers thrive well in this State except the sweet clovers — white sweet clover Meli/otm ttNhi' and yellow sweet clover {.!/. offiiiatiaU.A Seasons over most of the State are too dry for the white clover, from which the greater part of the honey of the northeast is produced. There are a few localities in the south Texas coast country, however, where this grows well. In many places in Texas there are periods during which there is no bloom from which the bees can obtain even enough honey for the sustenance of their colonies. These dearths, between honey flows from natural sources, are sometimes very long ones. In some localities they occur between the spring and fall flows, and are very serious, as the bees sometimes starve during their continuance unless fed. Feeding bees at these times is objectionable, because it in- cites robbing and stimulates the bees to un- necessary brood-renring. besides using up a large q lantity of food. In such cases, plant- ing of sweet clover beforehand, to tide the bees over, might bring good results, as the clover, if it thrives, will come into bloom and yield nectar during the time. There is great variation in the length of these dearths in various localities, beginning and ending soon in some and late in others. In many places the gap maybe tilled entirely by the blooming period of sweet clover, which be- gins about June i in most localities, and a lilile earlier in other and more protected situations, and depending alsoui)on weather conditions. The yellow variety begins to bloom several weeks earlier in the season. Either variety, however, would cover the period of the average dearth, and the meli- lotus blooms very well in favorable seasons when planted in localities favorable to its growth In situations not so favorable, and during dry seasons, the blooming period is shortened considerably. Ho«'ever. it gen- erally extendsduringjune. Julyand August. Swt et clover grows well .ifter it is started, and waste places, in which are found the poorest soils, can be planted with this for- age crop for the bees. There are thousands of acres of such waste land that could be made to grow sweet clover in the [ilace of weeds. Our fence rows would be worth tliousands of dollars if sweet clover grew where weeds of no use whatever now dis- port themselves. Especially would the clover be valuable where the nectar yield would be produced just at a timewhen there was nothing else in bloom. It was once feared that sweet clover was a noxious weed that spread rapidly and was iiard to kill out of a field. Tiiis apprehen- sion has been proven to be baseless, since a single plowing will kill the clover, and there is no danger of its spreading out of its bounds. It grows well in the northeastern part of the State, where it has become abundant in various places. It needs little attention in localities where the atmos- pheric and sc il conditions are not too dry. In the dry parts of the State west and south- west Texas it is hardly advisable lo plant sweet clover except in some of the lowland fertile vaJleys and along streams It has been found that it grows luxuriantly when drilled in rows and cultivated, but it would hardly pay to do this as a forage plant as its growth is large and coarse. The seed should be obtained in the fall of the year and scattered in v^■aste places and along fence rows, and rains will beat it. in October. 16lf American Vae Journal It s best where erass and weeds do not crowd the plants out. When once started it re-seeds itself. Being a perennial it does not bloom until its second seasons growth. Sweet clover honey is of grood qualitj', light in color, and of very good flavor. The bees work industriously on the bloom from early until late. the other 2 have not that much. I there is enough to pay the feeding bill, it will be better than nothing, anyway. All this wet weather had one good effect for the bee-keeper; that is, the clover is wonderful all over, and, bar- ring winter killing, the prospects are good for next year from that source. Conducted by J. T^. BvER. Mt Joy. Ontario. Ontario Bee-Keepers' Association Will Meet in Convention The Ontario Bee-Keepers' Associa- tion will hold their annual meeting in Toronto Tuesday, Xov. 12. The pro- gram is not ready, but as soon as it is prepared due notice will be given, also information about railway rates, hotel accommodations, etc. Needless to say, as usual, we are expecting a large at- tendance of Canadian bee-keepers and a big bunch of our cousins from "over the line." At the season of the year when the convention is held, most of the bee-keepers' work is done, and a holiday certainly does one good after the busy months of the summer season. (3ne unfortunate thing in connection with the date of the convention is, tliat it prevents many of our best bee-keep- ers from attending, as a lot of them are nimrods, and are away at that season on their annual deer hunt in the north- ern woods. In speaking of this, I am reminded that at the north yard, established this spring, an occasional deer wanders in among the bees, one being seen in the apiary a few weeks ago. Just how the bees treat their pretty visitors I am not prepared to say, as I have not seen any in the yard when I have been there. As there are also a few bears in the same locality, I have been wondering if they would visit the apiary later on, but I am not anticipating any harm from depredations on their part. How- ever, if any should decide to visit the apiary, I hope it will be when some one is around so that I may have the privilege of treating some of the con- vention visitors to a "slice of bear steak." Certainly, I would like to have a menu of that variety to complete the anticipations of a friend in the States, who said he was taught in the schools that up in Canada the winters are so cold that often the inhabitants have to drink raw oil to keep from freezing to death. Bear steak and raw oil should be warm enough diet to satisfy the most cold-blooded mortal on the con- tinent. «~*-^ Little Nectar in Buckwheat The long, cool, wet spell has stayed right with us all through August, and as a result the many acres of buck- wheat have yielded little iiectar, and heavy feeding for winter will be neces- sary to keep the bees from starving, as in all my experience I have never seen brood-nests so full of brood as they are now (Sept. 7). The bees have seemingly just enough to stimulate brood-rearing, and the hives denote June conditions rather than September. September, to date, has been warm and sultry, and this is aggravating the situa- tion, for the fall flowers are yielding just enough to keep up this heavy brood-rearing. Italians, which are us- ually very conservative about brood- rearing at this season of the year, are as bad as Carniolans. This means not only a heavy feeding, but late feeding as well, as it would be folly to do any Are Queens Fertilized Near the Hives from Which they Issue ? Whether queens, as a rule, fly a long distance from the hive when on their mating flight is, I believe, a mooted question. Some observations in a small apiary of mine lead me to believe that most of the queens are fertilized near the hives from which they issue. Some 6 or 7 years ago I placed about 20 colonies with a friend who had about the same number, and the apiary con- sists of about 50 colonies at present. Mine were placed about 6 rods to the Experimental .Apiary. Manouka. Ti'nis. feeding under present conditions. Mr. Knox, of Orono, Out., has sent me a reading of the thermometer from Aug. 17 to Sept. 5, and a glance over it will show why the buckwheat was a failure. Monilngr Noon DCK. Degf. .Aug. 17. 50. cool, cloudy at night ■; i8. 5u. " 10. 60. cloudy all day 7o. " 20. 62, sunshine at Markham 21. 62, 22. 60. foggy 23. .=i4. sunshine 24. 47. rain 2!;. 65, sunshine " 26, 66. rain 27. 60. clear, windy 28. so. cloudy 2«. 54. sunshine 10. 42, M. 52. rain. Sept. I. 5«. " " 2. 58, " 3. 64. cloudy 4. sunshine 5. sun and rain r. p.m. Dee. 64. 76, 62. rain. 58. 70. 64. 70. rain 50. " 88. «o. 70. 56. rain. 52. 70. sun. 50. 71. " 48. 70, " 54, 72. clod' y 50. 70, rain, 60. sun. Ro. •' 811. " rain southeast of those of my friend, and between the 2 lots there is a heavy growth of fruit trees, mostly apple and plum, with shrubbery undernearth the trees. My bees were mostly Carnio- lans, while the others were native blacks of a nervous, cross disposition. After these years 01 close neigh- boring, my yard is still largely Car- niolan, while the other bees are as black and nervous as ever. I expected a general mixing up, and still expect it, but I am surprised at the way the two different lots have preserved their identity, and can form no other conclu- sion than the one advanced. In our section we had some early buckwheat, and during the first week of August three or four hot days. Dur- ing these days the flow was very heavy, and we looked for a big crop of buck- wheat honey. As it is, 5 of the 7 yards have each about one full super, while Glad Reciprocity Was Not Carried Speaking of crop and price condi- tions, in the Bee-Keepers' Review for September, Kditor Tyrrell says that first-class honey should command not less than 9 cents, wholesale, in OO-pound tin cans; this is, I believe, in reference to raspberry, clover and basswood honey. As we are readily getting 11 cents per pound, wholesale, for our honey in Ontario, it is needless to say October, 1912. American "Bac Jonrnal j that many of us are not sorry that reci- procity was not carried into effect a year ago. Without that 3 cents per pound duty on honey coming into Can- ada, liow long would we get U cents? Extracted honey of first-class quality at i> cents is ulloi^'elhci- too iJifaf when compared with the price of other food products, and it is time bee-keepers were organized so that such a condi- tion of affairs can be remedied. of life. The expenses of traveling are an item to be considered, but with bees in ilifferent places, one is not so apt to meet with a complete failure all around. However, 20(* miles is a little too far, and next spring we contemplate mov- ing this lot nearer home, provided a suitable location is found. fine climate and the great variety of honey-plants, it has a great future. Out-Apiary 200 Miles Away On Monday. Sept. 9, 1 expect to leave for the east yard, some 200 miles away, to take care of the buckwheat honey and get the bees ready for winter. My son came home ."^ug. 1, and since that date we have not been there. After getting the bees ready for winter, we will not see them again until next May. A competent man will put them in the caves in November. Long range bee- keeping of this nature has some draw- backs, but it affords pleasure, as the trips give one an oportunity of seeing the country, and it breaks the monotony A Swarm of Bees in September With little nectar coming in, and that lillU- coming nearly every day, the bees seem to think that June is here instead of September, and Sept. 4 a bouncing swarm came from a colony headed by a queen of this year's rear- ing. This is a new record in my ex- perience, and instead of returning it to the hive which would no doubt have been the most proiilablc thing, I hived them on drawn comb and gave them two combs of brood as bonus. With winter stores supplied, I see no reason why they should not survive the win- ter. If a " swarm of bees in July is not worth a fly," what about a swarm in September .■' Bee-Keeping In Dixie^ Conducted by J. J. Wilder, Cordele. Ga. y [Carrying Honey Over Until Spring It will be almost impossible to dis-l pose of all the summer crop of honey to the best advantage before it granu- lates on the market, and thereby gives' trouble. This will especially be true^ for the large producers. As the market' is well supplied sales will be slow, as' cold weather is near at hand, and most; of the honey will granulate, it will be best to only remove what we have salesj for. .'Vs soon as cold weather is here," shut off the sales and leave the rest on|^ the hives until spring. It can then be' Smiles, was made this summer. It is aneedless to state that what I saw of Jour industry would make a large vol- Sume, and much of it would be practical sand instructive. I will use some of gthe information thus collected as space Jand time permit. I I saw a number of bee-keepers who Iproduce honey by the carload, and api- aries where all colonies were keeping 'pace storing; no colonies running [ahead or behind, but were on equality lin strength and storing. These bee- ikeepers were e.xpert queen-breed- |ers as well as honey-producers, and removed and put on the market before^^ ^ ^,^^^ ^^^^^^ ^j everything the spring flow begins and as theref^ig^'^^ bee-keepers were badly discour- will be great demand for it, it should Jg^g^^ because other lines of business sell at a good price, ilhad completely crowded out bee-keep- At the approach of cold weather them gut the greatest number were honey should be equalized among the U^^^^^ ^^o had taken up bee-keeping as colonies, so the bees can take better 1 -^ ^^^^ j^^^,^ ^^ ^^^^^ , ^„. care of it; for if a large surplus is left, >^„,,raged over their venture, because on some of the hives i wi 1 get cold \ ^^^ ,^[^,^^ had been good and losses above the cluster and stay thus during-^-j ^^ expressed themselves as winter. It is not best to keep too y. . . »- much honey on the hives for this rea- son. I have kept as much as one super of surplus honey on many colonies during winter, and I have had a tine lot of honey for the early spring trade. A 3000-Mile Trip Visiting Bee-Keepers It is my greatest desire to know the end of ail things relative to bee-keep- ing within the bounds of Dixie, that I may impart the information thus ob- tained to others. To do this, and do justice to my busi- ness, I must make tours visiting pro- gressive bee-keepers all over the ter- ritory as often as time admits. My longest trip, which was about 3000 few. They expressed themselves not even thinking of laying aside bee- keeping, for they could not afford to. Lots of beginners were at the front with their few colonies of bees, and asked a good many questions on bee- culture. Nearly all of this class of bee-keepers wanted me to give them the " royal road to bee-keeping,'' so they could soon and easily become ex- tensive bee-keepers. This, I told them, can only be done by constant study and work. Summing up the whole trip, I must say that I am delighted with the prog- ress of our industry, for I saw and heard things about it that I had never dreamed of. After all, our industry is not so small here as it is supposed to be, and taking under consideration our The Proper Way to Start Bee-Keeping We became interested in bee-culture in 18117, and began working with some of our pioneer bee-keepers, namely Mr. A. B. Marchant, Mr. S. S. Alderman and Mr. C. F. Glenn, all of whom are widely known as apiarists of knowl- edge and experience. In I'JOO, we bought 100 colonies from Mr. Marchant, costing us about $G.O0 per colony when we placed them on stands in our yard. The first season we actually got 30 barrels of honey from that 100 colonies of bees. This was an exceptional flow, and is still talked of. We have never had such a flow since. The following two years, 1901 and 1902, we did not get any honey. But we have had small flows each sea- son since, averaging about one-third of a crop each year, counting it on a 10-year basis. We have never had anv trouble in marketing honey. It has proved to be a profitable investment, even with failures and short crops. It is pleasant work, and both of us take great interest in it. Our apiary is located at Kentucky Landing, on the Apalachicola river, in the heart of the tupelo belt. At one time we had a good many Italian bees, but owing to wild bees and other api- aries they have bred back into almost black bees. Still, at the time we had the Italian bee we also had the black bee, and there wasn't any dift'erence as to the amount of honey gathered. It was rather in favor of the black bee. We are, at this time, requeening every colony in our yard, of which there are more than 200. We use reg- ularly the ]0-frame hive with Hoff- man frames, and produce only ex- tracted honey. We have our wax made into foundation, and sell surplus, if any, after we have sufficient founda- tion. RisH & Brother. lola, Fla. A Large Apiary in the South Mr. J. R. Hunter, of Wewahitchka, Fla., handed the writer, while on a visit to him this summer, a snap-shot of one of his apiaries located on the Chipola river in west Florida, in the great tupelo gum region. This was a picture of 2.!)0 colonies, all run for ex- tracted honey. The picture which is here produced would very well illus- trate an article in the Dixie Depart- rnent for August, answering the ques- tion, may bee-keeping be resorted to as a sole occupation which will bring sufficient returns for a livelihood. The thrift of this apiary denotes that it does in this instance at least. The amount of capital invested is very small, but coupled with energy and a great love for the work. In our department for September the picture and article show that we can invest capital in bees and turn them over to trustworthy and energetic peo- ple and receive good returns from the irivestment. Now this article, with picture, shows how tidy any apiary can be kept even if it is very large. There are many apiaries that show 304 Oatobw, 1S:2. American V^e Journal W)^=^^^^3 to some extent dilapidation tlirough neglect on the part of their owners. This ought not to be. This picture also shows to what extent the industry can be carried on here, and that very large apiaries can be established in certain sections. We do not have to go to California or some other great bee-country to find large and well cared for apiaries, for we have them in our own limits. The scrubby, thick bushes in the background are spring titi, which is our first honey-plant of any conse- quence in early spring, begins yielding in February and lasts until our great honey-plants commence blooming. The titi is indeed a great honey-plant. Mr. J. R. Hunter is a young man of sterling qualities, and will surely be heard of from time to time. He is very enthusiastic over bee-keeping, and is now making it his main line of business. .■\piARv OF J. R. Hunter, or Florida. How Bees Feed One Another BY C. M. liOOLITTLE. "I have a puzzle on hand and wonid like to have an answer to it. I have been iisins what is called a queen nursery. These are caues made of wcxid and wirecloih fur the purpose of holdini; queen-cells away from the bees until the yoiinj; queens emerge froni the cells. And as these younir queens need not be taken out of these cages just as soon as they emerge, a hole is bored in the wood which is tilled with a sponge having honey in it. In this way the young queens can get feed until the bee-keeper wishes to use them as necessity requires. At least, such is the theory put forth for the advan- tages of this way of keeiiing queens. "Hut I find that in use more than half of these young queens die before they get to be from < to 5 days old. They seu-ii to be unable to help themselves to this honey in the little sponges sufficiently to sustain life. ".Mow for the puzzle: All know that a young queen, when hrst emerging at matur- ity, is a weak, white, downy thing, often hardly able to cling to the combs; but with each hour getting stronger until, when about 2 days old. she seems to reach her normal strength, and where there are rival queens in other queen-cells, which are held back in these cells by the bees, this queen, at liberty, utters shrill peeps as she goes about in the hive. This is called the'pip- ing' of the queen. If bad weather keeps the colony from sending out an ifterswarm at this stage, other young queens still held in the qii-encells by tlie bees, answer this liiping. but in a mullled sound, as I suppose the walls to the cells holding them keep them from making so loud a noise as does the one at liberty. "Now, what I wish you to tell the readers of the American liec .lournal is this: 1-Iow do those queens in the cells live after arriv- ing at inaturity ? If many of the queens in the nursery-cages, with plenty of honey within easy reach die. how can these queens, k. pt within the walls of their cells, a space scarci ly one-tweniielh as large as that in the nursery-cage, with no provision for their food live ^ Last swarming time 1 cut out 17 queen cells from a colony where the second swarm had been kept back 5 days by bad weather, and before 1 had set the last frame back in the hive for the returning of the sv\-arm. i4or the 17 cells had hatched and the young queens flown awav." Thus writes a correspondent about something which has puzzled hundreds, if not thousands, of bee-keepers all through tlie past, and I was equally puzzled for several of the first years of my bee-keeping life. One year I had a colony where I heard the first young queen piping on the evening of the eighth day after the prime swarm had issued from it. On going to the house I told Mrs. Doolittle that this colony would swarm the next day, as I had heard the queen piping therein. With the next morning a steady rain set in, which lasted for three days, when it became cool and cloudy fortwo days more. On listening at the side of the hive near nightfall, at the end of the fifth day after I hail heard the lirst queen piping, I was amazed at the turmoil 1 heard. The first queen would pipe, when immediately there was a chorus of niufiled " voices," some of them be- ing kept up until the queen, at liberty, would pipe again, when the whole "band" would strike up once more, so that there was hardly a second of time that there was not " music " for the whole force of worker-bees to " dance by." I resolved that in the morning I would open this hive and see what I could find. As the morning proved fine, 6:30 o'clock found me with the hive open and a frame with the bees and two queen-cells in my hands. With a little smoke I dispersed the bees from these cells, which were near together, when, presently, I saw a tongue poked out through a slit in the capping to the cell where the capping is usually cut out when a queen emerges. Thistongue was stretched out as far as it could reach, when, at that moment, a bee re- turning from being driven away with the smoke, put its mouth down to the tongue, and, in the morning sunshine, I could see the honey sparkle on the tongue of the young queen, as "she took her breakfast." Soon the queen in the other cell put out her tongue and was fed in the same way. I then shook the bees off of this comb a little way in front of the entrance, spreading them along so it would take some time for them to crawl in, and watched for further developments from the queen- cells. The tongues came out again, this time apparently as "feelers," to see if there was the usual knot of bees over the cell to keep them in, but finding nothing, a little clipping noise was at once heard, and in less than a minute the cover on one of the cells was raised and a fully matured queen stuck her head out, the cover to the cell having been nearly cut before thi-, as the whole cutting, except the little slit where the tongue came out, could hardly have been done so quickly. The head was drawn back again, as if fearing it might be unallowable for the body to go out just yet. Then out it came again, drew back once more, when, with the next move, the queen was fully t)ut, ran about on the comb for a second or two, and apparently hearing the humming of the bees going in at the entrance, which I had shaken from the comb, she took flight, sailed around three or four times, alighted down with the bees and ran into the hive. I still held the comb in my hand, only to see the same thing done by the other (jueen. As I wished no second swarm from this hive, I shook the bees from all the frames, destroyed every queen-cell found, and closed the hive. The next morning I found two dead queens in front of this hive, showing that a " mortal combat " had taken place between the queens at some time dur- ing the 24 hours. All swarming for the season was given up. This proved to me that the bees could keep queens in confinement, even in so cramped a place as the walls of a queen-cell, much better than we bee-keepers could with all our knowl- edge, and in the larger apartments of a nursery-cage. It also proved to me that bees were ever on the alert to provide for any and all queens which they were desirous of preserving, feed- ing them as much a.s was retiuired for their posterity; while, it they did not wish queens that were 'hrust in their midst in such a way that they could not get at the. 11 to kill them, they could, by a«tob«r, 1912 7 American H^ee Journal! some means, persecute tliem so that many of these imprisoned (|iieens would die, even where the apiarist provides plenty of food for them. This is illustrated at its best by cag- ing the mother-queen in a wire-cloth cage without any food therein. The bees will almost constantly offer her food by putting their mouths against the wire cloth with the food so you can see it sparkle in the mouth; when the queen, if she is in need of food, will take it (through the meshes) by reaching out the tongue, and thus she is kept in good condition for days, and sometimes weeks. Put a strange queen in this same cage, and she might die of starvation in a few hours. Yea, more, put plenty of food in the cage, so that no other bee save the caged queen can reach it, and the bees will so torment this strange queen, by get- ting hold of her legs and wings, and pulling at them, that she will rarely live a week. But the thing that puzzles me the most is how the bees in a cluster, hang- ing down below the frames when win- tering in the cellar, are fed through the 4 or o months they are confined therein. We are told that these bees are constantly changing, and that the ones which form the crust, or outer circle of such a cluster are going in- side every few minutes or hours; warm bees from the inside taking their place, while these cold, hungry bees go in and feed and get warm, and thus the whole colony is fed and "clothed" during their stay in the cellar. But I have watched hours only to see those cold, stiffened bees stay right in that same position so still and quiet that any one would pronounce them dead, did they not know to the contrary. Who can tell us about this part of the matter ? Borodino, N. Y. in Possibly a " New Kink " Introducing Queens BY ARTHUR C. MILLER. It is passing strange how conserva- tive humanity is, and sometimes it seems as if bee keepers were more so than the rest. Now, there is the matter of queen introduction. With relatively few exceptions they all hold that odor is the governing factor in a (jueen's re- ception, and a queen must be caged in a colony until she has acquired the colony's odor before she can safely be released. The loss of so many queens by the cage method of introduction seems not to make the slightest impres- sion on the holders of the theory. That queens can be scented with all sorts of odors, many of which do ex- cite the bees to stinging (as the odor of a sweaty horse, etc.), and yet to be safely run into an alien colony affects them not at all. The negative evidence of the cage is of more weiglit than the positive evidence of the scented queen cordially accepted before their eyes. The blind following of ancestral prac- tice is woefully out of place in this day. The direct introduction of queens is the easiest thing in bee-culture, if one will only bear in mind the laws of bee- behavior, and conform thereto. It is far from a new practice, but owing to the lack of knowledge of the underly- ing principles, it has not proved any more uniformly successful in the aver- age person's hands than the cage sys- tem. Without repeating the details of the " fasting " plan of direct introduction, as well as several others, a plan which has not yet failed will be given and an effort made to explain why it works. A colony to receive a queen has the entrance reduced to about a squart inch with whatever is convenient, as grass, weeds, rags, or a block, and then about t/ir<-f piit)'s of lliich. icliitc smuUf (because such smoke is safe) is blown in, and the balance of the entrance closed. In from 1.5 to 30 secomis that colony will be roaring. The small space at the entrance is now opened, the queen runs in, and the space is again closed and left closed for about lU minutes, then re-opened and the bees allowed to ventilate and quiet down. The full entrance is not given for an hour or more, or even until the next day. The queen may be picked from a comb and put in at the entrance with one's fingers, or run in from a cage just taken from the mails, her at- tendants running along, too. The re- sults are all the same. The alien queen and workers are quite as much at home as are the real owners of the hive. It makes no difference whether the receiving colony has just been de- queened, or has been queenless for several days, or even has laynig work- ers, though colonies with such should be united with a normal colony. They are not worth requeening. But right here two conditions must be cited, or the bee-keeper not familiar with bee- behavior will experience trouble some- times. Colonies with sealed queen- cells, or with a virgin queen, will some- times "supersede" the new queen in a few days if that queen has been kept from laying for several days prior to her introduction. A queen taken fresh from the combs, where she was laying freely, will generally cause the destruc- tion of the cells or the virgin. To such colonies it has been found advantageous to give a comb with eggs and young larvre just before running in the queen. The queen-cells may be looked for and destroyed or not, but so far as the writer has e.xperimented, it is not necessary to destroy them, the bees attending to it. If, however, the colony is strong and honey is coming freely, a swarm may issue if the cells are not destroyed. More exhaustive observation is needed in this phase of it before it is wise to make positive statements. But with a virgin present the eggs and larvae will make certain the new queen's favorable reception. The mere adding of eggs and larv;e to a colony with a virgin will almost in- variably cause her disappearance. And it is impossible to ensure the safe in- troduction of a virgin to a colony hav- ing eggs and larv.-c. The loss of virgin queens in intro- duction is due chiefly to one or two causes, to the presence of eggs and larv:e, or to their running out. If to a nucleus in suitable condition a virgin is given near nightfall (because then all the bees are in), and the entrance plugged with a leaf or leaves, the queen will be safe. Bv mornint;. the leaves will have wilted so the bees can get out, and matters proceed normally. It is the \yriter's preference, in intro- ducing laying queens, to dequeen the receiving colony immediately before running in the new one. The theory of the cause of the re- sults secured is this: Bees in distress, be they workers, drones or queens, know no enemy or alien, and each one is turning to some other for " help " or fond, and every bee which comes with- in tlie influence of the uproar of a dis- tressed colony seems to be seized with the same emotion. The bees, with the queen in the cage, as soon as they are placed at the entrance evince every sign of the same disturbance as shown by the bees of the colony, and it takes but a gentle pufl^ to send them in. The closing of the entrance ifter the queen is in is to ensure a complete dis- tressed condition throughout the col- ony, and keeping it closed for the 10 or 1.") minutes is to prevent loo speedy relief. Also, if the full entrance is opened the bees may pour out in a mass and cause bother; while, by open- ing only an inch, few rush out before systematic ventilating is taken up. The inexperienced and the thought- less need to be cautioned as to two things, closing in a full colony ttiat has no room to get into oflf of the brood- combs, and closing in a full colony sit- ting in the sun in the middle of a swel- tering day. The skilled bee-master ca>i do both of those things, but he does not do it if he can avoid it. And when he does it he stays right on the job keeping eyes and ears open. The writer has run in hundreds of queens by various direct methods, and has found the foregoing to be the best. He believes it, as a whole, to be origi- nal with him. Its trial by all bee-keep- ers is urged, for it is considered good. Providence, R I. Saving Full Combs for Spring Feeding BY EDWIN BEVINS. For three or four weeks during the last of August and first of September no honey was gathered owing to dry w-eather. Frequent showers for a few days revived the pastures and ensured a heavy honey crop, but grain was damaged in the shock, as the days were very hot. The early crop of honey was very light, but I think the later rains ensured a fall flow of some magnitude. I have had impressed upon me this season, and for two or three seasons before, the importance of having two sets of worker-combs for each colony of bees. Without these my honey crop this year would be almost nothing. The same is true of last year and the year before. Bee-keepers will, sooner or later, learn the importance of having a lot of combs filled, or partly filled, with honey for use in spring. Most of litem, I lake it, will be slow to adopt the methods described by Mr. Doolit- tle in his book, " A Year's Work in an Out-.Apiary ;" but by some means they should contrive to have a good many of these filled, or partly filled, combs. Their importance is manifest in the production of comb honey, but they October, 191?. American Hee Journal Movable-Frame Hive and Native Hive Protected Against the Sun's Rays in Tunis— (See page 205) are not without a large influence where extracted honey is produced. I had enough of these combs, this season, to fill 12 or 15 hive-bodies, and these were, at the beginning of fruit- bloom, put on as many of my strongest colonies with excluders beneath. There is not enough fruit-bloom here to en- able the bees to store much, if any, in these upper stories, and when it is over there is quite a long breeding period before white clover blooms. The honey in some of the upper stories was all consumed at the begin- ning of the honey-flow, and in others it was only partially consumed. The up- per stories, with little or no honey in the combs, were left to be filled with honey for extracting. The others were placed below, and the bees of the col- ony shaken in front, and the combs of brood put over weaker colonies and left to be filled with honey for extract- ing as fast as the cells became empty of brood. A comb-honey super was put over each shaken colony. From these shaken colonies I got a large share of my comb honey this season, and from the colonies strength- ened with 1» or lit frames of brood I got the largest part of my extracted honey. As I did not have hives full of combs with honey in them to put over all of my strong colonies at the beginning of friiit-bloom, I put a hive full of empty combs under the rest without using excluders. This was done to retard and prevent swarming, and to give plenty of room. At the beginning of the white-clover flow some of the lower stories had brood in them, and when they were taken away had quite a lot of bees which stayed with the brood and were given either a pur- chased queen or a comb with queen- cells from a colony that had swarmed. There are some reasons, I believe, why the methods described by Mr. Doolittle, in his book, will not be gen- erally adopted. Not many will take the trouble to secure and carry over enough combs to supply many colonies. Then not many will take the pains to be sure of always having young queens in the colonies worked by this plan. Without young queens the plan will not be suc- cessful. Old ones are unable to be superseded before or about the begin- ning of the honey-flow, and swarming will very likely take place. Mr. Doolittle's locality seems to dif- fer with many others. I gather from a perusal of his work that he has honey stored in the upper stories during fruit- bloom ; then he has a white-clover flow, and this is followed by a bass- wood flow. Most of us have to depend upon white clover, and therefore have to use some modifications of his meth- ods. Nevertheless it is a good thing for any bee-keeper in these northern lands to have a good supply of filled, or partly filled, combs for use in spring, as they can be turned to such good account for the increase of bees to take in the white-clover flow. And, besides, they save a lot of work in feeding. Leon, Iowa. Care of Bees for Winter— Pro- duction of Extracted Honey BY E. I). OUHSNER. {T/iis essay took seioiul prize at the Wisconsin Slate flee- Keepers' Association Meetins in l-'ebruary. Hit J.' We will start the year at the close of the honey-flow, which is with us after the first killing frost, and with a yard run for extracted honey. Tick out a dav when cool or just warm enough so that all shaken bees may arise and get home, as hot days at this time of the year are dangerous and cause slow work. Right here is whare many who are keeping bees in town get into trouble as a little robbing is a sure way to make bees angry, but if they should start robbing, just stop for a few min- utes and look your yard over carefully and you will find some tiiat are work- ing nicely, and which, of course, are the guilty ones. Each should receive a wet cloth over the entrance, the rob- bers being let in from time to time, and then work may be resumed at once. Take out all frames from the upper stories, and place them in empty hives on a wheelbarrow lengthwise. Lift your hive, and if tliere is not honey enough, take out the second frames from the outside, as that is where the honey should be, and insert a full frame there. To feed right, and do it easily, take full frames that you should have had left from the last extracting of white honey, as the best is none too good, and a colony for outside wintering should have at least 20 pounds of honey, and be strong in bees. My col- onies are all wintered in chaff hives, or packed in sliel/s on the summer stands. Do not shovel the snow from the hives in cold weather, as the bees will break the cluster, owing to the disturb- ance, and never get back ; at the same time the snow will keep them warm and they will always settle away from the inside of the hive enough to give them air ; but should the weather warm up enough to warrant a flight, they should have a bare place shoveled in front of each hive, say 4 tod feet square, Cover the snow with straw if possible and look over each colony to see that thev can get out. .■\bout the last of March or the first week in April each colony should be examined, removing chaff cushions, and if honey is in sight, and it is fair to strong ill bees, place a honey-board on and then the cushion, as now is the time of year when they must be kept warm so that they may rear brood, October, 1912. American ^^e Journal and lots of it. Here is where the chaff hive pays for itself and e.xtra work. If a weak colony is found, go to an extra strong one, take a small frame of brood ready to hatch, and help the small colony. I find this pays if it is done right. The ne.Nt time we go through, we help again if they should need it, and all fair to strong colonies should have brood spread to bring them up ; the spreading frames to contain un- capped honey. Before the colonies get any stronger, the clipping of queens should be done. I am a firm believer in clipped queens, at least when one has tall timber around the yard. All colonies are held back from swarming until honey is coming in. To do this all colonies that are strong enough should have an e.xtra upper story in which to rear brood, but queens should be put down or taken away when the honey-tlow starts in earnest, for, as a rule, our honey-tlow is short, and there is not much of a fall flow. It is far better to take the queens away at the beginning of the crop, as eggs laid then will not hatch in time to make workers until the honey- flow is over. No colonies are run for extracting without (|ueen-excluding honey-boards, and when all have upper stories on, a frame of brood is put in each one to bait them. In removing queens to stop swarming, I kill all queens that are 2 years old, and make nuclei of all the yearlings that I can use for increase; these, by fall, will make good colonies. The extracting is done as the honey comes in, and not left until the flow stops, as a little early fall honey may spoil your white honey in color. I ex- tract it as soon as the honey is ripe, and do not figure on ripening it in a tank, as out-yards are not handy in that way. Honey should be '4 to Yz capped before it is considered ripe enough. The 1 and 5 gallon cans are the best in my market; lU-pound pails are good. All cans are filled while extracting, and marked with date and grade. The dark or fall honey is not ex- tracted, as you may need some for win- ter stores, for colonies run for extract- ing are, as a rule, empty in the brood- chamber, and what dark honey is left is View Showing Detail Construction of the France Wintek-Cask. held over in the frames for feeding the following spring. Dark honey seldom granulates, and makes better food when the bees can fly than the white. Also feeding frames of honey is quickest and best on account of robbing. A few words as to nuclei. I build them with the queens that I remove at the start of the honey-flow. Should any need help I give them some brood, as I have plenty to spare when the honey-flow is about over. I rear all my queens from cells started under the swarming impulse, or from a frame of fresh eggs, and keep no small or de- formed cells. A small, inferior queen may cause the loss of the colony, for she dies, as a rule, the following spring, just when she is needed the most. As to race of bees, the more Italians the better, but Carniolans are the best to make a strong colony in the spring, when you need bees the most. They are very good honey-gatherers, being large in size and gentle to handle. Wisconsin. Rules for Winter Protection BY FRANK F. FRANCE. Not long ago in a Farmers' Institute the question was asked, "How many of HoMF. Yarij of N. E. France & Son. Showing 150 Colonies of Bees in Winter-Cases you cow owners are dairymen ?" and I have thought many times that this question would apply to us bee-keepers. How many bee-owners are bee-keepers? Taking the United States as a whole, how many people who keep bees out of every hundred understand the practical points needed to make a success? The answer, I am afraid, would not be a large figure. Since the heavy loss of bees the past winter and spring, the wide-awake bee- keeper will study tbe exact cause of the loss and try to make it right for another such winter. The future is a blackboard. You have the chalk. Here are a few points by which we go here in the North : First, the colony must be strong in bees ; second, it must ' have a good, young queen ; third, it must have a full supply of honey; fourth, it must have winter protection if in a single-walled hive. The best outside winter-case for sin- gle-walled hives I have seen yet is shown in the view of our home-yard of some 150 colonies in winter-cases fixed for winter and early spring. A 2-inch space is left on the sides and ends, and a foot space above the hive inside of the case walls. On top of the hive is placed a small cap of thin lumber, over this a piece of burlap, and then the walls and the top of the hive are packed with oats or clover chaff. The sides, ends and cover are separate pieces, so they can be removed and easily put out of the way for summer. Outside of the double-walled hive, this, I believe, to be one of the best outside cases. In wintering bees in the cellar, the temperature must be kept at about 42 degrees, with plenty of fresh air. The entrances must be cleaned often of dead bees. We put the bees in the cel- lar about Nov. 25, and take them out, if the weather permits, the first week in April. About April 10, the soft maples begin to bloom, and the bees go wild after the maple pollen and sweets. This is a stimulant, and a great help to brood-rearing. Let me mention the few rules again for successful wintering : All colonies must be strong with bees; they must have a young, vigorous queen ; they must have a full supply of honey or honey syrup, and this must be strictly 308 American Hee Journal pure and without honey-dew; they must have good, dry, winter protection. These rules hold good for such a winter as the last. We did not lose very heavily. Platteville, Wis. Number of Eggs Laid by a Queen BY UR. 1-. C. MILLER. Schweizerische Bienenzeitung con- tains a very interesting article, page 257, written by Dr. Bruennich. He quotes Doolittle. without at all ques- tioning his authority, giving .jU'Kl eggs laid in a day by a queen whose colony however did not store so much honey as otner colonies with queens less pro- lific. Dr. Bruennich thinks, however, that in America, where heavy yields are obtained, there must be a heavier drain on the strength of a colony, and so a greater amount of brood reared. Of course, he says, with this greater demand on the (lueen her life must be shortened, and so it is credible that in America a queen is no longer profitable in her third year, while in Switzerland she still performs in a satisfactory manner her maternal duties in her fourth year. (Dr. Bruennich, although they may be e.xceptional, tliere are not lacking queens here still doing good work in the fourth year.) Last year he took numerous meas- urements of different colonies. He obtained the contents of each comb by ■ multiplying together the two diameters of the ellipse of brood and then multi- plying that product by .8. In his best colony brood-rearing began about Feb. 10. (This was no doubt outdoors, wliere brood-rearing begins earlier than in the cellar.) The amount of brood, small at first, remained moder- ate throughout March, ascended with great rapidity throughout April, and held its ma.\ium throughout May. Then a rapid decline throughout June to less than half the maximum, continuing to decline less rapidly tliroughout July, increasing slightly to the middle of August, then declining rapidly from the beginning to the middle of Sep- tember, when it ceased entirely. But the bees were fed in August, without which Dr. Bruennich supposes the de- cline would have been constant. No doubt weather and pasturage had much to do in the case, and different years would give different results. The thing that will seem surprising to most readers is that at the height of her lay- ing this best c|ueen did not exceed liiOO eggs per day, although the colony was strong and stored a good surplus. The laying for the entire season is es- timated at KiO.uiiO eggs, and a half mil- lion for a lifetime. May 21, when the brood was at its maximum, it occupied 71) square deci- meters, or 122r) square inches. March II it was 11 percent as much; March 2H, 2(1 percent ; April 12, 32 percent ; April 2-1, 60 percent. THE I LRVEU LINE OK LAYINl,. In conneclion with this article Dr. Bruennich presents to the eye a strik- ing picture of the varying of the queens' laying by means of a curved line, which is here reproduced, and which needs no explanation. Along with it he gives the curves of the lay- ing of two other queens. While there is considerable difference, the general outline of the three is much the same. This figure presents material for inter- esting study. The probability is that 9 out of 10, if not a larger proportion, have thought of the laying of the queen as much more nearly a straight line throughout the season, with an ascent at tlie beginning and a descent at the end. The most striking differ- ence in the laying of the three queens is that while No. 1-3, the best queen, kept the brood up to its maximum the whole of May, Nos 6 and lit show a sharp decline in that month. Is it characteristic in general of the better queens that they will thus keep up the white-clover crop, we are depend- ent upon the eggs laid in May, with perhaps some help from the last of April and the first of June. Bees reared in the first part of .'^pril will not live to see the harvest, yet they are of e.xceed- ing importance, for they are needed to care for the immense area of brood in May. Now consider the cause of super- sedure early in the season. That su- persedure occurs because of a failing queen. If it occurs the last of May, the restricted laying throughout that month means a feeble force for the harvest. No matter how vigorous the new queen, her work comes too late to count on a white-clover harvest. "But," says the beginner, "I had one queen superseded the first of May, so that the new queen was in plenty time Diagram Showing C'rved Line of Laying. their laying while others decline ? In this case there was evidently an early harvest with no fall (low. The feeding made a slight elevation in Au- gust. In case of an important fall flow, might not that elevation have been much greater and longer con- tinued ? The curve shown for No. 13 is no doubt the best for an early flow. If the brood-area had been kept up in June, it would only have meant an un- necessary number of consumers later on when there was no work to be done. Vet what abo4.it young bees for winter if the drop came too soon ? The probability is thai when bees are left to their own devices the great ma- jority of supersedures occur at or near the close of the harvest. Occasionally, however, a queen is superseded early in the season. In such a case the bee- keeper may pat himself on the back with the thought that he need have no further concern about that colony for the rest of the season except to harvest the crop, since with that young queen reared in the hive there will be no thought of swarming before the next year. But if he is observant he will notice that he will also have very little trouble with harvesting the crop of that colony. It will be satisfied with a single super, if it even deigns to no- tice that, while other colonies will need several supers. The beginner will feel puzzled at this, for with a young and vigorous (|ueen he will be likely to expect extra results. A study of that curved line will help to clear up the matter for him. If the life of a worker in the busy season be G weeks, even if there be no diminution of the brood-area until the first of June, there will be no diminution of the field force until the middle of July. In other words, to harvest the early flow, say to provide for the crop, y only 2, and I think No. 13 was more nearly crowded for surplus room than No. 10. If nothing else is to be learned from these observations and comparisons, there is at least confirmation of the old saying, that bees do nothing invariably. ^larengo, 111. Bees in the City— Roof Apiary BY .WGrST THOMMF.X. Some •") or 6 years ago I read a book entitled, "Three .Acres and Liberty," written by Bolton H-all, wherein it said, among other things, "Many people make a living by keeping bees, and if you have not a place' for them in your backyard, put them on the roof." In the same book I also found the ad- dresses of se\eral bee-papers. I sent downs with the bees. I had a swarm the first year, and lost some of my col- onies through mismanagement, but every year I learned a liltle more about bees. Now I have 10 colonies, about all I can keep upon my roof. The hives you see in the picture are double boarded, and made to hold 12 frames. So far, I have had very little trouble with swarms. As far as I know I have had only two, one the first year, and one early this spring. The hives are never taken down, but stay up there through the coldest winter. I never yet had any loss from the cold. The entrances of the front row face southeast, while the back row faces the roof. I notice that the back row always is much stronger in bees, and yields more honey than the front row. This year, for the first time, the bee- inspector came to inspect the bees and see about foul brood. To my surprise there is foul brood in almost every bee- yard in my neighborhood, with the e.x- ception of two or three, but I am glad to say that the inspector found mine all right. This spring I had trouble with my young queens, some of them did not mate until after 4 or -5 weeks, and one proved to be a drone layer. That essay written by A. C. Allen, in the August number, "How to Secure a Good Crop of Honey," is just the thing. Accidentally I did about the same thing early this spring, only in a little different way, and the result was fine. I never had stronger colonies than this year, and never more honey. Paterson, N. J. Roof Apiary of Mr. Thommen. for a sample copy of the American Bee Journal, and I think I hit the right thing that time, for I would not be •without it as long as I keep bees. The next spring found me with tl colonies of bees on the back part of my roof. The colonies were all hived in very old Quinby hives, which I soon discarded for the regular Langstroth. It was not very much fun to transfer the bees, but I learned a whole lot by it. From then on I had my ups and Habits and Value of Bees Delk'tred at Kansas Slate Asrirultural ColUuf BY DR. G. BOHRER. Some 34 years ago I delivered a lec- ture on the habits and management of honey-bees before the students of this college, at the request of Prof. John Anderson, then in charge of this in- stitution. He informed me that it was the intention to teach bee-keeping at the college along with other industries and give open-air or field demontra- tions, and thus place this pursuit on common ground with all other indus- tries of merit. Bees were purchased, and, I am informed, have been kept on the college grounds ever since. But soon after the date of my lecture here, Mr. Anderson was elected to a seat in our National Congress, and practical bee-keeping has been omitted. I hope, however, that at no distant period it will receive its just and full share of attention among the industrial pur- suits. Not that it is meant that all the stu- dents of this college (some IdnO in number) are at all likely to become practical bee-keepers, for it is almost absolutely certain that they will not, nor are they likely to become sheep- raisers, swine breeders, or variety farm- ers, but it is very desirable indeed that all should possess a fair amount of knowledge of each industry engaged in by our people in every section of our great country. When thus equipped all will understand the needs of every other pursuit, and when legislative sup- port is needed, the different State legis- latures will be competent to give our needs intelligent consideration and ac- tion. Short of this they will not be able to do any pursuit justice e.xcept at great labor and expense of those who seek aid, and who must spend both time and money in giving the informa- tion wanted by our legislative assem- blies. I will also say that not all persons are physically adapted to bee-keeping, for occasionally a person is found who is susceptible to the influence of bee- sting poison, so much so that their lives are in danger when stung by honey-bees. I knew of a case in which a single bee-sting produced death with- in l-i minutes. But such occurrences will probably not average one in a hundred thousand, so that, as a rule, there is more alarm when a person is stung by these insects, than has a real foundation in actual danger. I have seen the time when one bee could have chased me over an entire school dis- trict. In fact, I remember that a full battery of Confederate cannon were firing at us in Texas, during the Civil War, and I felt much less alarm than I have felt by a single honey-bee. In time I was given a practical les- son in the matter of being stung. In Kansas the acreage of alfalfa is. rapidly increasing, as well as fruit- bloom and other honey-producing flowers. Alfalfa is one of the greatest honey-yielding plants in all the Great West, and in one instance a bee keeper informed me that he had taken 350 pounds of extracted honey from one 10-frame 2-story hive, all of which had been gathered by one colony of bees. In view of the foregoing facts let our educational institutions give our young men and women a fair share of knowl- edge in this branch of industry along with others, and thereby rid it of that midnight darkness which has hitherto kept it in the back-ground. In the matter of handling bees, as we sometimes see them handled on Fair grounds in cages, without the operator getting stung, it is necessary only to alarm the bees by blowing smoke 310 October, 1912. American Vae Journal f freely into the entrance of the hive, as] the bees will at once begin to fill them selves with honey from their stores ;; at the same time light drumming on the hive will add to their alarm. In' 10 minutes they will have loaded them-' selves with honey, and when in this condition they never act on the offen-' sive, but are in the passive state, acting' on the defensive only, and can be han-'. died without danger of being stung,' except as they are pinched or hurt, when they will defend themselves. | Those who handle bees on Fair grounds should explain how they sub- due them in preparing them 'to be' handled; without this explanation such' exhibitions are not in any way instruc-t- tive, but rather a deception, as the by- standers are left with the impression that the operator possesses a hypnotic or mesmeric influence over bees', which they think but very few persons pos- sess. Such exhibitions are frauds, and should not only be condemned, but should be excluded from all Fairs. ' As standard authorities upon the habits and general care of bees, I will recommend the works of the late Rev. L. L. Langstroth, and of Prof. A. j. Cook, of California. There are other works of merit, but none better for the beginner in bee-keeping, and there is no better hive for general use than the Langstroth 10 frame hive. Lyons, Kan. Dr. Miller's M> Answers* Send Questions either to the offic '^r,»°r- r-°''if''''^ 'he American Bee Journal or direct to UK. c. C. JMiLLER. Marengo, III. He does not answer bee-keeping questions by mail. Bisposing of Capping Washings I. Is there any chemical or other article which can be mixud with the washings of wax or capDings to be thrown out that will not attract the bees? 2 How can I dispose of water which is a itt e sweet so as not to have the bees bother? Ohio. Answers.— I. Carbolic acid would, no doubt, be effective. i. I have never paid any attention to it. lor it It IS thrown into a drain or upon the ground it is so diluted that it disappears be- tore the bees pay any attention to it. If you hnd the bees trouble in that wav, you could add more water to it before throwing it away, so as to make the sweetness very slight, and then if each time you throw it on a new new place on the ground. I think you will have no trouble. The reason for extreme caution in the matter is the fear that there might be foul brood in the honey You niight make a sure thing of it by having a pit dug. into which you would throw the washings, and have the pit covered well. find that Caucasians need no treatment dif- ferent from other bees. You will find bees other than Caucasians that will keep lo fiames filled with brood, and you are not likely to find that all Caucasians will do it. A colony that will keep more than one story filled with brood early in the season, whether Caucasian or any other, should have a second story given, unless you want to draw brood from it to give to weaker col- onies. Then when harvest time comes it should be reduced to one story, any surplus frames of brood to be distributed where they will do the most good. In the fall you will likely find that of their own accord they will reduce the brood-nest so that one story will satisfy them. How to Keep Moth Out How can I clear a colony of bees of moth and then keep them out ? California. ANSWER.-Prevention is better than cure. I he best preventive is a big lot of bees in the hive. Italians are better than blacks to keep moth at bay. and if your bees are very much inclined to black, you will do well to intro- duce Italian blood. Even a weak colony of Italians will keep down the moth, A queen- less colony is likely to be troubled by the moth. With strong colonies of Italians and no Queenless colonies you can whistle at the moth. Rut if you have a colony where the worms," as the larv.e of the moth are called, are pretty bad, you may do a little to help. You will see the gallery of the mis- creant running along the surface of the comb. Take a pin or a wire nail and prick into one end of the gallery. Then prick into the other tiid and tear open thu gallery, and thus drive the worm toward the other end where he will come out, and you can dis- patch him. Don't allow (lieces of comb or combs in hives without bees to be lying aroung as breeding places for the moth. Handling Caucasian Bees I desire to make enquiry lo the best method of han'oii want, all you need do is to build one of them up into a full colony by taking bees and brood from the others. One way to avoid having so many nuclei — or rather to have nuclei in so many hives — is to have more than one nucleus in a hive. At one time I praclicetl qiiiti- successfully hav- ing 6 nuclei in one lo-frame hive, h'ach nu- cleus had only one comb, and as the parti- tions were only about five-sixteenths thick that allowed a pretty wide space for each comb. When a nucleus became pretty strong it would build comb at the sides, which I would have to cut out. But this is better than to have a narrower siiace, for bees did not swarm Answer.— My impression is that there is no inspector in Oregon, but 1 may be mis- c^l. — n I» ^ .-^wt 1 ; n I I- 1 1^ -i \\'\r w "^ r /\ t /-I T- £1 1-1 1 1 i r- o Larger Hives for Carniolans I have some Carniolan bees in 8-frame hives. If I had them in a larger hive would they swarm less ? Can I get surplus honey in a bigger hive; that is. if I have a bigger brood-chamber ? I like the Carniolan bees; they stand the severest winter and breed up faster in the spring. They gave me a nice surplus of honey early in the season, two supers to each colony. With all the swarm- ing I had, and with 8-frame hives. I sold the honey as No, i. and got a good price for it. I have some colonies that will give j supers, and this is not the best honey year for Illi- nois, either, Illinois, Answer.— Yes, a large hive will reduce the probability of swarming, since a crowd- ed condition of the brood-nest is one of the chief factors in producing the swarming fever. Neither will a larger hive take away your chances for getting surplus. Formerly I used lo-frame hives, and changed to 8- frame hives chiefiy because it was the fash- ion. If I were to start in afresh I would study some time before I would decide to adopt the smaller hive. With the largei hive I got fine crops of beautiful sections, and you can do the same. Dark and Ligh Honey from Cappings as Feed Cappings 1. Is the honey left in the cappings good feed for the bees after it is heated in the solar wax-extractor? Will it cause dysen- tery ? 2. Why is an old. dark comb always sealed dark when the one at the side, if new or light, will be sealed light ? I think a great deal of your columns in the American Bee Journal. Iowa. Answers. — I. Yes. unless heated so as to be actually burned— a thing not likely to happen— it ought to be wholesome food for them. 2. You will find that not only is the dark comb sealed dark, but the light comb beside it is likely to have its sealing darkened to some extent. Years ago I used wide frames for sections, the wide frames holding 8 sec- filled with empty combs, less one of the cen- ter ones. Next, a comb containing a patch of unsealed brood about as large as the hand is selected from the colony, and placed in the vacant place in the new hive; a nueen-excluder is put on this lower story, and about this a super of empty combs, this one having an escape hole for drones; and, on top of all, an empty super A cloth is then nicely placed in front of this new hive, on which the bees and queen are shaken from the combs of the parent hive, and the hird story is filled with the combs of sealed bruodand brood too old to produce queens, and allowed to remain there and hatch, re- turning to the working force. This is really the Demaree plan, wh^ch 1 nis lb .CO., , ,. _ yearsago..by put all the brood in .■•- .■,-i;j- -,>;„„'•( know Mr. Allen puts it in the third. 1 don t Know which is better s filled Interior View of Japanese Bee-Meeting— (See front page.l tions, so that they were the same size as brood frames. As a bait to induce the bees to begin work promptly in the super. I prac- ticed taking a frame of brood from the brood-chamber and putting it in the super, a frame of sections facing it on each side. It was effective in starting work promptly in the sections, but if at any time I left it until the bees began to seal the sections they weresure to seal them dark. The ex- planation is that the bees are in the habit of carrying bits from the old combs to help in the sealing. That explains why it is best to have sections at some little distance above the top-bars. Y'ou will find that sections built over top-bars }k inch thick will be darker than if built over top-bars V» thick. Allen's System of Swarm Prevention Will you please explain .Mr. Allen's sys- tem of swarm prevention, as he says in the August number of the ."American Bee Jour- nal for I0I2, that he gave it to the readers of the Bee Journal two years ago. If it really has any merit, will you kindly reproduce it in the journal. Canada. .\ns\ver — If you will turn to page g4 of the American Bee Journal for loio, you will find the plan as given by A. C. Allen, which is as follows;' ' When the honey-flow is well started I go to each strong colony, regardless of whether the bees desire to swarm or not, and remove it from its stand, putting in its place a hive most of the combs would have at least some very young brood. The plan is a good one for extracted honey, but not available for comb. "Slaughter of the Innocents" Why do some of my colonies throw out a lot of young bees in all stages of develop- ment, some dead and some alive i' Yester- day I could have picked up a handful_ in front of a hive belonging to a neighbor. W hy should they "slaughter the innocents? The writer has much more enthusiasm than experience in bee-culture, but finds it very interesting; your department of the Ameri- can Bee Journal especially so. Iowa. Answer.— "The slaughter of the inno- cents ' no doubt occurred because the in- nocents were "no account ' innocents; that is, they were drones. When the har- vest is over, or when there comes a serious break in the harvest, the bees seem to con- clude that they can hardly afford to support a lot of gentry who do nothing to earn their own livelihood, so the poor drones have to go. It is common to say that at such times the workers kill the drones, stinging them to death. I think such an opinion is the re- sult of superficial observation. I never saw a worker sting a drone. It is possible that such a thing may happen, but I think it must be a very rare occurrence. Many, many times I have seen workers driving drones, seeming to be biting them and trying to sting 312 Oetob»r, 1912. American Hee Journal tlieir : but it appeared rather that they were prclendiriK to sting. Wlien one worker stings anotlicr you do not need to watch very louK before you see tlie stung worker curl up and die. I never snw a drone have this appearance after a worker liad pre- tended to stint; it. If I am riirhtly informed tlie workers, aside from teasing and driving the drones, merely withhold food from them, and ihey die. Kor a drone cannot, like the workers, live by helpingitself to the stores in the ceils, but must be fed partly digested f'.>od by the workers It is possible that you may say that there was no failure of tlie harvest. Well, some- times it happens that individual colonies do not wait for the general slaughter, as it is called, .'^fter a colony has swarmed, the old queen having gone off with the swarm, the young queen in the mother colony be- comes fertilized ready for laying. After this there is no further need of drones for the currentseason. and they meet their fate. Whether the driving out of the drones occurs at one time or another, not only does the colony become rid of the flying drones, but all dronebrood is destroyed by the w.-irkers. You will do well to prevent the rearing of these drones in all but a very few of your best colonies. I'^ven one colony in a hun- dred will rear enough drones to dO for the whole apiary. If there is no drone-comb in a hive, there will be no drones. You can cut out any drone comb and put in its place patches of worker-comb or of worker foun- dation. Some, however, think it is well to satisfy tlie bees to the extent of leaving them one or two square inches of drone- comb. Vou can behead these drones in the comb after Ihey are sealed over, or sprinkle a little salt on them before they are sealed. The Value of a Bee Journal When I took up bee-keeping I read every thing I could hnd on the subject with the hope of finding some system of management that would suit me and my environments. Needless to say I did not find it. but by pick- ing up an idea here and yonder from the ex- perience of others as given in the bee- papers and from observations of my own. I was able to evolve a system of myown that suited me. i'hen. a few years later. I moved about a thousand miles, and the first season showed me that my system was not good in my new- location. I was up against the question of how to prevent swarming, make a reason- able amount of increase, and get a crop of honey while operating out-yards. I had to either solve that question or quit 1 read everything on the subject that I could find, and finally by combining the sys- tems of two prominent writers, with some ideas I had gained by experience. 1 evolved a new system of my own that I am still fol- lowing. It has been worth more to me than the subscription price of all the bee-papers published in .America will amount to as long as I live. That is just one instance 1 am constantly picking up new ideas that I con- sider worth all the papers cost me. And if I knew all there is to be known about bee-keeping. I should still want the papers in order to keep in touch with other beekeepers and see how they are getting along, their prospects, successes and fail- ures, hopes, etc t should want to know about markets, about legislation, favorable or unfavorable to bee-keeping, and about diseases of bees and the manner of treat- ment for them and all the news of the api- cultural world. When a man says he has no time to read bee-papers, it simply means thai he has lost all interest in beekeeping It does not necessarilv mean that he has found the pur- suit unprofitable, but that he has become in- terested in something else. I do not have time lo read agricultural papers or medical journals, and yet I know farmers and doc- tors who are making more money than I am. I do not read those papers tor the reason that 1 am not directly interested in those pursuits When a subscriber tells you he has no lime to read bee-papers, vou might just as well tell him' So long, t wish you success in your new vocation. ' It never was intended that we should all be bee- keepers or all farmers, or all doctors, and a man is liable to change his vocation and ac- quire new interests to the exclusion of old ones. 11 ri. MiRRv. Mathis. Tex. Not All Illinois Reports this Good Bees are dotng fine I have one colony that was treated for foul foul brood the first of June. It has filled g supers of 24 sections each. Frank Hinijukkk, Frederick. III.. Sept. o. Another Bad Report from California Our honey crop is again a total failure in this locality. The condition this year has been the same as two years ago My Ho colo- nies of bees made about ijoo pounds of comb honey. Some bee-keepers south of here lost half of their bees by starvation One traveling salesman and farm produce buyei . who has traveled through the central coast country, told me that there was practically no honey in the country, and that the bens were dying at an alarming rate, generally from starvation. B. Schnuckel. Lone Oak. Calif.. Aug. 30. Seeking a Bee-Location I made tracks in the snow last winter seekini" a bee-location. I went towards the South. It was 40 degrees below zero at Great Falls. Mont-. 27 at F.dgemonl. S. D . 17 at Libertv. Nebr . 7 at Anderson. Mo . and < be- low al Sarcy. Ark As I stayed there a week. I made tracks in the mud after that. But I did not remain in the South, as I found too many bees for the pasture in the localities visited In June I returned to this place. As ! traveled by dav only. I noticed the change in bloom from one place to anolher. and the great variety of flowers. t believe that, from Ogden north to this place is the best heecoiiniry But in many spots too many bees are kept. Looking for a country where milk and honev flow, vou will sav Sure, and I have fonnd if. too. Thev flow in the irrieation ditches and make the land sell for $:n() per acre, even where the wild sage brush still grows However, some good bee-man sooUe about the land boomers in the American Ree Totir- nal. He fold the Irulli.and the truth has not been half told for much of the wp=tern irri»ateH land isa delusion or a fra"d Come and s*^e before vou sell out in the Kast White clover dops well here. .\s to alfalfa, our seedsman here sold ^ tons of seed in 1012 so fa*- There will be half a million tons of alfalfa hav out UP within 2n miles of Riinert. Td^ho Thousands of stacks are in sight. Tn field corners along the ditch banks, there is plentv of bloom which cannot be cut down. Then there is alsike clover, sweet cloA-er. and white riovpr in oastures- Here wild alfalfa, dandelion, rabbit brush and wiUow is the wild flora There are no trees for strav swarms; another good point Where bees are olentv. honev is found, but where too manv hees are. honev beromes scarce So a good bee. country is not alwavs best for bee-men. 1 euioved and endorse what Mr Rver said about foriner F.ditor York But York's wish about Dr Miller. " Mav he enjov anotlier twentv vears." seems too short- It made me feel sad Better send him a handful of flowers now. however, than a basketful when he is pone. L. W. BENSON. Rupert. Idaho. -Tuly 2=;. of the other books, but says three times as much as another book. Everything is short and sensible, and comes right down to the point; therefore. I think the public will like this book the best. John Pashek. The Dalles. Oreg. Poor Crop in the South There was but little honey produced in this part of the country this year. I believe that it has been the poorest year for bees and honey that I have ever seen in any place. Broom corn, corn and the hay crop were very good The cotton crop is being cut short on account of the extreme drouth that we are having. I believe that I have taken the American Bee -Tournal for 35 years or more. There have been many changes since that time. Many pioneers in bee-keeping (among whom was my falheri have passed away during that time. Best wishes for the success of the " Old Reliable." W. C. Nutt, Tn;is. Texas. __^_^__^__ Rain in California California has had quite a surprise, and something T'r/'v unusual. Rain fell here Sept 3. and a good, heavy rain today. In 26 years rain has fallen only nine times in summer prior to .Sept i. and the last time we had rain before the date mentioned was in IQ06. The rains will do great damage to the prunes and raisins, but will be of benefit to the bee-keepers The alfalfa blossoms are now yielding nec- tar, and the extractors and the bee-men are busy, but not up to expectations. .John C. Frohliger. Berkeley. Calif.. Sept. 5. A Good Bee-Book I received a copy of " First T^essons in Bee- Keeping" and I must say it is iiist the right thing for a beoinner or a more advanced bee-keener What I like about it is if a person wants to find out about something lie doesn't have to read 3 or 4 pages before he finds what he wants, as in some of the other books. It has less pages than some Prospects in Iowa Continuous rains here give promise of a flow of honey from hearts-ease for the first time ill four >ears. There seems also to be considerable white clover in bloom, and I have already seen bees on a few blossoms. Sweet clover was the great stand-by this summer. There was an abundance of it in this vicinity, which yielded well. However, if there is any surplus put up it will be from now on. so far as I know. A. F. BoNNEV. Buck (irove. Iowa. Aug. Dividing Decreases the Amount of Honey Stored My bees did fairly well this summer, and did not swarm at all but I divided and doubled the number of colonies 1 had and got j-(w/c surplus honey. P. A. Norman. Puyallup. Wash.. Aug. 21- Glowing Report from Kentucky I have colonies that ha\-e given me 114 pounds of comb honey this year, and will give me at least 50 pounds more. I have been working with bees 3S years. Visalia. Ky.. .Aug 2; (j. W. Chessman. Fall Flow Good Bees are booming on fall flowers. Have 600 colonies in about the same condition as last year Good, big prospects. Bees want to swarm. V. B. Cavanagh. Hebron. Ind.. Aug. 24. Large Crop There has been a large honey crop here, both early and late honey, and bees are in fine shape E. E. MoTT. CJIenwood. Mich. An OIT Year in California This has been an off year for California. Only 8 tons of honev from 500 colonies. Golden Ri'i.e Bee Co. Ferris. Calif.. Aug. 20. Some Fall Honey in Missouri Bees no good all summer; no clover, but since the rains they may gather some fall honey. H. Mansi'ERGER. Lewistown, Mo,. Aug, 10. GINSENG AND GOLDEN SEAL Grow those v.iluable iilaiUs. Ihey go well with bee-kee|iing- Write me for prices on Seeds and Roots. F. GENT, Rockford, Minn. October, 1912 313 [American Hee Joarnal Wants, Exchanges, Etc. [Advertisements in this department will be inserted at 15 cents per line, with no dis- counts of any kind Notices here cannot be less than two lines. If wanted in this de- partment, you must say so when ordering.] BEES AXl) Ql EENS, For Sale — Untested Goldon Italian Queens 50c each. J. K. Michael. 8A2t Winchester. Ind. Front Line Italian Queens by return mail at 75c each. 6 for $4 25. 12 for J8 00. 2i and up tioc each. J. B. Hollopeter. Pentz, Pa. Golden Italian Queens. Nuclei, and Full Colonies. See price-list in May number, page III. Isaac P\ Tillinghast. Factoryville. Pa. Golden Queens that produce 5 and6band bees. Untested. $i-oo; Tested. Si. 00. Robert Inghram, Sycamore, Pa. For Sale— Three-banded Italian Queens bred for honey, gentleness, and proliticness. One. $1.00. t> for J; 00. Wm. S Barnett. 7.A4t Barnett, \*a. My System — Union bee-hive and Queen. Will increase both your colonies and honey crop, and improve your stock, making bee- keeping a real pleasure Cash orders $10.00. lAtf Joe Egner. 80x552, Lavergne. 111. Golden Queens that produce Golden Workers of the brightest kind. I will chal- lenge the world on my Goldens and their honey-getting qualities. Price. Ji.oo each; Tested. $2.00; Breeders, $5 00 and $10. 7A4t J. B. Brockwell. Barnett. Va, Queens — Italians and Carniolans. Will e.\change choice queens for bees by the pound, frame, or hive. Write, stating what you have, Frank M. Keith. 3Atf SiH Florence St., Worcester. Mass. Quirin's famous improved Italian queens nuclei, colonies. and bees by the lb-, ready in May. Our stock is northern-bred and har- dy; five yards wintered on summer stands in 1008 and 1000 without a single loss. For prices, send for circular. sAst Quirin-the-Queen-Breeder. Bellevue, Ohio. For Sale— Italian queens bred from the best honey-gathering strains obtainable. Untested, 75c; Select, $loo; Tested, $1.25; Select Tested. $1.50: Nuclei without queen, i-frame, $1.50; 2-frame. S2.00; 3-frame. $2.75. For queens and nuclei in quantity lots, and bees by the pound, write for prices and cir- cular. Robert B. Spicer. Wharton. N. J. Golden and 3-band Italian Queens ;strict- ly free from disease). Tested Queens. $1.00 each; 3 for $12.75; b or more. 85 cts. each. Un- tested, 75c each: 3 Queens $2.00; from 6 to 50. S6 cts. each. Bees by the pound, $1.00. Nu- clei, per frame, $1.25. Safe arrival and satis- faction guaranteed. C. B Bankston. 2Atf Buffalo, Leon Co.. Texas. Carniolan Queens— Bred from best im- ported stock. Many colonies can be manip- ulated without the use of smoke or veil. Un- tested, one for 75c; six for $4.25: twelve for $8.00. Tested, one for $1.00: six for $5.00; twelve for $iu. William Kernan.- Rt. 2. Dushore. Pa. For Sale.— 50 colonies of bees in 8 and 10 frame Langstroth hives. If sold, mnst be shipped in November. Colonies are all strong and hives well filled with winter stores. No disease. Price will be low. as I have more bees than I am able to handle. Write for what you want, and get further partibulars and prices. loAit Edwin Bevins. Leon, Iowa. SUPPLIES. For Sale— .a full line of Bee-Keepers' Supplies. Agents" prices. Save freight. Dreamland Farms. Buckingham, Fla. For Sale— Empty second-hand 6olb. cans 25 cts. per case ot two cans. 100 for $22.^0. 7A4t E. R. Pahl & Co.. Milwaukee. Wis, Aluminum Hive Numbers i'/4 in. high. 2c each figure; 5oor more. i!4c. postpaid, includ- ing brass nails. Henrv Benke. Pleasantville Sta.. N. Y. Order Ideal Winter Cases now. and be ready for the stormy days. Extracted honey taken in exchange. R H. Schmidt. Rt. 3. Box 2o». Sheboygan. Wis. HONEY Honey for Sale— Clover honey of the finest quality in new 6o-lb. cans at 1 cts. per pound. 8Atf J. P. Moore. Morgan. Ky. Wanted— Comb, extracted honey, and beeswax. R. .-^ Burnett & Co.. 6Ai2t 173 S. Water St.. Chicago. III. Fine White and light amber alfalfa honey put up in any size of tin p.Ie copies upon request. Better Fruit Publishing Company HOOD RIVER, OREGON. "A Year'.s Work in an Out- Apiary" is tlie name of a booklet by G. M. Doolittle, the well-known honey- producer of New York State. He tells how he secured an average of 114>^ pounds of honey per colony in a poor season. It is fully illustrated, and tells in detail just how Mr. Doolittle has won his liieat success as a honey-pro- ducer. The price of the booklet is .50 cents, postpaid, but we club it with the American Bee Journal for a year — both for $1.30. Every bee-keeper should !iave a copy of this booklet, and study it thoroughly. Address all orders to the American Bee Journal^ 7 -■^-»- White Sweet Clover Seed Sweet Clover is rapidly becoming one of the most useful things that can be grown on the farm. Its value as a honey-plant is well known to bee-keepers, but it worth as a forage-plant and also as an enricher of the soil are not so widely known. However, Sweet Clover is coming to the front very fast these days. Some years ago it was considered as a weed by those who knew no better. The former attitude of the enlightened farmer today is changing to a great respect for and appreciation of Sweet Clover, both as a food for stock and as a valuable fertilizer for poor and worn-out soils. The seed should be sown either in the fall or early in the spring. 20 to 25 pounds per acre of unhiiUed seed is about the right quantity to sow. We can ship promptly at the following prices for the white variety : Postpaid, one pound for 30 cents, or 2 pounds for 50 cents. By express f. 0. b. Hamilton's pounds (or 80c; 10 pounds for S1.50; 25 pounds for S3.50; 50 pounds for $6.50; or 100 pounds for $12.00. We can also furnish the yellow biennial seed. This variety blooms about two weeks earlier than the white which makes it preferred by some bee-keepers. For the yellow seed add one cent per pound to the above prices on the white variety. Seed will be shipped promptly on receipt of order. American Bee Journal, Hamilton, Illinois. Make Your Hens Lay CoiUaiiis ovtT tuiir timfs ay inurh et:^r iiiukihk' iiiati-nul as k'rain axv takes tlif i-ln.e *>{ Im^rs and woniiis In fuwis' ,iu-t. Tliafs why U plves more e).'i:s— greater rertmty.t^troiit'er chicks, larger fowK MANN'S 'iiS^i: BONE CUTTER cuts ea-lly and rapidly all larpe ami small Ixmm's with adhering ^_^^^_____^ meat and imstie. Antrtmatt.-ally adajits tr> y..iir stron^jth. Never clog^ Sent on «ii. SLTid for our free books todav. Bo« 348 MiLFORD. MASS. 10 Days' Froo Trial. No rannfv"d F. W. MANN CO. October, 1912. American Hm Journal The Fruit-Growers' Guide Book is a complete En- cyclopedia of hor- ticulture. It has S" tlfMMl\ *■'•-' P^ges- and is well illustrated. All about spray- i n g, fungicides, insecticides ; how to can Fruits, Veg- etables,etc. It was written for the man with a thou- sand trees, as well as for the one with a few trees in the dooryard. It is the result of years of study and travel. The Fruit Grower, published month- ly, is filled with up-to-date matter on horticulture. THE GUIDE BOOK, regular price $1.00 FRUIT GROWER, one year 1.00 AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, one year 1.00 We club all three of these sent to one address for $1.50, or we will send the first two for $1.00. Send all orders to AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, Hamilton, III. Pkase mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. GOLDEN QUEENS that produce golden workers of the bright- est kind. I will challenge the world on the color of my GOLDENS. and as good honey- getters. Price $1.00 each; tested. $2.00. I?reeders $s 00 and $10.00. J. B. BROCKWELL, BARNETTS, ... - VIRGINIA. PU-ase mention Am. Bee Journal when wiHtiag. Early (FROFALCON) Queens "ITALIANS" P'ebruary and March deliveries— for Untes- ted, $1.50 each; April, $1.25. Tested Queens. 50 cts. additional ; Select Tested. $t.oo extra. Breeders, prices on application. JOHN C. FROHLIGER, 257-g Market St.. San Francisco, Cat. Or Berkeley, Cal. Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. SUPERIOR BEE-SUPPLIES Specially made for Western bee-keepers by G. B. Lewis Co. Sold by Colorado Honey-Producers' Association, Denvkr. Coi.o. Please mention Am. Bee Journal wtlen writing. " Bee-Kaeper.s' 0: or given Free as a premium for sendtngr 2 New subscrip- tions at SI.OO each. A Modern Bee Farm, by Samuel Simmins The author is a live English bee-keeper. He has kept up with the progress in this line not only in his own country but all over the world. His views are determined, but very well taken, and his points are made with an accuracy which is convincing. Cloth bound 470 pages. Price postpaid $2.00 or with the American Bee Journal one year both for $2.75 § New Crop Honey BOTH COMB and EXTRACTED Are you looking for a market ? New York is as good as any. We handle on commission and buy outright. Write us before dis- posing of your honey. HILDRETH & SEGELKEN, 265-267 Greenwich St. NEW YORK, N. Y. Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writin QUEENS! QUEENS! Italians AND Carniolans Tho Kaith drctsTn of Breeding nsures ine IVeilll aysiera the best Queens that can be produced. My Strain is the result of 20 years of careful breeding and selection. I feel confident that few, if any. can surpass them. Color has not been my special object; but to produce bees that will bring in honey, and store it in supers where it is wanted. I am also paying a great deal of attention to Gentleness among my bees, so that almost any one can handle them. Annual importations of Queens has kept my stock absolutely pure. Prices as follows ; Virgins Untested... Warranted Tested I 12 $ .65 $3. so t 6.00 1. 00 4.00 7.00 1.25 5.50 11.00 1.50 7.50 13.00 Select Tested, $2.00 each. Breeder, $3.00 and up. Nuclei and Full Colonie.s. Bees by the Pound. Write for Circular. Apiaries inspected for brood-diseases. FRANK M. KEITH, 83K Florence St. Worcester, Mass. Pkase mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. ITALIAN QUEENS Untested. 70c each: 6 for $3.75. Tested, $1.00 each: 6 for $5.50. Safe Arrival Guaranteed JOHN LEININGER Ft. Jennings, Ohio Picase mention Am. Bee Journal when writing 316 October, 1912. American "Bee Joarnal Order Your Magazines for Next Year Through an agreement with the different publishers we have secured a net rate on nearly all Newspapers and Magazines published, and can therefore offer them at very low price in combination. The following are some of our offers with the Ameri- can Bee Journal for one year : n , . , Pub. Price Both American Poultry Advocate $ .50 $1 25 Am. Poultry World-3 years i.oo 1.25 BetterFriiit i.oo 1.75 Bryan s Commoner i.oo 100 Country Gentleman 150 250 Current Literature 300 300 Eastern Fruit 50 12s Everybody's Magazine 1.50 2.00 Farm JournaI-5 years i.oo 1.60 rield and Stream 150 200 Garden Magazine 1.50 2.00 Good Housekeeping i.So 200 Green's I'ruit Grower 35 1.25 Pub. Price La toilette Magazine Si. 00 Metropolitan Magazine 1.50 Saturday Evening Post 1.50 Suburban Life 3.00 Successful Farming— ,^ years 50 Successful Poultry Journal 50 Sunset Pacific Monthly 1.50 The Delineator 1.50 Twentieth Century Farmer i.oo Wallace's Farmer i.oo Western Fruit Grower i.oo Woman's Home Companion 1.50 World Today 3.00 Send us a list of the Magazines and Papers you want to subscribe for the coming year, and we will send you our best price on the combination. American Bee Journal, Hamilton, Illinois. Both J1.60 2.00 2.50 3.25 1.25 1.2^ 2.00 I.oo 1.75 1.75 1.50 2,00 3.2s l>r. Peiro will continue to give the readers of the American Bee Journal free advice regarding the subject of Surgical and Medical treatment. Many have availed themselves of this offer. Return postage is all you need to send. Address, Dr. Peiro, 2148 Sun- nyside Ave., Chicago, 111. Croivn Bone Cutter FEKl» your hcna cut Krefn l-one ami g>-l more eis-gn. Willi a Crown Bone Cutter you can cut up all scrap bones easily and quickly, and wtihoul any trouble, and have cut bone fresh every day for your poultry. Send Pt once for free caialoKue. WILSON BROS., Boxei4 , Easlon.Pa. I Best Made Lonresf in Price >o:>o«>ooosceeooaoacooosoooos B EE- KEEPERS I NEW ENGLAND l^verything in Supplies. New Goods. Factory Prices. Save Freight & Express Charges Cull & Williams Co. jAtf PROVIDENCE, R. I. A >SQOQOOC090e ££^£rSBe^W^ W^ ft JOHN B ARNX8. Pkase mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. If YOU want them YELLOW try the GENTLE strains of Swarthmore PEDI- y Swarthmore. o CREED GOLDEN QUEENS. Swarthmore, Pa. ' rj-^ Please mention Am. Bee JoMmal wlien writing. EVERY BEE-KEEPER KNOWS The Worth of A Good Queen Knows the worth of a good strain of bees and also knows how worthless is a poor ciueen and inferior bees. Try our strain of three-banded Italians, they will not disap- point you. Tested queen Si.po each- Un- tested. 75c; $7. 00 per doz. No disease, ^end for price-list. 6Atf J. W. K. SHAW & CO., Loreauville, Iberia Parish, Ua. VVase mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. English Honey-Spoon. Tins liw voc Honey-Spoon and the Ameri- can Bee Journal for one year-both for only $1.75. Send all orders to the American Bee Journal. Hamilton, III. ric.isc nienlion Am. lice Journal when writing. October, 1912. 319 American Hee Journal Chicago. Sept. 10 —During this monih we have had very large sales of comb honey. the receipts having been taken freely, but now the stock is beginning to accumulate and the market is a little easier in tone. In fact, houses that are not in the liabit of get- ting honey have been selling lower than quotations herein given. No i to fancy comb honey sells at I7@iac per lb, with the off grades from i'" 3c per lb. less. Extracted honey is in free supply, with the while sell- ing at 8@oc per lb., with some small lots of fancy clover and linden bringing loc per lb. The Quality of honey this season is bringing in duplicate orders. Beeswax is steady at from 3o@32C per lb., according to color and cleanliness. R. A. Blrnett &Co. Cincinnati. Sept. i8.— The market on comb honey is quiet, and there is not very much demand, this we owe to the hot weather for this time of the yearand the large fruit crop For No. I white comb honey in a wholesale way we are getting i^Js cents per pound. There is no demand for off grades of comb honey. The demand for extracted is fair, white sellingat g'lC in 6o-pound cans, light amber in bo-pound cans is selling atSc. Bees- wax is in fair demand at $« per loo pounds' The above are our selling prices, not what we are paying. C. H. W. Weber & Co. Cincinnati. Sept. i8.— The demand for both extracted and comb honey is not up to expectations by far for this time of the year. Big buyers refuse to pay the prices we must ask. and we fear that it will be a case of a small business or lower prices, and owing to ihe Uiah prices we have paid it will be impossible for us to lower our price. We are selling strictly fancy comb honey at I4@ib/2C a lb., according to the quantity and (luality purchased: amber comb honey is not wanted at any price. What little is sold of fancy extracted honey in (jo-pound cans we are getting8(SToc a lb., while amber honey in barrels we are selling at 5^b@7c. accord- ing to the grade and quantity purchased. There is plenty of beeswax, and the prices are much easier than they have been for sometime. We are paying 28c a lb. deliver- ed here for choice, bright yellow beeswax. The Fred W. Muth Co. 1ndi.\n.\polis, Sept. 18.— Extracted honey of finest quality is selling at io!3@i2c ins- gallon cans, according to quantity at one shipment. No. i and fancy white comb is selling at i6@i7c. Beeswax is in good de- mand, and producers are being paid 30c per pound. Walter S. PouDER. Kansas City, Mo., Sept. 18.— The receipts of both comb and extracted honey are still light. The demand for comb honey is good. We quote: No. i white comb, 24 section cases, $3.50; No. 2, $3.25; No. i amber, $3.25; No. 2, $3.00. Extracted, white, per lb., 8@8Hc: amber per lb , tSSc. Beeswax, per lb., 25@2Bc. C. C. Clemons Produce Co. New York, Sept. 12.— Comb honey is now arriving right along with a fair demand for all grades at unchanged prices. The season for buckwheat being late this year, there is none on the market yet to speak of. From the reports we are receiving from producers there will be a rather light crop; however, the demand for buckwheat comb honey is being limited, we do not think that higher prices will rule than from iu@i2c per lb., ac- cording to quality, l^xtracted is in fair de- mand for all grades at unchanged prices. UlI.DRETlI i; Segelken. San Francisco, Sept. 18.— The demand for comb honey is still beyond the supply, and fancy and No. I still very limited, and what arrives is soon taken up. Extracted honey is somewhat easier, and several carloads have been upon the market, and the water white and lighter grades have found ready buyers, l-'ancy white comb, I6(?'i7c: dark to amber, I3j2@isc per lb.; river comb. iiE- SUPPLIES at Cordele, Ca., and have erec- ted a large Warehouse and filled it with New Bee -Supplies at O'Brien, Fla., near Live Oak, the best shipping-point for all sections of Florida. Southeast Georgia and Southern Alabama. Send all orders to CORDELE, CA., and state from which point you wish your Sup- plies shipped. J. J. WILDER, Please mention Ara. Bee Journal when writing. English Honey-Spoon. This fine qoc Honey-Spoon and the Ameri- can Bee Journal for one year— both for only $1.75. Send all orders to the American Bee Journal. Hamilton, 111. SWEET CLOVER SEED for fallsowini;. both yellow and while bloom; new crop now ready, liest legume ferlili/er, Kood pasture and hay. Price and circular. now to urow it. free. Also Kentucky blue- grass seed. John A. Sheehan. Falmouth. Ky. Please mention Am. iice Journal when writing. BEE-KEEPER'S NOVELTY POCKET-KNIFE- HOWARD M. IWIELBEE, HONEYVILLE, O. Your Kaine and Address will be put on one side of the handle as shown in the cut, and on the other side a picture of a Queen-Bee, a Worker-Bee, and a Drone-Bee. The handle is celluloid, and so transparent, through which is seen your name. If you lose this Knife it can be returned to you, or it serves to iden- tify you if you happen to be injured fatally, or rendered unconscious. The cut is the exact size; it is made of best steel. When ordering be sure to write exact name and address. Knife delivered within two weeks after we receive order. Price, postpaid, $1.00 ; or with a year's subscription to the American 'Bee Journal — both for $1.80; or given Free as a premium for sending us 3 New sub- scriptions at $1.00 each. American Bee Journal, Hamilton, Illinois. SURE, Old Combs are Valuable IP SHIPPED TO US FOR RENDERING We Extract 991 Percent of Wax And then Pay you Highest Market Prices, or 2 cents addi- tional in Trade YOU CAN'T APPROACH THAT FOR PROFIT We need great quantities of Comb and Extracted Honey Write us THE FRED W. MUTH CO. "The Busy Bee-Men" 204: Walnut Street, CINCINNATI, OHIO MooeooosoosooosooooocoecoscososococccosoGOoocoGeoocc^ I NARSHFIELD GOODS i BEE KEEPERS :— We manufacture Millions of Sections every year that are as good as the best. The CHEAPEST for the Quality ; BEST for the Price. If you buy them once, you will buy again. I 8 8 We also manufacture Hives, Brood- S S Frames, Section-Holders and Ship- 8 I ping-Cases. S 8 Our Catalog is free for the asking. S I I \ Marshfield Mfg. Co., Marshfield, Wis. | November, 1912. George W.York Sandpoint, Idaho Bouiier Couuty A Home in the Northwest Do you want a home in tlie best part of the Northwest— Northern Idaho? If so, let me hear from you. I have no land for sale myself, but can refer you to those who have. If you will let me know what you'd like, I can also then refer your enquiry to reliable real es- tate men here who can supply you. Remember, no irrigation is necessary here. It is a fine country for diversified farming — dairying, fruit-growing, bee- keeping, poultry, etc. You would be pleased if you could come and look this country over. But the next best thing is to do it by correspondence. I will be glad to help you in any way I can, if you will let me know just what you want. "Honey as a Health-Food" Several hundred thousand copies of this 10-page pamphlet on the uses of honey have already been distributed. It is one of the very best things to help increase the demand for lioney. It not only contains many recipes for the use of honey in baking and cooking, but also tells a good many ways in which to use it as a remedy for colds and other ailments. The first few pages give much information about honey — how to reliquefy, how to keep it, etc. If you have never tried it, send for at least 100 copies. It will pay you to distribute it if you want to work up a home demand for your honey. Prices are as follows : A sample copy for a 2-cent stamp; 25 copies for .50 cts. ; .50 for 90 cts. ; 100 for $1..50 ; 2.50 for $3.00 ; .500 for $5.00 ; or 1000 for $>1.U0. (These prices include postage or express charges paid). For an order of 100 or more copies we will print your business card at the bottom of the front page without extra charge. Special Bee-Literature Offers Ask for my circular containing spe- cial offers of bee-literature. And if you want any bee-papers or other mag- azine, send me your list and I can quote you a price that will save you some money, I am sure, .\ddress, George W. York, Publisher and Subscription Agent, 302 S. Boyer Ave., Sandpoint, Bonner Co., Idaho Pkase mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. American Hee Journal BOOKING ORDERS FOR 1913 Untested Italian Queen-Bees Our Standard-Bred 6 Queens for $4.50 ; 3 for $2.50 ; 1 for 90 cents. For a number of years we have been sending out to bee-keepers exceptionally fine Untested Italian Queens, purely mated, and all right in every respect. Here is what a few of those who received our Queens have to say about them : George VC. Tork & Co.:— The two queens received o( you some time agro are fine. They are grood breeders, and the workers are showing- up line I Introduced them among- black bees, and the bees are nearly yellow now, and are doing good work. Nemaha Co , Kan , July 15. A. W. Swan. George W. York .St Co.:— After importing queens for 15 years you hare sent me the best She keeps a 1-2 Lang-stroth frames fully oc cupled lo date, and. although I kept the htve well contracted, to force them to swarm, they have never built a queen-cell, and will put ud 100 pounds of honey If the flow lasts this week. Ontario. Canada July 22. Chas. Mitchell George W. York & Co.:— The queen I bought of you has provea a good one, and has given me some of tbe best colonies. Washington Co., Va., July 22. N. P. Oglesbt. George W York & Co. :— The queen I received of you a few days ago came through O. K . and I want to say that she is a beauty. I im- mediately Introduced her Into a colony which had been queenless for 20 days. She was accepted by them, and has gone to work nicely I am highly pleased with her and your promptness In filling my order. Wy father, who is an old bee keeper, pronounced her very fine. You will hear from me again when I am In need of somethmg in the bee l""^j, _, „ T„ , , ,„ E. E. McColm. Marion Co.. 111., July 13. We usually begin mailing Queens in May, and con- tinue thereafter on the plan of " first come first served." The price of one of our Untested Queens alone is 90 cents, or with the old American Bee Journal for one year— both for $1.60. Three Queens (without Journal) would be $2.,50. or 6 for $4.50. Full instructions for in- troducing are sent with each Queen, being printed on the underside of the address-card on the mailing-cage. You cannot do better than to get one or more of our fine Standard-Bred Queens. American Bee Journal, Hamilton, Illinois. The Ideal Hive-Tool Free as a Premium Exactly half actual size, Price, postpaid. 35 cents, or with the American Bee Journal one year— both for J1.15; or mailed Free as a premium for sending us one new subscription at $1.00. This is a special tool invented by a Minnesota bee-keeper, adapted for pry- ing up supers, and for general hive and other work around the apiary. Made of malleable iron, S'/i inches long. The middle part is 1 1-16 inches wide, and 7-32 thick. The smaller end is IJ-s inches long, K inch wide, and 7-32 thick, ending like a screwdriver. The larger end is wedge-shaped, having a fairly sharp, semi- circular edge, making it almost perfect for prying up hive-covers, supers, etc., as it does not mar the wood. Dr. C. C. Miller, who has used this tool since 1903, says: "I think as much of the too! as ever." American Bee Journal, Hamilton, Illinois. lEnlcrcd aa wecuiid-class matter at the Poat-otticc at Hamilton. III., under Act of March '6. IHTy.) Published Monthly at $1.00 a Year, by American Bee Journal, First National Bank Building C. p. DAD.'\NT. Editor. DR. C. C. MILLER. Associate Editor. HAMILTON, ILL., NOVEMBER, 1912 Vol. LII-No. 11 Editorial Comments Houey-Crop Reports Secretary Tyrrell sent out to the tneinbers of the National Association, blanks for reports, and has published the result of the same in the Bee-Keep- ers' Review. He received 329 reports from 3(5 States, and publishes the num- ber of colonies reported for each State for the spring of 1911, with the number of pounds of honey produced for that year; also the same for the year 1912. In many of the States the reports for the two years differ greatly; as, for in- stance, California reports about an eighth more bees in 1912 than in the year before, but only a little more than half as much honey. Somewhat curi- ously it turns out that the variations in the different States very nearly bal- ance each other, when the whole is totaled. The total colonies reported for 1911 number 33^94, against 33140 for 1912. Honey for 1911, 1,633,211, against 1,601,491 for 1912. Average honev per colony in 1911, 49.0.-,, against 48.32 for 1912. Perhaps if the bees of 1912 had known there was so little difference they might have " humped " themselves a little more and brought up that other three-quarters of a pound. Disposing of Sweet Water The last number of the American Bee Journal contained a question as to what to do with sweetened water which must be thrown away. This was an- swered by Dr. Miller. It may be well to add that no sweet water need be thrown away which is not actually dirty. The water obtained from wash- ing cappings, or cans or barrels, etc., which have contained honey is of value according to its degree of sweetness. Even when it may look dirty, it can be claritied. Of course, cappings contain pieces of broken comb, dead bees and other impurities. By heating the water and filtering it afterwards through a piece of muslin, most of these impuri- ties may be removed and good vinegar obtained by one of the processes so often given in the Bee Journal. Thorough clarifying may be secured by beating in it the white of one or more eggs, and allowing time enough to settle. This is the process used for wines. If the sweetened water is too weak, more honey may be added or it may be reduced by boiling. If too rich, water is added until the proper point is reached. In this country we are not accustomed to saving little things like this. We must learn to do so, for the high cost of living of which so many complain, is in great part due to the wastefulness of our nation. The wealth of the nations of the European continent is mainly due to their saving habits. Shippiiiff Old Combs and Cap- pings to Dealers It is becoming popular to ship old combs, bits of wax and cappings, from the small apiaries to the dealers, to be rendered by them into beeswax. This method has been followed by European bee-keepers, on the Continent, for years, as apiaries there are small but numerous. The dealer or wax mer- chant is generally better prepared to squeeze out the last drop of wax from rendering combs than the small api- arist can be. In fact, many combs are allowed to waste without any render- ing, owing to the inconvenience of rendering small lots. We should, however, sound a note of warning to all who try this method. There is no surer way to transmit bee- moths and bee-diseases, especially foul brood, than through the shipping of unrendered combs. After the wax has been heated sufficiently to render it out of the slum-gum, it is harmless. But until then, if any germs lurk in the combs or in the honey that they may contain, you may be sure of dissemi- nating disease if you ship them with- out proper precautions. Combs to be rendered into wax should be entirely free of leaking honey. They should be put up in tight boxes, or the bo.xes should be lined with heavy paper to prevent the bees from getting at the combs in transmit. Better yet if the combs should not be shipped until cold weather. The burn- ing of brimstone, or the use of bi- sulphide of carbon, will kill moths, but these drugs have no effect whatever upon the bacilli of foul brood. Likewise, the dealerwho receives old combs for rendf-ring, should at once put them out of the reach of bees by rendering them or storing them in a safe bin. With the above precautions, it is quite probable that the rendering of wax at wholesale by persons properly supplied with the necessary implements will result in a saving to the general public. The Cause of the Drone's Death On page 268, Mr. Scholl discusses "how often queens mate." He may be correct in his general view, but as to one of the details the writer differs. Scholl says "the hold of the queen on the male organs is of such force that they are torn entirely from the drone's body when the two separate." Then he adds, " This is the cause of the im- mediate death of the drone." If I un- derstand that rightly, it means that the tearing away of the male organs is what causes death, and immediate death. I have frequently seen a worker with its entire abdomen torn away, and yet walking about apparently as much alive as ever. If tearing away the whole abdomen does not cause imme- diate death, it hardly seems reasonable to believe that immediate death would be caused by the tearing away of part of the abdomen. Still, that may not be conclusive. Let me cite something else. When a drone of the proper age is held in the hand, a S24 November, 1912. American l^ee Journal slight squeeze, perhaps only the warmth of the hand, will cause a violent con- traction of the abdomen, making it only part of its former volume, the male organs will be forcibly thrust out, and instantly the drone is dead. In that case certainly the tearing away of the organs does not cause death, for there is no such tearing away ; there is no attachment to the queen, and there is no queen in the case. Death seems in some way to be connected with the violent spasmodic action. Is it not reasonable to believe that the death of the drone is due to the same cause when he meets the queen ? Bee-Keepers of Iowa The following letter speaks for itself. We hope our readers of Iowa, and those who formerly lived there, will comply with the request. The Editor will gladly attend the Iowa convention, and hopes to meet many acquaintances there : Dkar Sir— P'or the purpose of showing the status of the bee-industry in Iowa. 1 am anxious to get into communication with bee- l^eepers who are now located in other States, but who formerly lived in Iowa, in order to learn from them the average production of lioney in their present location compared with their crop in Iowa. It is also desired to learn from those now living in Iowa, who formerly kept bees in other -States, the com- parison between their present production and that of their former locality. The offer of the columns of the Bee Jour- nal to assist the bee-keepersof Iowa in their effort to secure proper recognition from the legislature is much appreciated. If you will insert a note to the effect that the above in- formation is desired, it will be of assistance, Mr. W. P. Southworth. President of the Iowa Bee-Keepers' Association, writes me that he has had a conference with the Sec- retary, and that it has been decided to hold the convention at Des Moines on Dec, 12 and 13. Frank C. Pei i.ett, ^^^^^^^^^^^^ Itupector. Japanese a Witle-Awake Nation We are receipt from the editor of the Japanese Bee Journal of a pamphlet containing the pictures of Father Lang- stroth, Mehring and Hruschka, besides a number of cuts of Japanese apiarists and implements. Being unable to read the Japanese language, we wonder whetlier this is a regular issue of their journal. In spite of patriotic vanity which leads one to believe that his own country is above all others, we must grant at least onepointto the Japanese. Very few of us can read Japanese, but judging by the number of sub- scribers that come to the American Bee Journal from Japan, many of them must be able to understand English. We take our hat off to them. Japan is in the front rank of progress. Bee-l>iseases in (ireat Britain In the British Bee Journal of Sept. 12, D. M. Macdonald says that "the question of disease is fast becoming an alarming one over large areas of our islands." He urges the prompt establishing of inspectors throughout the country. This is certainly a desir- able move. However, in regard to the " Isle of Wight disease," which is said to have lieen introduced by ""«<• stock in the apiary in IIKIK," in a certain part of utif county, we believe that a knowledge of the conditions which caused the disease, more than the isolation of the diseased colonies, is of importance. We base this opinion upon the fact that the "May disease," which is the same as the " Isle of Wight," if we are to believe all descriptions given, has repeatedly appeared spontaneously among bees in our Middle States, and has not proven contagious. It is cer- tainly in the line of an epidemic, and until we can remove its cause, it is sure to reappear. We need the inspectors and the experiments of men of learn- ing, entomologists and bacteriologists, to help us find both cause and remedy. The bee-keepers of the world are awake to the i.nportance of this matter. Bees and Alfalfa Seed "Very few data are at hand relative to the value of insects in the production of a seed crop, but it is generally believed that they are necessary in order that the (lowers may be fertilized properly. At the Kansas Ex- peritnent Station, alfalfa plants covered with a wire-netting, which excluded all in- sects, made no seed, whereas those plants that were adjacent but uncovered were tilled with seed pods. Botanists all agree that insects are necessary to the production of alfalfa seed, but the farmers are more or less divided on this point. In many sections where insect life is scarce, dragging the alfalfa field with a plank or brush, or rolling it has been found greatly to increase the yield of seed."— /'/■(• Coiintrv Gentlcmnn. The recognition of the importance of bees as fertilizers in so reliable an agricultural paper as the Country Gen- tleman is gratifying. While " dragging the alfalfa field with a plank or brush " may greatly increase the yield of seed, the question will arise whether it will increase it as much as would the pres- ence of a good force of bees. Even if the bees be no better than the drag- ging, what about economy in the affair ? There will be a definite outlay for the dragging that must be paid out of the seed. The bees will more than pay their own cost by the honey they store, doing the work of fertilizing free gratis. Cheaper to introduce bees than to drag. Improving Bees in Finland In another column is a report from Mr. Paul Mickwitz, of his trip from Carniola to Finland, with a shipment of bees. Those who met Mr. Mickwitz during his stay in the United States a few years ago, when he studied and practiced progressive bee-keeping with a number of noted apiarists, will not be astonished at his initiative, in thus transporting bees of the best breeds to his own native country. Mr. Mickwitz writes us that he has taken a few pic- tures during his trip, and that he will forward them to us as soon as they are developed. His bees are now in win- ter quarters in good shape. We wish him success. Heather Considering what an important honey plant heather is, the wonder is that more effort has not been made to in- duce it to make its home in this coun- try. Across the water, especially in Scotland, heather honey is considered «<■ f>li(s ulliii, and D. M. McDonald says that " by all bee-keepers who live with- in reach of its bloom it is recognized as the king of bee-flowers." The honey is so thick that it cannot be extracted, but must be pressed or else used as comb honey. Unlike white clover, which is scat- tered all over, easily accessible to bees located at the homes of their owners, heather is in large tracts away from the bee-keepers' homes, and those who would avail themselves of its nectar must transport their bees miles at the time of its blooming. Taking the bees to the heather is a great annual event. D. M. Macdonald, in the British Bee Journal, paints a picture of it in such glowing colors that one almost envies the Scotch their stretches of heather. He says in part : "Over vast stretches of hill and dale it is found in lavish profusion, and the wealth of blossom makes the purple hills during Au- gust a vision of delight. For scores of miles there is one ocean of heather, stretching for leagues and leagues, in an unbroken sea of purple, and every yard of it scented like a honey-comb. " In a few days thousands of bee-keepers, with tens of thousands of hives, resort to this El Dorado. All sorts and conditions of men transport their hives to the moors for a distance, it may be. of from 5 to 50 miles. Every description of hive is carried there, from the rudest form of 'ruskie' to the most advanced modern-frame hive. ,\nd the means of transport are as inhnite. every sort of a vehicle being requisitioned, from the humble farm machine' to the stylish motor car. flying to the uplands at the rate of 3u miles an hour. "In many parts of central Scotland this annual event is made an occasion of high festivity, a kind of yearly pilgrimage, and scores of bee-keepers from every village and ' clachan ' unite to celebrate the occasion. Mere ordinary work is suspended by mid- day, and every man, woman, and child is ex- pected to lend a hand in packing, in order that the cavalcade may start as soon as the cool of the evening allows the ' port-holes ' of every hive to be closed." A Question of Smells A letter from Morley Pettit, the On- tario Provincial Apiarist, to the editor- in-chief of this Journal, shows that Mr. Pettit and Dr. E. F. E'hillips are not entirely of one mind regarding the odor of European foul brood. Either because he does not care to handle so malodorous a subject, or because he thinks I am more at home than he with European foul brood, Editor Dadant has turned the letter over to me. While it is not true that I am at home with European foul brood, it is only too true that European foul brood has made itself very much at home with me. At any rate, here is the letter: Dear Sir:— In your editorial on " Dr. Zan- der on Foul Brood." in the last American Bee Journal, you make the statement that the average case of European foul brood may be said to be pleasantly fragrant com- pared with a bad case of American. This reminds me of a difference I have had with Dr. Phillips. He states, in his bulletin, that European foul brood has very little if any odor. I sent him recently a sample of l''.uro- pean foul brood which has what I call a characteristic odor. The sample came 500 miles in the mail, and before the package was opened any one in the othce holding it anywhere near his face could get the char- acteristic odor very clearly. After the outer wrapping was removed, it was necessary to remove the package from the ofhce for the convenience of those working. I sent the package forward to Dr. Phillips , to show him what was the characteristic odor of Canadian European foul brood. lie wrote back saying that the odor was not noticeable when it reached his office at all. It makes me think that there must be something wrong with the smellers of the American bee-keepers, when they do not notice the odor, or else there must be a very great difference between Canadian Euro- November, lSl2. American l^ee Journal pean foul brood and United States European foul brood. Theaverace sample of Canadian European foul brood has a decidedly pronounced odor which cannot be compared to any tliiny that we might mention in the papes of the Bee Journal. Yours very truly. MoRLEY I'ETTIT, Here are two men, in the word of either of whom I would place the greatest confidence, almost flatly con- tradicting one another. At least it has that look. In Europe, American foul brood is called lu'ihlsl/iikiinh- Fciidbrut (non-stinking foul brood), and Euro- pean foul brood is called sli)i/;eiide J-'uulbrut (stinking foul brood). Mr. Pettit receives a much-traveled speci- men of European foul brood of so vile a smell that it drives people out of the office. He forwards it to Washing- ton, and Dr. Phillips says the odor is not noticeable. Is it that under the American flag, in this boasted " land of the free," European foul brood does not feel the same freedom to send forth its characteristic odor that it does under kingly rule in Canada and Europe, or is there, as Mr. Pettit sug- gests, a lack of olfactory development in the States ? In all seriousness it is not likely that the same stage of the disease may have a smell at all different in one country from what it has in another. And it is a matter of some consequence that there should be a very full under- standing regarding the matter, if for no other reason than that the novice should not be confused unnecessarily when he has, or suspects he has, either European foul brood or American foul brood in his apiary. There is good ground for the belief that what will hold European foul brood in check may have no effect whatever upon American foul brood. So it is desir- able that Messrs. Pettit and Phillips should come to entire agreement. From the character of the two men, one may judge that a thing very likely to happen. In the meantime it may do no harm to speculate a little as to why there should be a difference in the sample whose smell in Mr. Pettit's office was so strong, and yet not noticeable in Dr. Phillips' oflice. It is reasonable to believe that in any given sample the odor is not continuously the same in strength. Like any other odor that comes from decay, it increases until it reaches its maximum, and then fades away. So it might be that Mr. Pettit had the sample at its maximum, and Dr. Phillips after its decline. Only it seems hard to understand how the de- cline should be so rapid. For practical purposes, however, is it not more important to know how the disease smells in the apiary than to know about it some time after it has been taken from the hive? How has Mr. Pettit found it when opening up a diseased colony? How about a mild case ? How about a very bad case ? And, by the way, is there any agree- ment of opinion as to what constitutes a mild or a very bad case ? What per- cent of the brood is diseased in the one case and in the other ? Here is a point upon which light is needed. When Mr. Pettit speaks about a mild or a very bad case, does he mean exactly the same thing that Dr. Phillips does when he uses the same terms ? As a trifling contribution to the sub- ject, I may say something about the smell of European foul brood " in this locality." When it was at its worst in my apiary, I do not remember that I ever recognized any odor upon open- ing the brood-chamber of a diseased colony unless I held thediseased brood close to my nose, and not then unless it was what I called a very bad case. If several stories of diseased brood were in a pile, when I lifted ofT the cover I would recognize the odor, not, how- ever, as something unprintable, but rather as something mildly objection- able. I do not count it a matter of congratulation that European foul brood is more gently offensive here than in Canada, if there really is a dif- ference. In that case, it is the Kanucks who are to be congratulated, for the worse it smells the better, since it will be the more readily detected. But I sincerely hope that the whole matter shall be fought out to a finish by our two leaders, one on each side of the line. c. c. M. Care of Sectioii.s Sections that have had no honey in them may be kept over from one year to another, or even for a number of years, and if kept in a dry, proper place, they will be just as good as fresh sec- tions. To be sure, there are some who say that foundation in sections is not fit to use a month after it has left the foundation-mill, but others have kept it for years and then found that the bees accepted it with entire satisfaction. If one is to be exceedingly exact, it is possible that foundation a month old is not quite the same as the day it left the mill, but the difference is so infini- tesimal that the bees would not be able to recognize it. It is a good thing that foundation in sections will keep over to another year or later. It would be exceedingly in- convenient for many if it were not so. For one who has a considerable num- ber of bees it would not be at all handy to be putting foundation in sections when the flow of nectar is on. He must prepare his sections in advance. He cannot wait to know what the harvest will be. He must have enough sections ready not only for an average season, but for the largest possible crop. Then the season may turn out a failure, and it is a good thing for him that the preparation already made will stand good for the first good season that comes along But a qualification must be made. While there may be sections 5 years old that are practically as good as new, thousands of sections may be found all over the country not fit to put on a hive, and yet the foundation in them is not a year old. It is because they have been left on the hives at a time when no honey was coming in. Early in the season it seems to do no harm, and it is better to have sections on the hive at least a little in advance of their be- ing needed, for then the bees begin work on them more promptly when the flow does come. One cannot know in advance exactly when the flow will be- gin, so sections may be put on about 10 days in advance of the time they are supposed to be needed. But to leave sections on the hive 10 days after the harvest is over is a seri- ous mistake. .Xt this time of year, if the bees cannot put honey in them they will be very likely to treat them liber- ally with bee-glue. And after a coat of bee-glue has been painted over the foundation in a section, the bees will not store in it. Even if no glue can be seen on it, the bees object to a sec- tion that has been left on the hive through the fall months. The writer has seen a section-super on a hive with every section in it filled with honey but one, and the foundation in that section not drawn out at all. The foundation in it looked all right, but something was wrong with it, perhaps a coating of propolis so thin that only the bees could recognize it; at any rate they would have none of it. Sometimes one flow of honey closes, and then another flow opens in a few days, or many days, later. The bee- keeper thinks it is hardly worth while to take off the supers, but leaves them on until the later flow begins. Perhaps the later flow fails to materialize, and he waits day after day, finally taking off the supers only when winter is staring him in the face. When the flow ceases, take the sections off, even if it be in June. If another flow opens a week or a month later, it is no great task to pvit them on again. But re- member that except very early in the season, when bees can do no good with sections they are likely to do harm with them. When off of the hive the sections must be sheltered from the dust or from the sunshine. Au Open Letter to Dr. lionney Dear Dr. Bonney, I'm not at all sure exactly what you do believe about im- provement in bees, but at any rate I don't agree with you. That doesn't sound so very reasonable, and I may as well confess to you that I am more governed by desire than by reason. I don't agree with you chiefly because I don't want to agree with you. You holdup "Improvement in Bees" as a craze, and say you hesitate to subscribe to it. The general tendency of your teaching is to discourage any attempt at improvement. The situation is peculiar. If you were to discourage attempts at improve- ment in any other kind of stock, it wouldn't make the same difference to me. If you were to get all my neigh- bors to believe that there was no use in trying to improve any other kind of stock, it would make no practical dif- ference with me. I could go right on breeding pure stock and trying to im- prove it, and the scrub stock all around me wouldn't make a particle of differ- ence. But if you get all the surround- ing bee-keepers to believe that im- provement in bees is a tulip-craze- south-sea-bubble affair, you knock into smithereens a large part of my chances for improvement, for the chances are heavy that my young queens will meet surrounding drones of poor grade. And the same thing applies to every other bee-keeper who desires to im- prove his bees. Don't you see that if you should happen to be mistaken, and if there should happen to be something to this matter of improvement, you are doing all you can do to hinder those of November, 1912. American Vee Journal us who are trying to better ourselves ? On tlie other hand, if it should happen that you are mistaken, what possible harm can come of it ? But there are some of us who have had very good proof that we are not mistaken, and we wish you would stop trying to make a hard thing any harder for us. I think the beginner will fairly in- fer from what you say that the habit of industry cannot be developed in the bee. And from that it will be only a short step for him to say, " All bees are alike in industry, and under the same circumstances one bee will gather as much as another." Yet I think you would tell him that under the same cir- cumstances some bees will store more than others. You say you believe management has more to do with surplus honey crops than the breed or color of bees. Well, suppose it has, does that not still leave it possible that the kind of bees is a very important matter t Some of my colonies store twice as much as others, the management being precisely the same. In such a case don't you think that the kind of bees has more to do with surplus honey crops than the management ? You quote Mr. Doolittle as writing a a book which was all management and not a word as to kinds of bees, and you seem to take that as proof that he lightly esteemed the kinds of bees He wrote another book in which he has considerable to say about kinds of bees, and not a word about manage- ment for honey crops. If the first book proved that the kind of bees doesn't count, then the second proves that management doesn't count. The fact is that the book you quote was written speciallj to teach management, and it was not necessary to discuss kinds of bees, any more than it was necessary for him to discuss management for crops when he was teaching queen- rearing. You ask what has been done toward permatnnt improvement, and refer to the opinion of professional bee-keep- ers. I suppose you would call me a professional bee-keeper; at any rate, I keep bees for the honey I can get from them. I am ready to take my " affydavy " that my bees are improved to such a degree that year after year I get from them crops of honey such as I cannot get from the best stock I can buy. Also I have improved (.') their vicious- ness to such a degree that they are holy terrors. You say " the knowledge of man goes not back to the time when the bee was different from what it is now, excepting that we have yellow Italians." Why, Doctor, don't you know that the bee is different now ? I'm sure you don't for a minute suppose that blacks, Italians, Cyprians, etc., are all alike. And I'm nearly as sure that you believe all these different kinds came from the original stock. And if the bee has changed into so many different kinds, why may it not change some more ? You quote me as saying that we are not sure that the royal progeny of a queen out of the ordinary will be like her. The same thing is true in horses, yet that doesn't prove that we cannot improve horses. You think the bee cannot be im- proved because wild. Were not our most improved domestic animals origi- nally wild ? Your closing quotation concerning the bee is "that little change has taken place in her characteristics in .'i or 4 million years. That's a clincher. Only it happens not to be true. Good au- thorities sometimes say foolish things. If little difference had taken place there would be little difference in bees, and any practical bee-keeper knows there is a big difference in bees, in other things as well as in color. What you say in the preceding para- graph has a better ring to it. You quote with evident approval: "I do not know of any work in all apiculture that pays so well as weeding out poor stock." Let's shake on that. Doctor. It's only another way of saying that nothing else pays so well as improving your stock. For you hardly brimstone your poor stock to get them out of the way. You weed them out by requeen- ing with better stock. What is that but improvement ? C. C. Miller. "The Guide to Nature" On the cover page of our Journal will be found a reference to the " Guide to Nature," a small monthly magazine devoted to anything but the sordid in life. Mr. Bigelow, of Arcadia, Sound Beach, Conn., is one of the rare editors who work for the love of the pursuit and the study of the beautiful. He writes us : " The 'Guide to Nature ' and the Asassiz Association are both wholly labors of love with me. except, of course, the satisfaction ofdoingthework in Nature that I like to do." The "Guide to Nature" makes de- lightful reading, and deserves more than a passing mention. Makiug' Experiments When trying new methods of pro- cedure with bees, beware of hasty con- clusions, based upon experiments on only one or two hives of bees. Too often isolated experiences have proven to be exceptions instead of rules. To be positive, an experiment should be tried upon a number of colonies in different conditions, and both condi- tions and results noted. A repetition of the same results in two different seasons, under such conditions, will be quite conclusive. Much trouble has resulted from hasty and limited ex- periments. Silly Stories iu the Dailies We are in receipt from Mr. Frank E. Whiting, of Massachusetts, of a news- paper quotation announcing the dis- covery of a stingless bee, in the same manner as announced in our Canadian Notes in this number. But the clipping goes further and gives the name of a Mr. Atwater, of Kingston, R. I., who rears " illuminated bees" by crossing them with lightning bugs. There is no harm in a little " scien- tific pleasantry," provided everybody knows that it is a joke, but there are too many who are prone to take such jokes for the truth, witness the " scien- tific pleasantry " about manufactured comb honey, sealed over with a hot iron, which went the rounds of the" press some 30 years ago and has never been fully extinguished in the minds of the credulous. Why should it be so difficult to get trutlis in the dailies, when they so readily publish silly stories 1 Character Versus Mating Mr. J. L. Byer's remarks concerning the gentleness of the progeny of queens mated with Italian drones or drones of gentle races tallies with our own. We had often noticed the gentleness of hybrids that issued from a black queen and an Italian drone, but thought nothing of it until we were told, at the Paris meeting of liUlO, that it was gen- erally conceded that the male gives the character of his race to the progeny. We would like to hear from authorities posted on this subject. Miscellaneous ^ News Items Six Better than Ci following is quoted fi sent out by the Secrc souri State Bee-Kee| for increasing the me body : In order to increase c our State and National ciation. I ani offerinu six Kach 50 cents to be cou stance, if you send 50 cei with the name of an old will be given credit for 0 member of the Mo. B. ! send the name of an old 1 Si.S>J. you will be k'iven ci he will be a member of lional. and will cet the B and other liood thines. I edk'e is worth more to than $50 worth of bees < ciation arc not allowed t.. -. I'irst i)rize. one iframe nucleus: second, one 2-frame nucleus: third, one iframe nucleus: fourth. one tested queen: fifth, one honey exhibits are the very best ad- vertisement that can be had for our Ncvpmber, 1!)12. American ^ea Journal 327 Different Views of Mr. Paul Hi'nten's Tin Section— "The Sanitary Comb-Honey Package.' product. Tens of thousands of visitors have their attention attracted to this industry, and the results are beneficial to all honey-producers. Iowa Bee-Keepers to Meet The fol- lowing is the program of the first an- nual convention of the Iowa State Bee- Keepers' Association, to be held in the Club Room of the Savery Hotel, Des Moines, Dec. 12 and 13, 1912: Thursday lo a.m. — Address of the Presi- dent—W. P. Southworlh. Sioux City. Report of Secretary-Treasurer— C. L. Pin- ney. LeMars. Greeting from Illinois— C. P. Dadant, Ham- ilton. III. Committee Appointments. Thursday 2 pm.—" Production of Comb Honey"— F. W. Hall. Colorado. " Production of Extracted Honey "— D. E. Lhommedieu. Coforado. " Wintering Problems "—C. H. True. Edge- wood. Friday 10 a.m.— "Fuss and Fun of Bee- Keeping"— Eugene Secor. Forest City. "The Foul Brood Situation '—Frank C. Pellett. State Inspector. Atlantic. "State Aid for the Industry"— E. E. Town- send. Ft. Dodge. Friday 2 p.m.— Question-Box. Open discussions led by prominent bee- keepers. Making the most of the home market. Increasing the forage and bettering the locality. Exhibits at Fairs as a means of advertis- ing. Election of officers. Let every bee-keeper bring samples of his best product to put on display, and come prepared to demonstrate any new kink or short cut that is likely to prove of value to the fraternity. Headquarters will be at the Savery Hotel. "Imperial Valley Bee-Keeping." — The Pacific Rural Press of Oct. -j contains an article upon this subject by A. G. Scares, and gives a picture of a class in bee-keeping. He speaks of one of the boys having 40 hives of bees and securing over a ton of honey this year. Let the good work go on! inspectors of Canada. Mr. Millen had had much experience with foul brood and its treatment throughout the prov- ince. He was also connected with the Ontario Agricultural College and the apicultural courses taught there, being also a member of the Apicultural Club. Mr. Millen Nyrote an article on foul brood, published in the August num- ber of the American Bee Journal. Not alone his relatives, but all Canadian bee-keepers will miss his help and his experience. ♦^ Tin Sections lor Comb Honey. — On page 235, Mr. Wesley Foster made mention ni an invention of tin sections for comb honey, by Mr. Paul Hunten, of Somerset, Colo. We now have several samples of those tin sections filled with honey and provided with a tin cover on each side, one side having a round glass 2 '4 inches in diameter in the center. The section is covered with a fine, glossy label, which seals it efficiently. The whole thing has a very fine, artistic appearance. It is dust- proof and convenient. The only ques- tion now is the cost. We would like to have the inventor give a statement to the public through our columns. Honey put up in this shape will surely command the very highest price, if as white and well sealed as the samples received by us. Death of a Prominent Canadian In- spector.—On Sept. 1(1, l!tl2, in Ottawa, Ont., occurred the death of Mr. F. E. Millen, one of the most widely known Tolstoi's Description of a Queenless Hive. — Moscow was deserted. There were yet some human beings within its walls. But they numbered hardly one- fiftieth of its former population. The city was like a deserted hive, falling to ruins. In a hive which has been abandoned by its queen, there is no longer any life, though from the outside it may completely resemble others. One sees, in the warm rays of the noon sun, a few bees flying about actively; the light structure smells of honey, some workers pass in and out. But look more closely and you will see that true life has left this hive. No, it is no longer the same fragrance, neither is it the same flights, the same roar, which strikes the ear of the apiarist. He gives a knock on the outer wall and instead of the immediate and unanimous reply which he expects, in- stead of the murmur of thousands of bees straightening up on their haunches with a flapping of their wings that renders almost a vocal sound, he per- ceives only isolated hummings which reverberate sonorously in the corners of th'e hive. The comb no longer emits an intoxicating aroma of spirits, honey and venom; it now smells of mold. At the entrance no more guards are seen to watch over the security of the colony. The sweet and continued mur- mur, the quiver of labor, is ended. One hears but a few intermittent sounds. Into the hive, the black-bodied maraud- ers, slim and smeared with honey, penetrate, or rather glide ; they do not sting; they fly away at the approach of the least danger. Erewhile, it was with loads that the bees entered, now it is with loads that they depart. The apiarist opens the hive and looks inside. Instead of rows of labori- ous insects, holding to each other by their claws and constantly busy in modeling the wax, a few heavy, sleepy- looking bees crawl from cell to cell. And instead of the shining waxy floor, swept clean by the wings of the work- ers, here and there fragments of comb or dying and dead bees cover the floor. Then in the upper part of the hive, the apiarist perceives also a much dif- ferent labor from that of former times. The black robbers pillage everything in the presence of the remaining habi- tants, who are seemingly old and para- lyzed. In a cell containing dead brood or spoiled honey, one hears an irregu- lar hum. A couple of bees, by force of habit, are cleaning the nest and carry- ing away the dead. In another corner two old bees are quarreling, or, perhaps, cleaning or nursing each other. One can see that they do not really know whether they should be hostile or friendly. Elsewhere a host of bees crowd upon each other, seize upon some victim and kill it. And the ex- piring bee, slowly, softly like down, falls from the hive upon a heap of corpses. The apiarist loosens the two 328 November, 1912. American line Journal center combs to examine them. Dead bodies everywhere ! It smells of rot- tenness. A few inhabitants, the last ones, move, straighten up, then allow themselves to fall on the man's hand withont having even the strength to sting, while others fall as inert as fish scales. The apiarist closes the hive to await the proper hour for burning up the contents. Moscow was thus void when Napo- leon, tired, anxious, marched upon the forts of the mother city, expecting, at least, the observance of the merest de- corum, the arrival of a delegation. When he was informed that Moscow was deserted, he frowned and walked about nervously. " Bring a carriage," said he suddenly. — J'ranslated for the American Bee foiirnal. suggestions, and will gladly corres- pond with those interested. Burton N. Gates, Sec. Amherst, Mass. Kansas Bee-Keepers' Exhibit. The exhibit of bee-culture at the State Fair at Hutchinson, Kan., was very credit- able to the State association and the management of J. J. Measer, the Su- perintendent of the Apiary Department. The bee-keepers' display occupied one wall of the Agricultural Building, and made up about a tenth of the entire agricultural and horticultural e.xhibit. This is a wonderful showing for so small a branch of farming in a State which the people of the Middle West have too long considered as unfit for bee-keeping. The meeting of bee-keepers which display was very encouraging, and that an increase would probably be made by the management both in the number of premiums offered and in the amounts given, to encourage still better exhibits next year. This will give additional impetus to the eflforts of bee-keeping throughout the State for the coming season. No better way to advertise our products can be devised. Meeting of National Association Dele- gates— Notice is hereby given that the Delegate meeting of the National Bee- Keepers' Association will be held in Cincinnati, Ohio, Feb. Vl and 13, l'J13. While all sessions will be open to the members and visitors, some sessions will be devoted ivholly to business, through the delegates. At least one A New State Bee-Keepers' Organiza- tion in Massachusetts. — On Sept. 14, at the State Mutual Restaurant, Worces- ter, Mass., Mr. J. B. Levens, of Maiden, O. F. Fuller, of Blackstone, J. L. Byard, of Marlboro, A. A. Byard, of West Chesterfield, N. H., Arthur Monroe, of Spencer, and Dr. B. N. Gates, of Am- herst, Mass., met at an informal dinner for the purpose of discussing the advis- ability and method of forming a State bee-keepers' association for Massachu- setts. The invitation to this meeting was extended by Dr. Burton N. Gates, of the Massachusetts Agricultural Col- lege, acting as Secretary of the Hamp- shire, Hampden and Franklin Bee- Keepers' Association, which voted last spring to further the organization of a State society in which there should be representation and co-ordination of va- rious local societies of the State. The sense of those present in Wor- cester was so unanimously iru favor of the movement that it was voted to form an association to be known as the State Bee-Keepers' Association of Massachusetts. Provisional officers were elected by unanimous vote as fol- lows : President, John L. Byard ; Vice- President, J. B. Levens ; Secretary- Treasurer, Burton N. Gates. The constitution and by-laws were discussed, a memorandum drawn up and authorized, and submitted to a committee composed of presidents and and others of the several societies now existing. It was further voted to hold the first annual meeting of the organi- zation on the second Saturday in Jan- uary, 191.'3, as a joint meeting with the Worcester County Bee-Keepers' Asso- ciation, in Worcester. It was further- more voted to announce this organiza- tion through the courtesy of the American Bee Journal. Briefly, the organization is designed as a medium of union and co-ordina- tion of the various local societies in Massachusetts, for the purpose of de- vising and promoting measures that are of general interest to the bee-keep- ers of the .State, and to encourage the organization of local co-operation in the several districts of the State, as well as to promote and impress upon the public the importance and value of the bee-keeping industry. Since this organization is distinctly in the interest of individual bee-keep- ers of the State, the Secretary solicits PHOTOr.RAI'U OK TUOSE PPESENT AT THE MEETING AT HUTfHINSON. KAN. Top row. left to right— J. A. Xininger, Mr. Soiitheriand, W. S. Measer. C. P. Dadant' J. J. Measer. Mr. Raffiniiton. Mr. Carson. Bottom row— Dauk'hters of W. S. Measer. Dr. Bohrer. President Hobble. ICdith Measer. Mrs. J. J. Measer, Mrs. W. S. Measer. was called at 10 o'clock a.m. Thursday, Sept. 11), at the Fair Grounds, by P. R. Hobble, president of the State associa- tion, was attended by a limited number, owing to the attractions of the Fair, which had the usual effect of keeping many away from the meeting room. But important action was taken in a resolution passed to urge the incor- poration of the State association in imitation of the Illinois State Associa- tion. Expression was also given by several members to a desire of joining the National Association, when it could be effected at a regular meeting. The matter of education in bee-cul- ture by a course at the Agricultural College was also discussed and favor- ably viewed. It is evident that future meetings of this association will bring about desirable results. These matters were urged by Dr. G. Bohrer, of Lyons. P. R. Hobble, of Dodge City, and the Editor of the American Bee Journal, who was present as judge of the bee and honey exhibit. Mr. J. J. Measer stated that the line session each day will be set aside for the members to discuss such subjects as may be decided upon later, notice of which will be given out by the Secre- tary. The subjects that will likely be selected for discussion will be of na- tional character rather than pertaining to the production of bees and honey. E. D. TOVVNSENU, C/tairman. Remus, Mich., Oct. 1. Colorado Bee-Keepers. — The Colorado State Bee-Keepers' .Association pub- lishes a directory, in the shape of a lit- tle folder of Id pages, besides the cover. This directory gives the names and ad- dresses of the members, stating whether they have honey or bees for sale, and whether they handle supplies. It also gives the names and addresses of the officers and of the inspectors. It con- tains a few advertisements which have evidently helped to pay the cost of the directory. This example is worthy of imitation November, 1912. American l^ee Journal by other States. We are just begin- ning to realize the value of co-opera- tion. ^ Elementary Schools and Bee-Keeping in the Black Country. I have been fort- unate enough to secure a garden for 14 of the boys attending my school. For hand and eye training last winter we made a hive in school out of old, though good, timber. On May !"i, I re- ceived a colony of bees on (! frames, and with the help of my young gar- deners, transferred it to to the hive. Their arrival excited no small interest in the school and immediate neighbor- hood. Four frames of foundation were given it, and, with the fine weath- er, it was soon busy. On June 19, a large swarm issued, though I had put on a super of sec- tions, which the bees never attempted to work. I might mention that I had taken out 2 of the new frames, which were well worked out, in order to crowd the bees into the sections. The boys and I at once replaced these frames, and successfully returned the swarm to the hive, also putting on a second super of sections. The boys, at the visit of His Majesty's Inspector, opened the hive and showed him the various parts, and were left to replace everything. About 8 o'clock that evening, a boy came to me in breathless haste to tell me that all the bees were out of the hive on the alight- ing-board, and some of them were "running like mad up and down the sides of the hive outside.' I told the boys, who were there weeding their plots, that evidently the queen was missing. We removed the cover, and the first thing we saw was the queen on the side of the section-case by the back of the hive. The boys had care- lessly put the metal end of one frame on the next, and the queen had crawled out through the hole thus left. After returning her, in an incredibly short space of time every bee was in the Iiive. We have taken nearly 30 completed sections of honey from our one colony, and the whole lU frames are covered with bees, with plenty of stores, even in this abominable summer. Headmas- ter, St. Mark's School, Tipton, Staffs. — Brih'sfi F-iet' fourual. The New Nexico Fair and Premiums. — This office is in receipt of the " Year Book " of the Pecos Valley Fair, Ros- well. New Mexico. The apiarian de- partment is recognized to the extent of $41 in cash and a number of premiums on supplies, such as sections, extrac- tors, etc. This department is in charge of Mr. Henry C. Barron, of Hagerman. The Fair took place Oct. 1 to 4. The earnestness of the managers in solicit- ing exhibits cannot be too highly com- mended. Judging by the cuts published, the Pecos Valley is a great country for orchards. *■ The Sting of the Bee Versus the Sting of the Digger- Wasps.- In the Septem- ber number, we quoted the French en- tomologist, j. H. Fabre, concerning the bee-eating philanthus, one of the many diff^erent species of digger-wasps. The same renowned writer calls atten- tion to the fact that the sting of these digger-wasps, who burrow in the ground to breed and feed their young upon the bodies of other insects, is de- prived of the barbs found upon the bees, who use this instrument for de- fense or revenge. " The victims of the hymenopters, whose larvEe live upon prey, are not truly dead, in spite of their often complete inertness. There is in them eitlier lotal or partial paralysis; there is a suppression more or less complete of animal life; but a vegetat- ing life, a life of the organs of nutrition maintains itself for a long time yet. and pre- serves from decomposition or decay the prey which the larva is to devour at a more or less remote time. To produce this paraly- sis, the hunting hymenopters use precisely the same process which advanced science of our day might suggest to the experiment- ing physiologists; that is to say. a lesfon of the nervous centers of their organs of loco- motion through the use of the venom-bear- ingsting." After describing the work of the North Half of the Honey and Bee Exhibit at the Kansas Fair. 330 November, 1912. American IBae Journal digger-wasp "sphex," which feeds its larv;L- upon paralyzed crickets in un- derground burrows, he says: "The sphex's task being completed. I will terminate mine by the examination of his weapon. The organ which elaborates ilie poison is composed of two tubes, elegantly ramitied. converjiine: to a joint reservoii or pouch, in the shape of a pear. From this pouch a minute tube plunges into the axis of the sting and brings to its extremity the droplet of poison. The sting is of very minute size, considering the size of the sphex. and especially judging by its action upon the crickets. Its point is perfectly smooth, entirely deprived of the barbs which are found upon the sting-of the honey- bee. The reason of this is obvious. The honey-bee uses its sting only to take revenge of an injury, even at the cost of its life, the indentures in the sting resisting its with- drawal and thus often causing mortal rup- tures in the viscera of the abdomen. What could the sphex have done with a wear»on that mit;ht have been fatal to it upon its first expedition r Supposing that it be easy to withdraw the sting when barbed. I doubt much that any hymenopter using its weapon to wound the game destined for the food of its larvai is supplied with a barbed sting. For this insect, the sting is not an instru- ment to be drawn in the satisfying of re- venge, the delight of the gods, they say. but expensive delight, since it often costs the bee its life; it is an instrument of labor, a tool upon which depends the future of its young. It must, therefore, be of facile use in the fight with the prey; it must plunge into the flesh and withdraw with ease, a re- quirement much more easily filled ivith a smooth weapon than with a barbed sword." Regarding the comparative effects of the sting of this insect and of the honey-bee, Fabre says: "I ascertained, at my own expense, the pain inflicted by the sphex's sting, which numbs its robust victims with such fright- ful speed. Well! I confess with great ad- miration, that this sting is insignificant and cannot in any manner be compared with the intensity of pain inflicted by the honey- bees and the fighting wasps. It is so little painful that I often afterwards handled the living sphex with my fingers instead of using pincers. " One knows also with what fury the fight- ing hymenopters thrust themselves against the audacious being who disturbs their home and punish his temerity. On the other hand, those whose sting is intended for dead- ening their prey are very peaceable, as if conscious of the importance of this poison for their descendants. This droiilet is the safeguard of their race. I would almost say Its bread-winner. So they use it with econ- omy, and only in the incidents of the hunt, without parading a vindictive courage." Although the above remarks have been written some 40 years, and the facts recited are well known to ento- mologists, they are new to most of the uninitiated, and very interesting. all his own. It was stored in 2-poun sections, and verv Iv-rmtifii'. JOHN S. HA'^BISON Pioneer Bee-Keeper Called by Death By the enclosed San Diego clipping, note the passing away of one of the pioneers of bee-keeping — one who in- vented a movable-frame hive and brought bees in them to California. The few bees brought previously were infected with foul brood, from which our State has never recovered. I have known Mr. Harbison for 37 years. He was inflexibly honest in all his dealings, and was always willing to impart his knowledge to any one. He brought bees into this county in 18(19, and has owned 3000 colonies at a time. The first shipment of comb honey East was in 1874 — over 200,i years resided in Sacra- mento, coming to San Diego with his wife in I8ii«. and has since resided here. He brought bees and trees to the early California by way of Panama from New York to San Fran- cisco in 1K57. He was the author of several vc)lumeson bee culture. Mr. Harbison was well known all over the coast. He was a prominent Mason, and a life member of the State Agricultural So- ciety. His wife. Mrs. M. I. Harbison, and daughter. Mrs Hinkle, survive him. Illinois Prospects. The bees are ap- parently going into winter quarters in good shape, with plenty of good honey and a snflicient force. The white clover is showing in every direction. 1913 should be a good year for bees in this region, ••- Bees Besiege Honey Thieves When J. M. Cornelius, of Sterling, Colo., a honey-producer, awoke one morning, he found that during the night 15 bee- hives had been looted of 50 pounds of honey. He followed the dispossessed bees to the home of two brothers by the name of Bennett, living a mile away. There he found the bees swarm- ing about the house, while the Ben- netts, besieged, had closed the door and windows, and were afraid to go out, Mr. Cornelius swore out warrants for the arrest of the Bennetts. They admitted the theft. — /■:xc/ia>un: Bee-I^eping <^ For Women Conducted bv Miss Emma M. Wilson, Marengo. 111. Advice on Bee-Keeping as a Source of Income .\ letter which e.xcites no small in- terest conies from a sister who has a daughter who is teaching, and a son who is growing into young manhood, living in one of the larger cities. She says in part: "We all have a great desire to live in the country, and the thought has come that per- haps we could do so and keep bees. Do you think we could make a living at it ? Have you any idea what it would cost to start an apiary ? And do you think we could learn the business, or is it overcrowded already ? We are an.xious to get into something that my daughter and I could take care of later. for she does not want to teach always— it is really too hard for her— and the only way I can help in town is by sewing, and when I do much of that i have headache all the time." Answering those questions categori- cally : It is more likely you would make a dead failure than that you would make a living in a business that requires knowledge and skill, since you have neither knowledge nor skill in bee-keeping. .\ capital of $ln(Ml might be sufficient to give you enough bees to occupy your attention. But why answer any further if only failure is in prospect ? This failure, however, is on the sup- position that you start into the busi- ness as a full-fledged bee-keeper, with- out serving any apprenticeship. That is not the only alternative. You can learn the business, beginning on a small scale and increasing the number of your colonies as your knowledge increases. Thousands have done so, why not you ? The business is not overcrowded so long as tons of honey are going to waste for want of bees to gather it, and so long as there are thousands of people who eat honey only as a luxury, and thousands more who never eat it at all. Still, bee-keeping is not a bonanza. Only a small percent of bee-keepers make their entire living from it. Gen- erally it occupies only part of their time, and that the smallest part. Some are specially adapted to bee-keeping; some are not. Yon can only tell by trying whether you are or not. The most difficult thing in your case, to the view of an outsider, is mak- ing a start. It may or it may not be possible for youto keep 2 or 3 colonies of bees right where you are living now. Some keep bees on the roofs of their houses in cities. But you may not have a flat roof adapted to the purpose. Possibly you may have a back-yard that is somewhat secluded, so that bees would not be likely to sting passers by on the street. It would be much better if you could be living out in the country, at least a little way, where you could still have the chance to go on as you are doing, and at the same time have plenty of room for your bees. Not that it takes so very much room to place the hives. .•\ hundred hives may be so placed that they will need no more than 5 square rods of ground. But bees need a good bit of elbow room outside of their hives, and should have their hives at some distance from the public high- way. There is no small difference in the tempers of bees. Some are so gen- tle that they might safely be placed within a rod or two of a public road, while others are so cross that they should not be within 10 rods. Let us suppose that it is possible that by next spring you can be located as suggested, at least a little way in the country, and that you want to make a start at bee-keeping. You will want at least 2 colonies to start with, and not more than .5. You can get a lot of ex- perience with 2 colonies, and if you should conclude to give them up after a trial, the loss need not be great. You will not buy before spring, and you can no doubt buy from some one near by, for bees are not accepted by the railroads as freight in less than car lots, and expressage is very expensive. It is possible, however, that by nejft spring bees can be sent in light ship- ping-cases by i)arcels post at reasoij- able rates. Then you can increase t;o double your number or more the fir^t year, and with increased experience the increase may be rapid afterward. In the meantime you will do well to get one of the leading text-books on bee-keeping, and read up during the winter. A good bee-journal will not come amiss, and if you have the Ameri- can Bee Journal you will have the ad- vantage that whenever there is any question upon which you desire infor- mation your ([uestions will be an- swered without any expense. This is not a very brilliant picture of making a fortune at bee-keeping, but it is about the only picture that can be given in strict accordance with the truth. There are not many lines qf business in which there is not a better chance to make big money. On the other hand, there are few lines of busi- ness in which a moderate income can be made with the same chance for health and happiness while at the busi- ness. If you have the right aptitude for bee-keeping you will find it a fasci- nating occupation. Your true bee- keeper is living his vacation every day while working at his bees, always provided he does not work too hard at it. Many a sister living in the city might be the richer to move into the country and have a much smaller in- come than in the city. The outdoor air and exercise at bee-keeping would be a rich compensation for the smaller income. A cow, some poultry, and a good garden would go a long way to- ward lessening expenses, with the ad- vantage that everything would be as fresh and fine as the richest dweller in the city could secure at highest price. A born bee-keeper is not likely to be rich, but is very likely to be healthy and happy, with a long lease of life. The Season's Crop This has been a peculiar season in many respects. Very early it promised to be a complete failure so far as the honey crop was concerned, and until June 25 there was "nothing doing" except feeding to keep from starving. Then the belated clover put in an ap- pearance, and the first we knew one of our colonies swarmed, and we con- cluded we had better be doing some- thing, so we put the supers on in short order. They were put on in the after- noon, and the ne.xt morning, in many cases, there was honey in the supers, so promptly did the bees commence storing in them. Doubtful if they ever commenced quite so promptly, at least in such a wholesale manner before. We had felt that we would be quite satisfied if they would only make their living, so you can imagine we were quite pleased at the very sudden change in affairs. We have had frequent rains all summer, and quite a bit of cool weather, but it has kept the clover in fine condition. Mso it has given us a .-rood fall flow from hearts-ease. We American Hee Journal The Bee-Meeting at Cortez, Colorado. From left to rieht. top row— No. i, Mrs. E. M. Jordan. Secretary of the Montezuma Bee-Keepers" Association: No. 3. Mrs. T. G. Wilk- erson; No. 6. .Mrs. Geo. Taylor: No. 8, F. L. Luce. Vice-Pres. of the Association; No q, Frank Rauchfuss. Manager of the Colorado Honey- froducers' Association. Denver. Bottom row— No. i. Frank Taylor; No. 3, T. G. Wilkerson. President of the local Association; No. 4. Geo. Taylor. County Apiary Inspector. have an average of il3 sections per col- ony, beside a little extracted, and this includes some poor colonies that never gave us a section. Not so bad for a season that did not open until June 25. Oatmeal Bread With Honey Measure a cupful of rolled oats into a mixing bowl ; beat into it 3 cupfuls of hot water with a teaspoonful of salt and a tablespoonful of butter dissolved in them. Then beat in one-half cup- ful of honey drawn from the comb. When cooled to blood-heat add one- half yeast cake, dissolved. Stir in flour to make stiff enough for kneading. Let raise over night. Knead and make into two loaves. Let raise again. When double in bulk brush over the tops with one teaspoonful of honey and two teaspoonfuls of milk, blended. Bake an hour, or a little longer, in a medium oven. One-half cupful of seeded raisins, or coarsely chopped dates or figs can be added to this bread ; or chopped nuts. — Chiciif^ro lyccofil- /ft raid. ^ » »- Cleopatra Neck Bleach Extracted honey, one ounce; lemon juice, one teaspoonful; oil of bitter almonds, six drops; whites of two eggs. Enough fine oatmeal to make a fine paste. Spread this thickly on a piece of cot- ton cloth 3 inches in width, and tie as a bandage around the throat. Four or five of these applications should bleach the neck to a satiny whiteness. Re- member, this is not a face bleach, and that oil of bitter almonds is a poison, and must not be swallowed or left in the reach of children. — C/n'cag-n Jxccorti- Ilerald. Bird's-Nest in a Bee-Hive " Wc read that on a farm at Nyon, near Geneva. Switzerland, a pair of linnets built a nest in a bee-hive in the spring, and have continued to live on the best of terms with the bees. There are now several eggs in the nest, and the birds and insectsfly in and out. usingthe common entrance." The foregoing, clipped from Our Dumb Animals, is sent by a friend, who asks, "Do you believe it ?" Well, yes! maybe. Some little depends upon the kind of hive. In an ordinary hive, with a strong colony, the thing would seem impossible. In a very large hive, with a small colony and a large en- trance, the nest might be so much out of the way of the bees that they would tolerate it. E^R Western ^ Bee-Keeping Conducted by Wesley Foster. Boulder. Colo. Selling Apples at Auction The sale of box apples has been in- creased 500 percent in Chicago during the last few years, according to John Denny, before the International Apple Shippers' Association convention in Detroit. This increase has been largely brought about by selling apples at auc- tion. Briefly stated, this method consists of allowing the buyers to inspect sample cases of all grades and brands in every carload sold. These are then sold at auction, each brand separately until each car in turn is disposed of. The objection that this system of selling apples takes the trade from the regular fruit house and turns it over to the huckster is counterbalanced by the fact that these hucksters increase November, 1912. [American Bag Joarnal Picnic Group at Boulder, Colorado, Top row, left to right— W. H. Buckholtz, M. J. Garhart, W. C. Evans, F W. Bader, A, A. Lyons, Chas, Dehn, A. Elliott, Harry Craw ford. E. J. Stevenson. Center row— Oliver Foster. Mrs. Oliver Foster, Mrs. A. F. P'oster, A. F, Foster, Mrs. Chas. Dehn. Mrs. Harry Craw- ford, Mrs. Wesley Foster (the baby), Dora May Foster. Lower row (the children)— Dora Crawford, Fay Lewis. Paul Dehn. Floyd Dehn James Crawford, Miles Crawford. the demand for fruit in greater propor- tion than they increase their own sales. Montezuma Bee-Keepers' Meeting and Picnic A call was issued through the local paper.s of Montezuma county, and also by postal notices for a meeting of bee- keepers at Cortez, Monday, July 29. A basket lunch was included. Mr. Frank Rauchfuss, manager of the Colorado Honey-Producers' Association of Den- ver had been asked to come and give a talk and demonstration on grading comb honey. He was present, and gave a very profitable demonstration. The new rules of the State Bee-Keepers' Association were the standard he used, and it was the first time the writer saw grading done according to the new standards. Mr. Rauchfuss advises the production of comb honey wherever a white article can be produced. He pointed out that Colorado has an advantage in comb honey shipments, and is at a disadvan- tage on account of rates in extracted honey. California has a better rate, and a honey that will stay liquid much longer than the alfalfa and sweet clover honey from Colorado. .■\bout 20 bee-keepers, half of them ladies, attended the morning meeting. The writer spoke on the foul brood situation in Montezuma county, and the methods of treating the disease. Ques- tions were asked, and one could see that bee-keeping is an interesting topic in that county. Many of those attending had driven 10 to 20 miles to the meeting, and were hungry when the basket lunch was spread out on the grass under the trees, Mrs. Jordan, one of the most enthusiastic bee-keepers, had made a cake lettered with the name of the bee- keepers' society wliich she and many of the others wanted to have formed, and which was organized at the close of the meeting. She called it the birth- day cake of the society. The fruit at- tracted the attention of the writer more than anything else, and he can- not tell how many cherries, as large as plums, he did eat. One of the ladies had some Ben Davis apples of last year's production that were still perfect, had wilted but very little and had not been in cold storage. The apples of the Montezuma valley are more highly colored than any I have yet seen. Fine exhibits of honey were there from the apiaries of Geo. Taylor, Frank Taylor, and T. G. Wilkerson. .After our picnic dinner, when the afternoon meeting opened, about 40 gathered in the court room, where our meetings were held. Mr. Rauchfuss went into the comb-honey proposition very thoroughly, and the subject was enjoyed by all present. One bee-keeper told me that when Mr. Rauchfuss came back a larger crowd could be gotten together. One of the features of the meeting was the showing of most of the modern bee-keeping appliances, each appliance being carefully gone over by those present. It was the intention to have hive nailing and super filling demon- strations, but the time was limited, and all that could be done was to show some of the best things that are used in a bee-keeper's practice. At the close of the meeting the Mon- tezuma County Bee-Keepers' Society was formed with 20 members. Mr. T. G. Wilkerson was elected President; H. L. Luce, Vice-President ; Mrs. E. M. Jordan, Secretary-Treasurer. The association is to hold meetings the last Saturday of each month, in the after- noon following a picnic dinner. One of the first lines of work taken up by the association, is the making of a display of honey at the Fair to be held in Cortez some time in October. The association will also help in giving backing to Mr. George Taylor, the api- ary inspector. Yellow Cleome Yellow cleome (Rocky Mountain bee- plant) grows in the Grand valley of November, I9l2. American Hee Journal western Colorado. The yellow variety that I saw was of a shorter growth than the purple and better known kind. The yellow grows about 2 feet in height; but in all respects except color and heiglit is the same as the purple. A Bee-Keepers' Picnic in Boulder The bee-keepers of northern Col- orado were invited to a meeting and picnic at the home of A. F. Foster in Boulder, Sept. 7. About 2.5 were pres- ent, including women and children. The day was a perfect one, and the large lawn and abundant shade aided in giving pleasure to the occasion. There was no program and no speeches. But bees were the principal topic, although automobiles for the bee-man did take up quite a little of the time. No bee-keepers can talk very long without coming around to the question of increase. As so many in northern Colorado have lost a large percent of their colonies, the Alexan- der plan of increase was " trotted out," and every one who had used the method testified to its great value. There is a tide in the affairs of bees, which, taken at its flood, leads on to fortune, and the Alexander plan takes the tide at the flood in beedom without a doubt. Much interest was manifested in the sanitary comb-honey package, which the writer exhibited. Considerable criticism was made of the super, and some said that the public would never take to the package on account of the cost. Buying nuclei in the South and ship- ping them to Colorado was recom- mended by some, and not viewed so highly by others — depending upon their experience with the plan. The ele- ments leading to success with this plan are reputable dealers to purchase from, (|uick delivery at the time ordered, and a favorable season. The past season was a favorable one, and several in Colorado had pound packages of bees build up and make one super of comb lioney. But increase in bees was rapid the past season, and one could have secured plenty of bees in the shape of swarms and nuclei from neighbors. Perhaps the greatest attraction of the day was sweet cider. About four gallons of the juice were consumed by the 2.J present. Those in the picture with their coats ofY consumed the most. The writer took the picture so that his face does not show, but he also had his coat off. launch in half picnic and half cafe- teria style was served, each person going to the dining-room and taking what lie wanted and then going out on the porch or lawn to eat. A jolly time was had, and one of the men said it was the best picnic or bee-keepers' meeting that he had ever attended. Over 40(10 colonies of bees were rep- resented at the meeting, and all present were members of the State Association but two, and they became members be- fore going away. The ladies and chil- dren I did not count in this. There would have been a larger attendance had it not been honey-packing time. Mr. Rauchfuss was expected, but business kept him away as it did others. A table with comb honey for his dem- onstration of the rules had been placed under the trees, and there were sam- ples there that some would consider No. 1, and others were placed in the choice grade. The line between No. 2 and choice was also one difficult to agree upon. The more meetings of this kind that I attend the more confirmed I am in the belief that our associations should ar- range for more. Bee-men can get to these meetings who cannot go a greater distance to the State conventions. A Cool Season The West scarcely enjoyed a summer this year. Colorado had a June snow. and the snow fell frequently on the high mountain ranges. Then again in September, scarcely past the middle of the month snow fell throughout the whole State above 50U0 feet elevation. The cold, rainy days of the summer kept the bees from doing as they other- wise would. The flow would have been fine with a longer and hotter sea- son. The same conditions were pres- ent throughout the mountain region, Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming recording very similar experiences. But how the bees did swarm ! It would be interest- ing to know if cool weather and swarming often go together. They did this year at any rate. SOUTHERK Beedom^ Conducted by Louis H. Scholi-. New Braunfels. Tex. Divisible Brood-Chamber Hives Numerous letters are received by the writer throughout the year relative to the merits of the divisible brood-cham- ber hives, of which we have been using hundreds for the last 1.5 years. At present our number of colonies is over 1500, the majority of which are in this hive. We prefer it to other styles after many years of trial, as we have been able to be more successful with it, due largely to the interchangeability of the various hive parts which allow manipu- lations that cannot be so well made with deeper frame hives. It permits of rapid e.xpansion or contraction of the hive or brood-cliamber and the super room gradually or as needed, besides giving numerous advantages that can- not be mentioned without going into detail. But we wish to answer a few letters that have been received recently, of which the first is as follows : Pardon nie, a stranu'er. for asking ques- tions, but 1 expect to use your system uuite extensively, and want some advice as to frames. I am using shallow Danzenbaker frames, but have never tried to extract from them, havint; raised only comb honey so far. Next year I am k'oing in for extracted honey, and do not know whetherto continue with the frame I have or get the shallow Hoffman for my new ontfit. Vour system has worked to perfection with me-mucli better than Mr. Doolittle's. That is all risht for a few colonies, fused it last year and my bees started robbing so badly that one could hardly pass the apiary. The main surphis is from black gum and gallberrv. both of which luoduce very white honey. Thanking yon for any advice you may give as to extracting from shallow frames. F. Ij. Hi'GGlNs. Wilmington. D. C. In line with the above letter is the following letter from Monrovia, Calif. : 1 notice- that you stiongly advocate the di- visible brood-chamber anil shallow supers, I have becnconteniplatini; adopting thatstyle. but have been hesitating until asking your advice. Most of our honey here is extracted. Would you recommend the shallow supers for extracted honey ? It is also necessary for us to move our bees frequently, either by rail or in wagons. Would you consider divisible brood-chambers a drawback in that case? We are seriously menaced by foul brood, both American and Kuropean. Some sav that if you have to deal with fonl brood, leave divisible brood-chambers a lone. What is your opinion ? Lkvv 1. Kav. Before answering the above it may be best to let the next two letters fol- low, and then answer all of them, since one answer, covering all these points, should be of interest to each enquirer: For several years we have read with great interest your contributions to the bee-jour- nals. We wish to adopt your divisible brood-chamber-hive system in broadening our present apiary of lou hives. For economy, and because of excessive freight rates to our distant sources of sup- plies, we contemplate having supers for our shallow brood-frames made. Our part of the .South has cypress. Can yon tell us its relative merits with other timber for con- structing hives ? We ha\e experimented considerably with cement, but have not reached practical results with such hives. 1 have looked through Gleanings in Bee Culture. Bee-Keepers' Review, and Ameri- can Bee Journal for the past several years, trying to find an article from you on hive construction, but cannot find such. Birmingham. Ala. (Mrs.) E. J. Brvan. Another letter hails from California on the same subject: I have been watching your articles very closely. I am an experienced bee-keeper, and after selling out in California several years ago I have traveled to see many bee- keepers, and have worked several seasons with some of the most extensive bee-keep- ers. It is my intention to start in the bee- keeping business again this fall, and I wish to adopt a new- style of hive. I thc^nght hrst I would start with the "Jumbo" hive and use shallow supers, but f have been think- ing of your system very strongly, and 1 am asking the following questions for your cor- rections: I will give you an idea of the kind of hive that I would like to adopt. A lo-frame hive, consisting of b shallow supers throughout for each colony, the frames to havu the Can- ada spacing device, by having notches cut in the upper edge of the rabbets, and a nail under the end rests of the frames. The frames to be one width entirely, or the top- bar, bottom-bar and ends to be one width alike. 'I'en frames to be used in the brootl- chambcrs and -s in the supers- the hives to be marked so that the brood-chambers can be easily distinguished from the supers, on account of the difference in the spacing notches in the rabbets of the supers and the brood-chambers The bottoms shall be with Sj cleats instead of the ->B as commonly used, anil the Colo- rado telescope cover will be used, with a canvas or sack over the frames to keep the hive cool, and so the wind cannot blow them off. I would like to see you and your manage- ment of getting bees out of supers when ex- tracting, and also how you tix up for bulk comb honey, and how you put it up for mar- ket. As no two men work alike, and as your system is somewhat difTerent from the regu- lar or standard. I would like to have all the November, 19l2. American Hee Journal knowledge that you may be able to eive me on the matter. F. J. Severin. Imoerial. Calif. Since we are using the shallow frames for e.xtracted-honey production as we'll as for comb honey, and we have found them very satisfactory in our hands, there is no reason why others should not be as successful with them as we have been. We claim that we have some advantages over deeper frames, chief among them is the matter of being able to provide 'just as much room as is needed, which IS i|uite an item with weak colonies or during a poor season. Another important matter is, that we can use lighter weight foundation in these shallow frames, and when the supers are full they can be removed with much more rapidity, as the bees are easily cleared out of them with a little smoking and jarring. Handling the lO-frame shallow supers as a whole in all the various manipulations instead of frames only, is quite a saving of time and labor. This cannot be done so successfully with deep frames; tirst, because the deep 10-frame hive full would be too much of a load, at least to handle for any length of time; and, second, the bees could not be gotten out of them without considerable brushing of individual frames and irri- tation of the bees. One slice with the uncapping knite across the face of the shallow comb would uncap an entire side without digging over the surface of the deeper combs that are never so regular as a general rule. And while some persons argue that there are so many more frames to handle, the ad- vantages that are gained by handling them far overbalance this. The Da- dants are extensive users of the shal- low extracting frames, and they are large extracted-honey producers. In our experience, and after trying all kinds of frames and various meth- ods of spacing, as well as unspaced frames, we have found the shallow Hoffman .5^8 inches deep to suit us better than any other. We have found the closed-end type of frames unsuited to rapid manipulation, especially for extracted honey, where the frames should be easily removed. Besides, frames should be easily constructed so that they will fit anywhere, in supers or brood-chambers alike — there should not be any spacing arrangement that necessitates a super being used as such only, and a brood-chamber not being used as a super, or rvcc versa. There need not be any tin rabbets in the su- pers equipped with the shallow Hoff- man frames, as we are using over tJiXHl shallow hives without them. That helps to cheapen the hive, and yet does not make the hive any worse off for the most practical uses. It may be well to state that the Hoflf- man frames used by us, and many others, are made with 3i-inch thick and ;s-inch wide top-bar in lieu of the regular wide top-bar usually placed on the market. The wide ones act too much like a queen-excluder with us while the other gives freer communi- cation between the several chambers of the hives — a great advantage for bet- ter results. This style is known pretty generally here in Texas as the "Scholl Shallow Frames," because the writer was the first to advocate it to any great extent. We received, several weeks ago, a letter from one supply dealer in San Antonio, saying : "We ordered from the Coitipany 14,(XI() Scholl Style Frames the past season." For our own use we purchased a car- load of the shallow supers with :!(1,000 such frames to equip theyooo supers in the car. We would not advise making the frames, as not very much can be saved by doing so, and the irregularity in fit- ting in the hives is a great detriment toward rapid manipulation, and a loss of time, and, consequently, of money. It is far better to expend a little more on machine-made goods that fit per- fectly. Fortunately there are so many distributing houses of supplies now that the freight rates are not high. If only a few are needed it will be well enough to make them, and in that supers for protection in the honey house, there seems to be quite an ad- vantage, since robbing, one of the worst evils in treating contagious diseases, could be prevented to a far greater ex- tent. But there are many things that could be said about this kind of hive and it would take up too much room to attempt more. The best thing to do is to try a few side by side with others, exactly like we did years ago. If they suit you, adopt more of them after awhile, but go slow about it. If they do not suit you the investment put into a few will not be a great loss, if a loss at all, since such things can always be disposed of again. One thing must be remembered; when divisible brood-chamber hives are adopted, the methods that ought to be used with them should also be -adopt- ed. It is of no use to try to handle the San Antonio Convention. event cypress lumber could be used, as it is very good hive lumber. Moving bees extensively every year, besides shipping them in carload lots, has taught us that the shallow frame hives will ship better than the deep kind. There is not so much swinging of the shallow frames, and they are never fastened below like deep frames must be. The strain is so much greater on the deeper combs than on the shal- low ones. So there is no drawback, but a decided advantage. We have never fastened the frames at all, not even the top-bars, in all our moving. There seems to be no good reason why the divisible brood-chamber hives should be left alone in sections where foul brood is prevalent any more than other frame hives. We may be mis- taken about some of our views, how- ever, since we have not had any ex- perience with brood diseases in' our own apiaries. But it seems to us that there would be a decided advantage in this respect, since the various manipu- lations of the bees in the treatment of foul brood or other contagious dis- eases could be done so much more rapidly and easily. In the case of freeing the shallow stories of bees, shaking the bees into other or new hives, getting the bees out of them quickly and removing the shallow frames like deep ones when they should be handled by the super full at all times possible. The very first thing then is to learn to handle supers instead of frames, and this once learned, it is possible to manipulate the colonies in such a way at various times that the best results can be obtained with a minimum of labor and a maxi- mum of profit. The San Antonio National Bee-Keepers' Convention A goodly number of the American Bee Journal readers will remember the bee-keepers' convention held in San Antonio several years ago. The writ- er's memory was awakened back to that time by the accompanying snapshot taken one evening, as the crowd was marching out from the Assembly Hall after adjournment of one of the meet- ings. If we are not mistaken, it was when the guests were on their way to the famous Mexican restaurant, well known to San Antonio visitors, where the so much talked-about Mexican banquet was given to the visiting bee- keepers. The one thing that was of the most interest when this picture was discov- ered in my desk, is the fact of the cen- tral figure, in the front group, being no N'ovember, 1912. American V^e Journal less a personage than our present Edi- tor of the "Old Reliable." I still re- member that the persons on the right are Mr. and Mrs. R. A. Holekamp, of St. Louis, but ilo not recall the per- son's name, walking on the left side of our Editor. Just behind this group may be seen Jas. A. Stone, Secretary of the Illinois State Bee-Keepers' Asso- ciation, and behind him that old vet- eran, Dr. Bohrer. We like old reminders, as pictures of such a nature are. It brings back to our memories the nice time that we en- joyed while the "tender-feet" northern bee-keepers were with us in this south- ern clime. It is a pity that it is not possible to have large gatherings of bee-keepers of the United States, and the whole country, meet at least once a year to exchange greetings and dis- cuss the more earnest and important matters pertaining to the grand pursuit that we are embarked in. There seems to be more of a clamor for all that means business, business that means more money, more money that makes us more forgetful about the real pleas- ures of life that we might enjoy. Is it not true that we have lost sight of those good old-time bee-keepers' meet- ings which gave much interest and great anticipation ? Now we have business associations that take care of our real business interests, with their meetings crowded for time, every minute of which is too valuable to al- low pleasure to be mixed up with it. Such are the tides of Time, and we must keep up with them, of course. But, nevertheless, there remains that feeling in some of us, a kind of hun- gering desire to attend some more of those old-time bee-keepers' conven- tions. That they had the effect of bringing the bee-keepers closer to- gether in a friendly spirit cannot be denied. And that the present tendency of involving everything in a business way has its efifect toward bringing about a change in the sociability of the bee-keepers of the country seems to be a fact. But this is in strict con- formity with the old saying, " Business before pleasure." Conducted by J. L. Byer. Mt. Joy. Ontario. Different Conditions at Similarly Situated Yards In October American Bee Journal, mention was made of my intended visit to the east apiary, some 200 miles from my home. I left home, as per arrange- ments, Sept. !l, arriving there in the evening of the same day. At our home apiaries, owing to so much wet weather, little honey had been stored, and what little had come in was put up in the supers, as the brood-nests were full of brood at the time of the buck- wheat flow. Almost continuous rains all through the last half of August pre- vented honey being gathered during most of the buckwheat bloom. This, of course, meant light brood- nests the first of September, with lots of feeding to do for winter, I ex- pected a like condition at the east yard, as the weather had been similar there to what we had at home. For some reason still unexplainable to me, con- ditions were altogether different, for while there was no great amount in the supers, the brood-nests were jammed with honey. At home all our hives have the combs running the orthodox way — facing the entrance, while at the east yard in question the combs run crosswise. The hives are of about the same capacity at both places, but whether the different style of frames has anything to do with the matter I can merely conjecture. No feeding had to be done, and I was let out of a lot of work and spared the e.xpense of a sugar bill. In keep- ing bees so far from home, a person dares take no half way measures in the feeding question, and I am as sure that all have enough as it is possible to be sure in a question of this kind. I left the apiary Sept. 14, and do not ex- pect to see the bees again until some time next May. Of course, I have a trusty man who lives in the neighbor- hood, and who will carry the bees into the caves in November and take them out again in the spring. Stingless Bees are the Latest "The stingless bee is the next product of a man's ingenuity. Mr. Burrows, an apiarist, of the town of Lougliton. in Kssex, after two yearsof experiments, hasobtained a species of bee which can be handled by a child in perfect safety. He mated the Cyprian drones and the Italian queens, the result being the production of harmless insects which, however, are splendid workers. It is claimed that they are less liable to dis- ease than the ordinary honey-gatherer. "It appears that the new product has a sting, but it is useless as a weapon of offence. Yet they die when thev lose 'n."~Miul ,iihI /•'./n/>irf. This item has been going the rounds of the Ontario press lately, the large city dailies first publishing it, and the smaller local papers copying it gener- ally throughout the country. That it has been read with interest by many is evident from the comments and ques- tions I have heard about the matter, and some have taken the trouble to cut out clippings and mail them to me. It is as reliable as many other bee-yarns that imaginative reporters serve up to their readers as choice copy — generally these items contain about 5 percent truth and the balance fiction or imagi- nation. While I get the British Bee Journal regularly, I have seen no stir about these harmless (?) bees, and when we analyze the breeding referred to in the clipping, one would hardly expect very quiet stock. On the con- trary, I would guess the Cyprian drones crossed with Italian queens would give bees that would sting quickly and often. At least that is the way it works out with Carniolans and blacks. I always find that a black queen mated to a Carniolan drone gives bees that inherit the quiet traits of the father, while black drones mated with Car- niolan queens produce very cross, irrit- able bees. In the case under discus- sion, the bees have stings, but they are " useless for defense." Who is next . in line to tell the most improbalde bee- story? [The same clipping from the Cleve- land News was received from J. C. Mosgrove, who comments as fol- lows : — Editor ] " I have seen a great many Italian queens mated to Cyprian drones, and they were a long way from being stingless: in fact, 1 never saw anything more vicious unless it was pure Cyprians." Japanese Progress A look at that cover illustration of the October American Bee Journal, showing the Japanese bee-keepers in convention assembled, impresses one with the fact that this wonderful little country is making rapid strides in other matters as well as in military affairs. A few days ago I received a copy of the Japanese Bee Journal, and although I could not read any of the contents, I marveled at the wonderful hieroglyphics that have to go into type to print a paper in the Japanese lan- guage. Certainly any nation that can acquire an education with such difficult letters, or rather characters, to master, is in itself proof of the ability of the people of the Orient. With our modern mail facilities, to sav nothing of teleg- raphy, etc., the world is not so large after all. A short time ago I received, inside of a week, one letter from Fin- land, one from Austria, one from Japan, and one from New Zealand — all arriv- ing in good condition. "Truly, we are living in a wonderful age." The Ontario Convention The following is a rough draft of the program of the Ontario convention, which will be held in Toronto Nov. 13, 14 and 15. Mr. Pettit has sent the same to me, intimating that there may be some changes made yet, but the gen- eral outline will show the trend of things apiculturally as they are today in Ontario. A hearty invitation is ex- tended, for all who can, to meet with us and have a pleasant and profitable time. To those who have never visited Toronto, the " Queen City " of Canada, the trip would be " worth while," even if the convention were not being held as an added attraction. While 1 have no information as yet, as to the railway rates, I presume that, as in past years, there will be a single fare from all points in Ontario. Hotel ac- commodation is good, and can easily be arranged for on arrival. The writer, in common with a host of others, is looking forward with pleasure to again meeting many old friends, and also to making the acquaintance of many who have never attended the convention. Novombor, 1912. r:37 American ~Bae Jonrnal Especially are we looking to see many from " over the line," as bee-keepers know no particular country in so far as good fellowship and fratirnalism is concerned : PROGRAM Wednesday 2 p.m. — Minutes of the previous meetin.i; — P. VV. Hodgetts, secretary, of Toronto. President's Address — Dennis Nolan, of Newton Robinson, Ont. Reply — Vice-President. Discussion will be opened by Miss E. Robson. "Improved Methods of Selling Hon- ey"—E. B. Tyrrell, Detroit, Mich. Question-Box — F. W. Crouse, Guelph, Ont. Wednesday Evening — Open meeting. Thursday Morning — "Foul Brood Situation in Ontario" — Morley Pettit. " Management of Out-Apiaries " — (a) "With a complete outfit at each yard, using auto or horse for transportation," by H. G. Sibbald. (t>) " Management at long range," by J. L. Byer. (c) "Mov- ing outfit on motor truck," by Enos Farr. (rf) " From one center, with sta- tionary machinery, and motor-truck to haul supers home," by F. J. Miller. Thursday Afternoon — " Preparing Bees for VVinter " — J. F. Dunn. " Winter and Spring Management " — R. E. Harkness. Question-Box — Jno. Newton. Address by Hon. J. S. Duff, Minister of Agriculture. Election of officers and reports. Thursday Evening — " Bees, Fruit and Poultry".^;. W. Clark. Discussion liy R. G. Houghton. "The District Representative and How He can Help the Bee-Keeper" — A. D. Mclnt.ish, B. S. A. Friday Morning — "Experiences of the Season" — Miss Margaret Scott. " Bee Breeding " — F. W. L. Sladen, Assistant of Apiculture, Ottawa. Unfinished business. (Nothing preventing, the Editor of the American Bee Journal expects to attend this convention.) Bee-Keeping In Dixie-^ Conducted by J. J. Wilder. Cordele. Ga. A Great Trip and Honey Crop of 125,000 Pounds On the morning of Oct. 7, I boarded an early train for a trip to my apiaries 170 miles below here, on the famous Suwanee river, in Florida. At sundown of the same day I was at my packing- house near the middle of Columbia county, and found Johnny Calhoun, who has charge of my bees there, and his helper, very busy packing honey. Next morning we started on our trip visiting the 8 apiaries scattered around over the country 3 to 6 miles out, con- sisting of 450 colonies, of which Mr. Calhoun has charge. I found that he had been a prudent bee-keeper, and all of his work had been satisfactory. He had harvested a a great crop of honey. After staying there two days I went to the other packing-house some 20 miles away, on the line of Columbia and Suwanee counties. There I found Mr. Landrum, who has charge of 8 apiaries scattered through the country, consisting of about 300 colonies, very busy with /tis crop of honey, and greatly encouraged and enthusiastic over bee-keeping, ask- ing me to furnish him with more bees the coming season, which I promised to do. I met with everything in the way of encouragement here, and after staying two days I started for another packing-house about the middle of Suwanee county, and 10 miles from the last packing-house. I found Mr. Reeves, who has charge of 8 apiaries scattered around in that vicinity, con- sisting of 6O0 colonies, and his helper very busy packing honey, but owing to some " set backs " he had not made the progress in the honey harvest that the others had, but taking all things under consideration he had done very well. After a day's stay here looking over the business, I departed for home, and upon arriving I found they were wind- ing up our packing here. Then I braced up and took courage, and my enthu- siasm mounted almost to the sky, be- cause I had harvested, all told, over 125,000 pounds of surplus honey this season, and without feeding the bees any. In good locations this amount of honey could have been harvested with half the number of colonies, but in such poor locations as I have, it is in- deed gratifi ing for me to know that my harvest was so great. Some of my " air castles " are beginning to mate- rialize, and I feel as if I had just started in bee-keeping, for surely I am not at a stopping point. Wants an Apiary in the South Dear Mr. Wilder:— I have a trade for bees and honey, and I would like to have an apiary in the South. I want it near the coast on account of the low freight rates. I am familiar with the bee-business, and can therefore understand easily what you write. 1. Wliat are your sou,'ces of honey ? 2. Where is the best place to locate ? i. What is the price of bees there ? 4. What is your average crop per colony ? 5. How many colonies can be kept in one locality ? 6. Could I divide and make two good colo- nies from one by the time the main honey- flow comes ? 7. Do you think I could find 200 colonies, in some section there, that I could buy ? West Newton. Mass. H. P. Dvar. 1. Our sources of honey, are too numerous to give a complete list at this time However, titi, poplar, gall- berry, tupelo gum, cotton and par- tridge-pea are good honey-plants in the territory that I shall refer you to. 2. The territory along the line of Georgia and Florida, say 70 miles above and below, will be found to be our best honey-producing section, and most any bee-keeper can find just such a location as he wants in that section but it would be advisable to look it over well before settling. 3. From 50 cents to $8.00 per colony, depending upon their condition, hives they are in, etc. 4. From 30 to 60 pounds of comb honey, and from 40 to 8it pounds of extracted, depending upon seasons, which makes the average about 40 and Co pounds for successive seasons. 5. From 50 to 300 colonies, depend- ing of course upon the quantity and quality of the honey-plants in that locality. In most localities GO or 70 colonies would be enough. G. Yes, in locations where there is spring titi, which begins yielding the latter part of February. In other locali- ties this could not be done. 7. Yes, 1 y gathering them up through the countrv. Looking Towards Dixie Dear Mr. Wilder:— Would you kindly tell me how many colonies you have; whether you run for comb or extracted honey; what is your success in wintering, and how long is the season there? A number of years ago I was in tlie bee- business in Ohio, but dropped out of the game; now I am taking it up again, and am looking towards the southland. Boyne Falls, Mich. W. A. Davoll. I cannot tell how many colonies of bees I have, for it has been a number of years since I knew exactly, and I don't even know how many apiaries I have, but I have more than 35, and more than 2000 colonies of bees. We have no winter problems. At the close of the season, or just at the approach of cold weather, we see that ail queenless colonies are united. In some cases we equalize stores. Our season begins the first of March and lasts until November. We would be glad to have you visit Dixie and look around, and if you can get suited remain with us. Apiary Work for November The honey-flow has been very good in nearly all sections of the South, even up to the close of the season, and it is hardly necessary to say anything about feeding, but it might be necessary to equalize stores some in order that all colonies may be supplied. This is such an easy and simple job that most bee- keepers know how to do it. Very weak and queenless colonies should be united at the last round of apiary work, and a good and simple way to do this is by Dr. C. C. Miller's plan ; that of placing a single sheet of newspaper over the stronger colony, and setting the weaker colony on it. The bees will do the rest by tearing away the paper between the two. I tried this plan last season. It gave good results. It is a poor plan to leave weak colonies scattered through the apiary, for they will dwindle down by next spring, and the robbers will clean them out and cause much excite- ment among the bees. Nothing but water-proof covers should be left on the hives, and they must fit down well. The top-bars of the brood-frames should be cleared of bur and brace combs, and as much of November, 1912. American Hee Journal w>=^^^ the propolis removed as possible. Hives which have been elevated by means of extra strips should be let down on their regular bottoms, using the side with the shallower entrance. Covers made of sap lumber should by all means be painted, for a lot of moisture will be sure to penetrate. Contributed Advertising Honey Through the Nails BV C. M. DOOl.ITTLE. "If I am right. Mr. Doolittle sent samples of extracted honey through the mails a long lime ago. and in this way built uii quite a trade. Now that extracted honey is slow of sale in the markets, my thoughts have been turned in the direction of advertising and selling honey in a mail order way. and 1 therefore ask you to give us something of what vou did along this line before you turned your attention much to comblioney production. ■'\s I am a reader of the Ameri- can Bee lournal. will you please tell us of this matter through the columns of that liaiier?" Yes, at one time I did quite a busi- ness in selling honey through samples sent in the mails. I would put an at- tractive advertisement in a paper hav- ing a large circulation, stating that I would send a sample of my honey for ID cents, and allow the 10 cents to ap- ply on the first purchase amounting to $K00 or more. Hy way of preparation for doing this, I made the winter be- fore, from section material, little boxes holding '4 of a pound of honey, so that this, together with the box and wrap- ping, would weigh a little less than It ounces, so that 6 cents would cover the postage on the same. These boxes were waxed on the in- side, so they could not leak, and then stored away in a dust-proof box, wait- ing until next September or October when the nice, thick clover or bass- wood honey would begin to candy. As soon as signs of candying were dis- covered, the whole mass was stirred, which hastened the candying, and gave the honey a more even and liner grain than if no stirring was done. At the time of making these little boxes for samples by mail, I made other boxes of !,-inch stufT, that would hold ■>2J2, :! and 10 pounds each, wax- ing these the same as the others. When the honey had become as thick as it would conveniently run, all of these boxes were "run" full, set away and the honey allowed to harden, say up to about Dec. 1. A printed slip was then folded and put in the top of each box, brielly describing extracted honey (many at that time not knowing just what extracted honey was), and telling how, through a proper degree of heat, this hardened, granulated honey could be brought back to li(iuid again; then the covers were nailed on and I was ready to proceed. Nice honey of this kind was so at- tractive to me, that I argued that thou- sands of people would he glad and happy to buy nice, ripe, thick, rich clover and basswood honey, if they only knew where they could get it ; could feel sure that they were getting Articles^ it direct from the producer, and thus know that it was pure. I also believed that the man in the country, right in and by his own apiary, and advertising what he had for sale, as honey from "Linden Grove," or "Clover Meadow Apiary," in the iDeautiful scenic regions of central New York, had a better chance of building up a trade than did the man who lived in a large city and bought his honey at wholesale in that city market. As extracted honey in those days brought from 18 to 22 cents per pound, I put the price of the 2;i pound pack- age at 50 cents; the .j-pound package at $1.00. and the 10-pound package at $2.00, delivered at the railroad station. Or, if so desired, I would mail the 2'/i- pound package, if 00 cents accompanied the order. Quite a lot was sold in this way, and with only the once advertis- ing. While lying awake one night a new scheme occurred to me, which was to mail one of the '4-pound packages to the postmaster in some place along the Atlantic coast, or some interior city where there was so little forage for bees that few if any were kept, using for this work places having from 20,000 to .jO,000 population, such places as were not liable to have large shipments of honey sent to them. The next morning found me mailing samples to three different places, requesting that the postmaster, or one of his deputies, after sampling the honey, call the atten- tion of his friends, or those coming after their mail, to the matter, and if sales could be made amounting to $.j.0O, I would include a 2,'^-pound package free for his or the deputies' trouble, or if a sale of $10 was made, a .'j-pound package would be sent free. In this way several could "form a club," so that the freight on the shipment would be very much less to each one. I believed this to be a generous ofTer, but as it was to be in the way of an ad- vertisement, I thought it would pay well, as it would be likely to secure permanent customers. These, through being pleased, would call the attention of their friends to the matter, and in this way a trade would be built up that would expand to large proportions. This took all the extracted honey I could spare that year, and undoubtedly would have led to a large business had not two things happened. The first was. that my father became helpless, so that I had to devote much of my time in lifting him and caring for him dur- ing the remaining •'i years that he lived, which called for retrenchment rather than expansion in the bee-business. And the other thing was, that I was offered for all the comb honey I could produce one-half more than could be obtained for the extracted, even did I carry out this advertising by mail plan. And the comb-honey offer took «// of my crop without any effort on my part further than to deliver it to my nearest city and get the cash for it all in one lump. Then there was another thing which changed the whole outlook of the ex- tracted honey matter, coming on soon after this'; the big dealers in extracted honey began to mix glucose with it, so that they might reap a greater profit. From this the cry of "adulterated honey" was rampant in the country, and the price of extracted honey was soon cut nearly in half. For all these reasons I felt justified in keeping on with the comb-honey part of our pur- suit, and have produced but very little extracted honey during the last quar- ter of a century. During that quarter century many changes have taken place, and mail- order houses have sprung up for almost all kinds of merchandise. If we could only have such "parcels post " in this country as they have "across the ocean," extracted honey could be sent to any place in the United States, as well as all other goods of different kinds. Of course, comb honey will never be handled by mail very much on account of the liability of breakage; but ex- tracted honey can be sent in jacketed tin cans if it is not considered best to send it in boxes. However, when put up in boxes, as has been given above, and allowed to candy solid in these boxes there is nothing nicer, to my way of thinking. Again, I think a better rate of freight could be obtained with these boxes should they once come into fashion. Borodino, N. Y. Blew Out the Safety Valve BY EUWARU F. BlGELOU. We were running at high pressure, nearing the end of the season's con- tract, when the boiler exploded and the pieces landed in the branches of an oak tree. It was about the second week in September, when the honey- bees of a particularly good coliuiy were working at high pressure. The weather was warm and extremely favorable, and in almost every direction were acres of golden-rod just coming into perfect bloom. I thought to make an experi- ment, and to intensify the work of the bees by holding them down to the capacity of a 10-frame hive with a doulile super on it. With most colonies such capacity would have been great enough, but this had been an unusually large colony all summer, one that I think would have done justice to .'50 frames. But I had been reading so much about keep- ing more bees and working more with your bees, that I decided to accept the advice and " make the bees do more work." They were responding with extraordinary diligence. A cloud of bees was going back and forth from that hive. They swarmed around the entrance, and at times they covered the front. When the cover board of November, 1912. American Hee Journal the upper super was lifted, there was a sight that would delight the eyes of any bee-keeper. It was a boiling, seething, roaring torrent of bees. The sections were nearly full, and every bee was doing its best to complete the job. Some practical bee-keeper will of course say, " Why, man, don't you know that was not good bee-keeping ; you should have added two or three supers; you should have raised them up and given them a 10-frame hive ?" Admit it, of course 1 should, if honey were the only point of view, but in this case I wanted to experiment and see what would happen. I wanted to make a record of the fewest possible days in which the lower super, recently put on, could be filled. I was literally screw- ing down the safety valve to increase the pressure, and what sometimes hap- pens with other safety valves, after such rash treatment, happened here. The thing burst. It was so late in the vear that I had never for a moment contemplated the swarming. The last time I examined the brood-chamber there were no signs of queen-cells. But the strain was too great. .Along about !• o'clock of a very warm day, when a strong aroma of the golden-rod nectar extended for many rods in every direction from the api- ary, suddenly the whole thing boiled over, burst, or whatever figure of speech you see fit to apply to it. In brief, a cloud of bees burst out of that hive. The air of the heavens was full of lines darting, interlacing, weav- ing in every direction. The whole mass moved off to the northward and alight- ed in an oak tree. Without any exag- geration there seemed to be at least a bushel basket full of bees. By the help of a ladder I climbed up with saw in hand, cut off the limb, and with diffi- culty lugged it down. It was so heavy that it was extremely difficult to handle without jostling the swarm to the ground. From the very weight of the bees some of the lower ends did occa- sionally fall off, and I had to wait for them to cluster again. Here was an opportunity. Secretary and stenog- rapher from the office came out first to admire and then to assist. The branch was clamped firmly to an upright sup- port, and several photographic studies made of it. Then we took it homeward to the apiary, the young lady carrying it on her shoulder— perhaps not for a long distance, but far enough to supply a good photograph. Gentlv the colony was laid on the ground in front of a light, .">-frame swarming hive. We did not urge nor shake it off, as is often the custom with swarming bees, but laid the whole thing so carefully on the sheet that not a bee was disturbed. This was done to see whether they would appreciate a new home, the mouth of which was some 18 inches away. It was almost grotesque to see the mannerin which some of those bees turned and gazed in. Don't O bee- keeper, think I am taking poetic license, nor speaking figuratively when I say that the bees changed their ex- pression of discomfort to one of joy when they beheld the mouth of that home so near. It must have been joy, because it caused delight, even laugh- ter, when the spectators saw how sud- denly they stampeded toward the en- trance to that hive. Into it they went by the pint, and the quart, and the peck, but the trouble was that the in- terior of the hive would not hold much more than a peck and a half, while there was nearly a bushel of bees to be accommodated. They covered the front of the hive, and remained that night an inch and a half deep over the front, sides and top. The next day I changed to a full 10-frame hive, every frame being^early covered. Who can surpass that foi a large swarm so late in the year ? Query: If, according to the old nursery rhyme, a swarm of bees even so late as July is " not worth a fly," can anybody remem- ber what they are worth in September ? Arcadia, Sound Beach, Conn. ' By thf. HKi.i' (JK A Lauijek 1 Ci.i.mhew Ui' With Saw in Hand, Cut Off the Limb. AND With Difficui.tv Lugueu it Down." The Conditions in Southern California BV W. K. MORRISON. Bee-keeping in this part of the coun- try is looking up. This is on account of the rise in the price of honey. This is not so high— about 7 cents— but it is a good deal better than 4}i. I am very strongly convinced that the price could be raised considerably higher, but many bee-keepers would have to mend their ways. There are many here who must rea- lize on thrir honey crop just as soon as it is produced. They rush to town, get the 5 gallon cans, and sell at once. These men depress prices. To stop this practice is the problem, but it can be stopped. Southern California is fast settling up with a good class of people. Los Angeles is becoming a great masterful city of splendid homes and factories. No city in this country is growing so fast, and San Diego follows suit. The result is that there is now a fine local market for honey. Curiously enough 340 November, 1912. many bee-keepers ignore the existence of this market. Their eyes are fixed on some far-away country. They fail to see the home market. From my own observation bulk-comb honey, put up Texas fashion, would solve the prob- lem. I have talked to some about this, and they nearly all disagree with me. They seem to think that such methods might answer very well in " wild and woolly Texas," but not for graceful, ;esthetic California. I differ with them, and know whereof I speak.' It is my opinion that California can consume all its own honey. Glucose is imported into this State by the train load. It is stacked up in all the grocery stores in large quanti- ties, and yet honey is the principal article of export from San Diego. It is sent to the poor, poverty-struck countries of England, Germany and Holland. Rich and opulent California uses glucose for the children's lunch. To a large extent the bee-keepers are to blame for this state of aflfairs. They put up their honey in a way not appre- ciated by the consumers. The common package for honey here is the Ball- Mason jar, and, in my opinion, it is a poor package. It is too fragile and too expensive. Paper jars or tin cans (2 pounds) would be far better. The b- gallon can simply throws the honey business into the hands of the com- mission men, jobbers and wholesalers. I have traveled all over Texas, and it strikes me the people are very little, if any, different from the people here. Life and property are fully as safe as here, and in some cases the laws are superior — the Homestead law for ex- ample. For 30 years the Southern Pacific and Santa Fe railroads have run this State — with an iron hand. Lately it has reformed, and laws copied from Oklahoma and Texas hav^ been en- acted. From 1890 to 1900 California attracted no immigration. From 1900 to 1010 it did better, but from 1910 to VMi) promises to furnish a phenomenal record. Ere long Los Angeles promi- ses to overtake all the cities of this country except three. Not only so, but little towns are springing up every- where, promising a fme local market — if bee-keepers will cater to it. One might think the opportunities have all been appropriated. On the contrary, there are all sorts of open- ings for capable bee-men. Plenty of apiaries may be had that are "run down at the heel," and need care. It is no longer necessary to live a hermit life in the mountains, with the coyotes for company at Sunday dinner. You may live in town, keep an "auto," and look after your bees 20 miles away with much ease. The right way, in my opinion, is to have an acre lot near the p.ost-office, church and school, build a tent house and live like a king. A tent house costing $2.50 is better to live in than a $10,000 bungalow. The chief health officer of Chicago, in a speech here last winter, said he did not see what people wanted with houses, tents were so much better. With a good garden, a cow and a flock of chickens, you are independent of grocers and butchers. All zuhilt-r long you may have fruits and vegeta- bles from your own garden. By doing American Vae Journal this you are not in such a hurry to sell your honey " at any old price." Tlie line of fruits and vegetables is long, and it is intensely interesting to watch the different plants develop. We have only had our place 18 months, but the results have been very satis- factory. We have had a little crop of peaches from trees that came by mail. VVe will probably have strawberries, blackberries, raspberries and melons for Christmas, all from our own lot. I find that in many spots a considerable number of tropical fruits can be grown with success, notably avocados, cheri- moyers, zapotes, jujubes, bananas, plan- tains, mangoes, etc. Among vegeta- bles you may have cassava, chayotes, rosella, couve-tronchuda, sea-kale, and a lot of others. There is no necessity of any one punishing himself and injuring his health by trying to get along on two meals a day The expense of living is less than it is back East. If you have no money, come anyway, work is plentiful, and homes can be bought on "tick." Failing in this you can go south of here and get deer, bear, prong- horn antelope, mountain sheep, etc., in abundance, and game birds by the million. Do not think we are "out of the world " here. We are not. I heard every shot at the first battle of Tia Juana, Mexico, and saw the red flag of the Socialists flying over the Custom House. After the second battle Gen. Orozco and his men passed our door prisoners of war. Later Madame Sarah Bernhardt, "the Divine Sarah," passed by on her way to Coronado Beach. Emma Goldman gave us ? lecture on dramatic art, and Joseph Eels, the rob- ber philanthropist, gave us a call. The Pacific fleet throws its search light quite often on our house, and the concussion of its 10-inch guns shakes our windows and causes us to lose sleep at times. For $3.00 one may go to Ensenada, Lower California, and see one of the grandest bee-coun- tries on earth yet unoccupied, or you can stray down as far as the burning beach of Mazatlan, where strawberries and cocoanuts grow side by side. Or, you may visit the famous city of Aca- pulco and dream of Spanish galleons loaded to the gunwale with silver from the mines of Potosi. We have good churches and better schools than " back East." What more does one want ? Chula Vista. Calif. Troppman's Devices for the Apiary BY GEORGE W. YORK. Mr. George Troppman is one of the few bee-keepers in this most northern (Bonner) county of Idaho. He is an ingenious mechanic, and is ever con- triving short cuts in bee-keeping. He has an apiary of some 20 colonies, and works for both comb and extracted honey. A HIVE-NUMBERING PLAN. A picture of Mr. Troppman's apiary is shown herewith. It was taken to illustrate his method of numbering hives, but for some reason it failed to indicate it. Perhaps it can be explained so as to be fairly intelligible. He takes a piece of 4 '4x4 '4' section for each hive, and puts the figure or figures on it as large and plain as pos- sible. The piece is then slipped back of a small spring that is tacked on a rear vertical edge of the hive. On the other side of the piece of section may be written any records desired con- cerning that particular colony, I believe Mr. Doolittle also uses pieces of sections for the record part, and lays them under the hive-covers. But on the outside of the hive, as Mr. Troppman has them, they serve a double purpose. The figures, being large and black, can be seen some dis- tance away. A SIMPLE F0UND.\TI0N CUTTER. The illustration herewith gives a good idea of Mr. Troppman's way of cutting comb foundation for sections. Mr. Geo. Tkoi'I'MAN. of Idaho, and a Part ok His .\i'iakv. November, 1912. American Hee Journal TROIM'MAN'S FOINDATION CuTTER. A photographer's long knife, used for trimming prints, is fastened to the end of a board about 18 inches long, as indicated. A narrow strip projects just above the main board, against which to lay the foundation in order to hold it firm and straiglit. Then there is a sliding gauge that can easily be set for any width or length desired. The picture shows the gauge extended beyond tlie foundation to be cut, so as to make it plainer. Of course, when in operation the foundation comes against the end-block of the sliding gauge. The knife, being held very firmly, makes a clean and straight cut through the foundation. The cutter-board can be screwed to a table if desired. F.VSTENING FOUNDATION IN SECTIONS. Where one does not have a machine made specially for the purpose, such as the Daisy foundation fastener, the plan used by Mr. Troppman is very good, though it may not be new to many. He fastens to a board 4 blocks of wood just a trifle smaller than the in- side of a folded section, and far enough irrigated districts. Irrigation is not necessary up here in Bonner county. Blc; I'RICE FOR IDAHO HONEY— ENTIRE YIELD OF THREE DISTRICTS IS SOLD. Boise. Idaho. Aug. 2o._All the honey of the Boise. Payette and Weiser yalleys was sold through a deal consummated here to- day to the Gregory Fruit Company of Col- ton. Calif., represented by R. R. Sutherland. It is estimated that the crop will amount to no less than 20 cars, and the final delivery is e.\pected to be madeby Oct. i. The price paid was $2 50 and S2.75 a case, which is con- sidered a very good price. The Bee-Keepers' Association of eastern Oregon and western Idaho was largely in- strumental in making the favorable terms which were received. It is said that ttie California honey crop has been almost an entire failure because of the drouth. Sandpoint, Idaho. Shipping Carniolans from their Native Land to Finland BY PAUL MICKW'ITZ. I promised, last spring, that I would write a short description of my trip to Carniola, and I feel obliged to do so TmilllllllMIIIMnTTl Fastening Focndation in Sections. apart so that when the sections are put in a section-holder they can be laid over the blocks. The blocks are just half as thick as the sections are wide or deep when lying on their sides. He then slightly slants the board holding the sections toward the lower side, and with a teaspoon oours a little melted beeswa.x along the edge of the founda- tion for each section, which fastens it securely to the section. Any size piece of foundation can be used from a small starter to a full sheet. Of course, another piece can be fastened at the bottom of the sec- tion if bottom starters are desired. Or, if a full sheet, it can be fastened at both top and bottom, and also on the sides if cut so as to fill the section completely. Here is a clipping I took today from the Daily Spokane Spokesman Review. Oh, yes, Idaho produces some honey ! But wait until Bonner county is heard from in a few years I I believe all the honey referred to in the enclosed clipping was produced in now, as most of my honey, which those imported Carniolans stored, is ready for market. June 1, I started for Carniola to take back home with me 150 nuclei of bees. Only 7.5 of these were for my- self, the rest were ordered by 27 differ- ent customers. The nuclei weighed 4 pounds net, and were shipped in boxes including 5 empty combs for the bees to stay on. " Naked swarms," /. c, such as are shipped without any combs, have not proven to go as well such long distances as from Carniola to Finland. Every nucleus was put into a wooden bo.x provided with ventilation on sides and bottom. Inside, under the top- board, was put a bag containing the food, a stiff mi.xture of honey and su- gar— 2 pounds of food for about 10 days. "This amount was a little too small, so I was obliged to feed sugar at the end o; this period. The feeding was done by putting lump sugar through a hole in the board into the bag. The bees sucked the sugarthrough the bag if they got plenty of water. This was sprinkled every day against the wire-netting, or whenever' the bees seemed restless. The 150 nuclei were all loaded into one big car, which went directly to Stettin. At this point they were loaded on the Finnish steamer for Helsingfors I spent about 4 days in the car with my "pets," but did not feel very easy about them until they arrived in Stettin. The weather was very warm, and when bees are restless from heat on a journey they are troublesome to the owner. But water, water, nothing else could put them in shape again ! I had a big crowd of people at every station. They asked me the same questions every time: " How much did they cost ?" " How much honey do they gather.'"' "Do they bite?" etc. A graphophonecould have been used with much comfort. .•\11 nuclei were in good condition in Stettin, but on board the " Wellamo " they were bothered by an intense heat. They could not be watered before we landed at Helsingfors, where they were distributed. So far, I have not heard any serious complaints from my custo- mers. Of my own nuclei I reduced 50 to 25 by doubling, and the rest were left single. The double colonies have given me about 1000 pounds of ex- tracted clover and basswood honey. ■The single colonies have developed so that they will only winter well. The reason has been very poor in this part of Finland, as we have had no rain for six weeks. Salo, Finland. Observations of a Progressive Bee-Keeper BY FREDERICK GRIFFITH. By the frontispiece illustration, and on page 243 of the August American Bee Journal, "Pioneer" Dr. Miller ex- patiates upon a simple but very valua- ble method of queen-rearing, for the bee-keeper who wishes to improve his stock and rear his own queens. Every amateur bee-keeper ought to carefully read and digest every word of Dr. Miller's article, as well as the very valuable essay of A. C. Allen, on "How to Secure a Good Crop of Honey." Those articles are replete with good suggestions and ideas for the beginner as well as for a great many experi- enced bee-keepers of this country. Those two articles, alone, are worth many times over a year's subscription to the American Bee Journal, and are well worth framing and hanging in a conspicuous place in any man's apiary. While Dr. Miller's article on queen- rearing does not indicate when one should requeen an apiary, yet tlie reader gathers from Mr. Allen's meaty article that colonies should go into winter quarters headed with a young and prolific queen. Hence, about the end of the honey season is evidently the proper time to follow out Dr. Miller's plan. Mr. Alien brings out an important idea which is under-estimated by a 342 November, 1912. American ^ac Joarnalj great many bee-keepers — especially be- ginners— -and which cannot be too strongly emphasized, " In union there is strength." It is the rousing colonies that produce the honey. And what makes rousing colonies ? Prolific queens ! Queens which fill, with brood and eggs, the whole length and breadth of the brood-frames. When you find the brood-cells scattered — with empties between — the quicker you get rid of that queen the better. One of the hard- est things for a new bee-keeper to do is to part with his queens, even if they are old and worthless. But an old, worn-out queen is a burden, and you might as well make up your mind to drop her. When a new queen comes along, prolific, clean limbed, filling the brood-cells solidly, then you see the uselessness of keeping an old queen "for the good she has done." Every experienced bee-keeper knows how difficult the task is of getting all the old colonies in strong enough con- dition to enter the supers at the be- ginning of the clover bloom. It is safe to assume that any one who follows Mr. Allen's suggestions will have 100 percent of his colonies strong and well prepared to gather the nectar "that will surely come stalking across the plains some few days each season," as Mr. Allen poetically puts it. Any system that will give us rousing colonies, and the strongest force of workers right at the beginning of the harvest, cannot fail to give us full su- pers. Twenty-five strong colonies will store more surplus honey than a hun- dred weaklings ; therefore, all colonies that are not in a condition to work in the supers at the beginning of the honey-flow should be united with others. There is no excuse for any bee- keeper to allow any part of his apiary to remain unproductive by neglecting to attend to a few easy, simple details that will secure large crops of surplus honey. Any one can easily acquire the necessary skill who has the energy to read such priceless articles as those referred to above. Mr. Allen's suggestion of removing surplus and uncapped honey from the brood-chamber to prevent the crowd- ing of the same with honey at the be- ginning of the laying season, is inval- uable ; but to how many beginners would this occur ? The writer recently visited a small apiary whose owner was the son of an old bee-keeper, but he had never heard of the American Bee Journal, and said that he did not know that bee-papers were published. This bee-keeper, if he may be called one, had hives with mov- able frames, but the frames were so knitted together that it was impossible to remove a single one of them from the hives. They had not been lifted out for years, and some of them never. Something was the matter with his bees, but he could not tell what. A glance at the entrance of some of the hives, or raising the covers was all that an experienced bee-keeper needed to do in order to correctly diagnose the condition of the bees. Old, worn-out queens ! They did not swarm last year because there was no honey, and this year they were too weak to at- tempt to propagate their species. "Swarm Prevention," by Louis H. Scholl, of Texas; "Closing the Sea- son," by G. M. Doolittle; " How to Get Bees Started in the Supers," by the Editor; and " (Jueen-Rearing and In- crease," by J. J. Wilder, of Georgia, in the August number, are also some of the best articles that have ever ap- peared in any bee-publication. That number was surely an "august" issue, in quality as well as name. These varied experiences, sugges- tions and interchange of ideas, dove- tailed together, round out the progres- sive bee-keeper and make him suc- cessful. Kansas City, Mo. The "Auto" for Bee-Keepers Delivered deli*re the S^in Hernardirio County Bee- Keepers Club at Redlands, Calif ., BY GEO. L. EMERSON. The first cost will be from $500 up. The operating expense varies from % to IK cents a mile, and the mechanical expense should not exceed $20 a year for the first .5 years, to which you must add the price of a new set of tires, for the average man will about use up a set a year. It is practical to buy a second-hand machine and rebuild it to suit the bee- man's needs. It is necessary, if you are not posted in automobiles, to get the services of an expert to examine the machine and pass on its worth and suitabilityforrebuildingfor your needs. Do not hesitate to get a machine be- cause you do not know anything about one, for they are coming into such common use that it will soon be a very great inconvenience not to understand the handling and ordinary care of a machine. As fast as the auto is adapted to certain uses, it is found so much more satisfactory than the horse that usually the horse is never used again. Among all the commercial needs, I know of none to which the " gas wagon" is so necessary as to the pro- duction of honey. There are two points of advantage that stand out prominently in our calling that need not be con- sidered in other lines. First, stings won't hurt it and make it run away, kick your head off or lie down and die ; consequently you can haul all your supplies right up to the honey house and unload them at your pleasure and move them away with the same ease. The second is, that it saves so much time in the rush season. In a business like ours, where we harvest our entire crop in the course of a few weeks, any convenience of equipment that will help us to save time will often mean more honey; for, who of us is there that has not had considerable loss at one time or another by not being able to keep up with the pace that the bees set '. The heaviest extracting that I ever had was gathered in 4 days, and it was capped solid (black sage). The auto is of special value in mov- ing bees; in fact, it removes the most disagreeable features, and is very much easier on the bees. The jolting does not last so long, and a corresponding amount of honey is saved as the bees keep themselves gorged with honey only as long as tlie motion is con- tinued. I have loaded l.j colonies of bees, moved them 12 miles, and put them in the apiary on the new stands in 1 hour and l.j minutes. It was all done in the cool of the morning, there being not much chance of the combs melting down. Where horses are used about bees, it is a two-man job ; this is not necessarily so with the auto. One man, with an auto carrying 10 cases of honey at a time, will haul more honey to the station than two men with a 4-horse team. If at night, the machine has not snowed the horses under too far, put on a night shift and keep it going, as it is not tired out. It may also be sent to town at night for a load of provisions, or cases and cans. With us, the auto with 4 men now does the same work that required 8 men and 6 horses, and the work is better done. We have 1300 colonies in 8 apiaries. It is practical to use your moter to drive your hive-making machinery, pump water, saw wood, or any other power use, and in this way make it earn something whilethe bees are idle, but if you want to lay it aside, how much cheaper it is to run it in the shed and give it no more attention than to take care of and feed the horses! Few people have grasped the idea that the gasoline power is the horse of tomorrow. Two men with a large tractor can do more plowing than a number of men with 30 heads of horses. The small orchardist with ."j to 20 acres of land must have a team, but there is not enough work to keep it busy more than half of the time, and the rest of the time they are eating their heads off. This is not so with tlie gas tractor, the expense stops when you put it in the shed. Besides, a machine has no will of its own ; it will not reach up to browse on a tree, or perhaps run the cultivator into another tree and knock off the bark. While cultivating it does not stand on the vegetables; it does not get tired and have to rest every other round. On a small farm or orchard a small machine can do anything that a horse can, and do it better and cheaper, but this machine should be so arranged that it will have the different imple- ments attached to a sub-frame which is controlled from the operator's seat. A machine may take the place of all other farming implements by simply attaching the kind of tool you wish to work with. Growing hay for horses is a waste; let us use that ground for something we can eat ourselves. Los Angeles, Calif. Bright and Coated Nails UY WM. MUTH-RASSMUSSEN. In the March number of the .Ameri- can Bee Journal I noticed the article on nails for the covers of comb-honey cases. I have always used the plain (not cement-coated) nails, but have to buy them specially for this purpose. I have just been looking over several supply catalogs, and none of them quote any but cement-coated nails, ex- cept the very smallest sizes, '4 to fs inch. This is a fault of the supply-dealers, and should be remedied. For covers of honey-cases there should be used Yi, November, 1912. American liae Journal or 1 inch bright, flat-head nails of No. KS wire. There are other sizes of bright wire nails, which, for different purposes, are preferable to the cement- coated ones. For instance, in mending broken sections, a bright nail is much easier pushed into the joint than one of the other kind. One serious objection to the cement-coated nails is that the hammer often slips on the nail-head, causing the nail to bend and mar the wood, and not infrequently the thumb of the left hand gets the deflected blow from the hammer. For this reason carpenters do not like to use cement- coated nails. Probably the reason why so many bee-keepers are said to use cement- coated nails for the covers is that they cannot conveniently get the bright nails. I see no reason why supply- dealers should not keep this kind in stock, so that they could be furnished when called for, and of any size that might be desired by their customers. As an illustration of the difficulty and inconvenience of getting the bright nails, I will say that I once wrote to the H. P. Nail Co. of Cleveland, Ohio, who referred me to their San Fran- cisco agent, and this again referred me t* a local dealer, with whom I was not doing business, and who did not keep such nails on hand, but had to order them specially for me. In an old bee-supply catalog I find the following bright, flat-head wire nails quoted, and the number of wire from which each respective size of nail is made. These sizes of wire are best for bee-keepers' use. The standard wirt nails, commonly sold at hardware stores, are thicker and will split thin wood: FINE. FLATHE.A.D WIRE NAILS. Length of nails. SUeofwire. % incli No. 21 ij " " 21 'A " '■ 20 H ■• : i» « ■• I8 H •• ;■ I8 1 •• 18 iH " ;■ n I'A •■ i6 iH " ' 15 2 ■' ■ 14 i% •■ ■■ 13 Independence, Calif. How Does a Bee Find its Way Home? BY DR. C. C. MILLER. Has it some subtle homing instinct like a carrier pigeon, or does it merely depend upon memory? If a colony of bees be removed without any precau- tion a distance of 10 rods, at a time when they are gathering freely, the likelihood is that all the bees that go a-field will, upon their return, go straight to the old location, and be lost to the colony. If they are moved 2 miles or more, it may be that not a single bee will return to the old loca- tion. If the bee depended entirely up- on instinct, why should it not find its home just as readily at a distance of 2 miles as at 10 rods ? DISTANCE FOR S.\FE REMOV.\L OF BEE.S The practical side of this matter — or at least a practical side — will be readily seen when we try to decide how far a colony of bees must be moved so that there shall be no danger that any of the bees return to the old location. Whatever the whole truth may be, we are pretty safe to go on the theory that the bees depend upon memory. After a colony has remained in the cellar all winter, it may be put on a stand -j or 10 feet from the old place without any trouble, although in some cases some of the bees will, after flying out, go back to the old place. Is this because of shorter confinement or because of better memories ? All bee-keepers are familiar with the fact that when bees take their first flight in the spring, or when young bees have their first play-spell, they fly with their heads toward the hive, grad- ually in larger circles, but still with their heads toward the hive. By this means they are trying to impress upon their memories the appearance of the hive and its surroundings. If a bee depends upon memory, we shall find it reasonable to believe that circumstances make a great deal of difference about bees finding their way home from any given distance. Sup- pose colony A and colony B stand side by side, and that .\ has been working daily on a field a mile east, and that B has been working on another field a mile west. Now let both A and B be moved a mile east. .A bee from A upon going a-field finds itself upon familiar ground, and when loaded up, what more natural than that it should go straight from the spot back to its old location, just as it has done so many times be- fore ^ But a bee from B, which has never before been half a mile east of its former home, upon loading up will find itself on strange ground, and, depend- ing upon memory, will have nothing to lead it back to its former home. Contradictory as it may seem, we may find in some cases that a bee which has never been more than l;i miles from home will readily find its way back to the old location upon be- ing moved 3 miles to a new location. Suppose it has been working on Smith's field of alsike IVz miles east. Then suppose it is moved IK miles cast of Smith's field, or 3 miles from its old home. In starting out to forage, it may happen upon Smith's alsike. So it finds its way back to its old home in spite of the 3 miles distance which it has been moved. We are not so much to move bees a certain distance as we are to move them to some place from which they are not likely to go to any spot with which they are already familiar. H. Strodtkoetter reports in Leipziger Bienenzeitung, that if he moves his bees to a heather field about .5 miles away before the heather is in bloom, not a bee returns to its old home; but if they are moved after the heather is in bloom many bees return to the former home. This he takes as proof that his bees go -j miles for forage, but incidentally it confirms some of the views herein advanced. DO BEES FLY I.V A "bEE-LINE?" It setms like heresy to doubt that bees always fly in a straight line. But really do they ? Suppose a bee has been in the habit of working on a field of clover a mile directly west. Then one day it finds no nectar in the clover, but scouting half a mile to the north from there it finds a field of buck- wheat. If it depends upon memory, will it not return home by way of the clover-field, over a route which it knows, rather than by the shorter direct course that it does not know .' A case that happened years ago is in point. Two nuclei were in a double hive, the entrances both in front, about 6 inches apart. The hive faced east, and the nucleus at the south side was taken away. The bees that had been in the south side, upon returning from the fields entered the south entrance as usual. In a panic they came out, flying about and running about, trying fhe same entrance many times. Finally they crawled along tlie alighting-board to the north entrance and were kindly received by the nucleus in the north side. When those bees returned from the field after that, did they go in a "bee-line "to their home? Not they. For days it was laughable to see them demurely entering the south entrance and then just as demurely coming out again and walking along the alighting- board to the north entrance. They had found the north entrance by going into the south entrance, and then going from there to the north entrance; they remembered that way, and that way they continued to go. If they failed to use the " bee-line " in a case where the " bee-line" was so easily to be seen, would they use it in more difficult cases .' Marengo, 111. Dr. Milleris Answers^ Send Questions either to the office of the American Bee Journal or direct to Dr. C. C. Miller. Marengo. III. He does not answer bee-keepine Questions by mail. Two Plans lor Requeening an Apiary My bees are hybrids, red clover and Banats. I wish to reaueen with goldens. This last spring I bought and introduced safely a tested golden Queen. First plan: Very early next spring I wish to feed this colony to rear drones before the other colonies do so. When crowded with bees, and the first drones hatch. I will take away the queen and start cells similar to the plan of layini; a comb on top of the frames. When the cells are ready to hatch, and about the time the colonies 1 wish to requeen begin to have eggs in the drone- comb. I aim to remove the old queens and substitute the cells. Of course. I can use some other colonies to rear queen-cells from eggs taken from my breeder. Second plan; Later in the season, or after the honey-flow. I can rear and introduce virgins to colonies, and putting drone-ex cluders at the entrances of all hives cor. 344 November, 1912. American Vae Jonrnal taining undesirable stock, tliey will not mate through the excluders. I thought by the first plan there would be no undesirable drones to worry about. Would the queen be first-class mated with drones front the same colony, or. in other words, with her brother? Would these drones, by the first plan, be old enough lo mate with the queens when they are ready ? SuiiSCRlBER. Answer. — Either of your plans may work, although perhaps not exactly as you expect. By the first plan you may not succeed in having drones in your best colony in ad- vance of the others, for if the others are stronger they may have drones first in spite of your feeding. You will do well to strengthen your best colony by giving it brood from the stronger of the other colo- nies. That will hasten the drones you de- sire and delay the others. Vou can also prevent undesirable drones by shaving the heads of the drone-brood every 2 weeks. If the drones you desire are hatched before queen-cells are started, they ought to be old enough. But what about drones from neigh- boring colonies ? If there are bees within 2 miles of you. drones from them are likely to meet your virgins. Killing the old queens and substituting queen-cells will interferea good deal with your honey crop, for there will be 10 days or so when no eggs will be laid, and that means iust so many less bees to gather the harvest. Some of the queens may be lost on their wedding flight, and that will make matters still worse. It is doubtful if you will like the plan of having queencellsstarted by laying a brood- comb flat over the top-bars as well as the one given on page 243 of the August number of this Journal. The former plan originated in Austria, and since its first announcement the foreign bee journals have had little or nothing to say about it. which does not speak much tor its popularity. Although inbreeding is not always desir- able, if you have vigorous stock you may have good results from having your virgins meet drones from their own colony. A drone from a virgin's own colony is not really her brother, but her half-brother. He has the same mother, but his father is the grand- father of the virgin, and the drone has none of the blood of the virgin's father. Your second plan will make little or no in- terference with your honey crop, and on that account is preferable. If I understand you correctly, you mean to put excluders at the entrances of hives containing undesir- able drones, expecting that these excluders, while allowing virgins to pass, would pre- vent the passage of queens. I am not sure you can get excludei-zinc of that sort. All that I have ever seen is made with slots so small as to prevent the passage of virgins. But you can prevent drones in the way already mentioned. Introducing Queens Making Nuclei— Excep- tional Cases In forming one of my nuclei I did not dis- cover the queen in the hive from which I took it. but after looking over the removed frames carefully. I concluded she must be in the hive. In 5 days I looked to see if the new queen had begun to lay. I was sur- prised to find the queen still in the cage, although the candy was eaten out and the bees were going in and out freely. I looked over the frames and found brood too old to be produced by this queen, even had she been out of the cage and returned to it. Careful search revealed the old clipped queen from the parent hive. Was it not rather odd tliat the new queen was not de- stroyed ? In another nucleus I found sealed queen cells, and thought the queen had been destroyed. 1 was about to close up the hive, but decided to see how many cells had been started, so 1 looked at the next frame and there was the queen iierfectly at home and "doing business." lent out the cells and they have gone on all right. Illinois. Answer. — Although not much is said about it in books or papers, neither incident you mention is so very exceptional. I have had quite a number of cases in which the queen remained in the cage after the bees had eaten out the candy and were freely passing in and out of the cage. In some cases this hail continued for a week when I let the queen out of the cage, and it is pos- sible that it might have continued indefi- nitely. In your case I don't suppose the presence of the old queen in the hive had anything lo do with the other queen remain- ing in the cage. At any rate in the cases I have had there was no other queen in the hive. You may ask why did not the bees kill the new queen as soon as they could get at her. seeing their old queen was in the hive. I don't know why it is. but it is a fact that bees will not molest a queen in a cage as readily as they will out of it. If that queen had come out of the cage, it is quite likely she would have been killed. Kven then she might not have been if the older queen were quiteold. for with the old queen in the hive bees will suffer a young one to be introduced, either virgin or laying. In one respect, however, you had something very unusual. You had a queen remain in the cage after the cage was open, and you had Ihebees practically accept a new queen with the old one present. I never had both of these things happen at the same time. The other case— the bees starting queen- cells with the young queen present— is. I think, still more common. When a virgin queen is present, and the bees have eggs or young brood, they may start cells and then destroy them later. When a laying queen is introduced. I think it is the rule rather than the exception for the bees to start cells, to be destroyed by them a little later; although I am not so sure about their destroying the cells, for I have generally taken the destroy- ing into my own hands. damaging the chances of the bees for sate wintering. Better leave it until spring, or until next summer after the bees have swarmed. They will not waste it. and you can get later what honey they can spare. If they were in a movable-comb hive you could safely take the honey now. You are in latitude 41 north, or a little more, and in Illinois that's very nearly the dividing line between outdoor and eel a r wintering, with mostly cellaring But if your cellar is damp and cold, and there is no way to warm it. you may do better outdoors. Bees Throwing Out Larvae and Young Bees What is the cause of bees throwing out their young, at intervals, the brood that have just past the larval stage? I have no- ticed, from March of this year up to date, the bees of every one of my hives at times throwing out white brood; and my neighbor informs me that he has noticed one of his colonies dragging out hatching brood— young bees that could crawl. He says this colony has plenty of stores in the brood-chamber, and he has taken 25 pounds of honey from it in the last few days (not from the brood- chamber, but from the super). Now, I suppose that this destruction of brood was due either to lack of supplies or to the moth worm. Tennessee. Answer.— I don't know. You are quite right in thinking that starvation and the moth can generally be given as the cause of destruction of brood; starvation if the brood be still white, and the moth if it be nearly mature. But in the present case it cannot be starvation, and hardly the moth, since you had that in mind and woidd be on the lookout for it. Poison is the next guess. If it were in fruit-bloom it might be from pois- onous spraying; but you say it hasconiinued from March until the latter part of Septem- ber. Is there a possibility of any other kind of poison ? Can any one help with a better guess? Changing the Location of Colonies I have b colonies of bees which I keep for pastime and study, as they please me and take up many interesting moments. I would like a little information, but first I must ex plain. The hives are scattered, and I would like to have them closer together. ( )ne hive is north of my house. ^ west of the house, about 20 feet from the first, then about t^o feet farther west comes another, and then again about 80 feet west is the last one. The ad- vice I seek is w/u-n and /tow to get these all to the east of the house. I winter them in the cellar. I will greatly appreciate your advice. Iowa. Answer.— That's easy. You will soon put them in the cellar, and when you put them out in the spring, without any cere- mony, you can put them just where you want thtm. To be sure, some say that bees remember through the winter where their old stands were, but there cannot be much troulile from that, for I have many times put tny bees on new stands in the spring without trouble. Getting Honey from a Box-Hive In June I found a large swarm of bees and put them in a shoe-box. not liavi[ig any bee- hive. I have left them in the shoe box. and I think there must be about iom pounds of honey in it. as it is all that I can do to lift it. What IS the best way to get a portion of this honey without damaging the bees or their winter supply? What is the best way to keep bees over winter ? My cellar is rather cold, and slightly damp. Would it do to keep them there ? Illinois. .•\ssWER.--It is very doubtful whether you can take any honey away without badly Feeding for Winter—Foundation 1. When shall I give the bees their large feed for winter ? 2. How many pounds of sugar should 1 give a colony that has very little stores at the present time ? 3. How many pounds of comb foundation would it take to fill one brood-chamber of id frames with full sheets? Also, to fill one super with 23 sections ? Indiana. Answers —I. The sooner the better. Sep- tember is none too early, but in your locality there will be warm days much later. 2. Twenty-five pounds of sugar is none too much for a colony that has no stores. From that you must deduct for any stores they have on hand. Remember, however, that's the weight of the sugar, not sugar syrup, and the water in the syrup will of course be additional weight. 3. For 10 Langstroth frames it takes about i/i pounds of medium brood foundation, and one pound of light brood. For 28 sec- tions it will take about ^4 pound of thin foundaiton. How to Get Bees Cheapest I lost all my bees last winter. I suppose from starvation. I don't know how to han- dle them, but am trying to learn. How can I get bees cheapest and learn how to take care of them ? North D.^^kota. Answer.— 1 don't know how you can get bees cheapest. Depends upon circum- stances. Generally you will do best to buy near home so as to avoid the heavy expense of expressage. for railroads will not carry less than a car-lot of bees by freight. Some- times there may be bees purchasable within a short distance of you without your know- ing it. A small advertisement in this Jour- nal might bring you knowledge of such cases. It will be worth your while, too. to keep watcn of the advertising columns of the bee journals next spring, for some one may there offer bees for sale that will meet your needs. As your bees died, perhaps you have saved the combs in good shape. Even if not in very good shape bees can clean them up. By spring the new parcels post will be in operation, and it may be that bees will be offered to be sent by parcels post in light shipping-cases. These you could put upon your emrtty combs or else upon full sheets of foundation. As to learning how to to take care of bees, there are two ways— three, really. First, you can learn through your own experience and mistakes. Second, you can learn from the experience of others. ThiYd. you can combine the two. Tiie first is an excellent way. What you learn that way you are likely to learn for keeps. But it is an ex- pensiveway. And a veryslow way I learned in that way that it is not a good plan to try to increase too rapidly. But it was an ex- pensive lesson, for it cost me 43 colonies of bees— rather parts of colonies, for they were weaklings. Vox a very few cents I might have learned the same lesson from the ex- perience of others, as given in books and papers— if I had had the books and papers. But books and papers about bees were not as plenty then as now. The third way is the best way. tiet all you can from the experi- ence of others, by getting a number of books and papers. You may think a single book is enougiL But by studying a second book, even it the same facts are presented, you will get a different view, and if you are going to do very much with bees it will pay you in ciollars and cents to spend a good deal for reading. Then put into practice what you learn from reading, and add to it your Own experience. There is really no short cut. although learning from reading is a very short cut as compared with going through it all for yourself. But it pays all it costs, both in dollars and cents and in satis- faction. I have one hive consisting of two full- depth supers of 8 frames each, one on top November, 1912. ^45 American Hae Journal j^^^^^'i of the other. The hive is extra heavy and must be full of honey. Now I want to take off the top story and confine the bees to the lower one; but it is possible tfie queen may be in the top part. In that case what should I do. I am just a beginner ? Iowa. .Answer. — Your problem is not a hard one. only it would have been better if you had acted earlier. It will be better if you can operate on a day warm enouth for bees to Hy. but a pretty cool day will do by taking certain precautions. Lift off the upper story and set it near the hive on an empty story, or something of the kind so as not to crush bees. Then set another empty story on the hive so you can brush the bees into it unless the day is so warm that bees will not be chilled by falling on the ground. Now brush the bees from each comb of the re- moved upper storv into the hive on the stand. As you lift each one out note whether there is any brood in il. If there is, then you must exchange it for one of the combs in the lower story, for you must leave all brood with the bees. Beside this you must make sure that you leave with the bees the equivalent of about 4 frames filled with honey. Wintering With Empty Brootl-Nest and a Full Super of Honey Above I have 50 colonies of bees with empty brood-chambers. Can 1 winter them with a full extracting super on top? What%vouid you do? Virginia. Answer.— There is no reason why your bees should not winter satisfactoi ily with empty combs ii'. the brood-chamber and ex- tracting combs filled with honey above, pro- vided your extracting combs are of usual size, so as to contain 25 pounds of honey or more. They would probably ask nothing better. Questions from a Subscriber in Soutli America 1. Can you tell me whether J. J. Wilder's apiary would be a good place for a youth to learn practically all branches of apiary work, and whether he would take a youth and pay Iiitn wages from April to Septem- ber ? Could you recommend any other man? My eldest son — just under iH— will leave school next Easter and attend the Ontario Agricultural College near Guelph. Canada. The terms are from September to April, and I should like to find a large apiary south of latitude u degrees, where my son can go from April to September and work for wages, and where he could learn from actual practice every branch of the business of what he learns in theory at the college. I want him south of latitude ^4 to learn what will suit this climate, where we rarely ex- perience frost at noon— never snow— and where bees can get pollen almost every month in the year in varying quantities. I want him to master queen-breeding and the improvement of bees; to learn all about spring management, strengthening the colo- niesfor honey-flows, working for comb and extracted honey, and seeing large quantities put up for market, etc. Similarly another year from April to September I want him in a large poultry farm south of latitude 34. if I can find one. Can you help me ? 2. Do any of the great apiarists like G. M. Doolittle. Dr. C. C. Miller. E. W. Alexander (deceased'. Wesley Foster. J. J. Wilder. Louis Scholl and others make their income absolutely from their apiaries? I have read. " Keep piore bees." and that mixed farming does not pay: " no one thing is done well— each gets somewhat neglected." Then 1 have read strong advice not to depend up- on one thing alone. Combine, for instance, poultry and bees, or :■/(!■ trr.ct?. or add poul- try to orchard work, and so on. 3. I think my son ought to be able, in three or four years, to make a profit of three or four thousand dollars a year. Is this likely with very little capital to start with ? Do the majority get a living from something be- sides the apiary? Do their writings for journals add a lot ? Here we are near a city of more than a million and a quarter inhabi- tants. I work in an office in Buenos Ayres. and live out here in Quilmes. and attend. Saturday afternoons and a little on Sundays. to a dozen hives. From 10 colonies I secured (season before last: $i;o American money), on comb and extracted honey. 4. I would like youropinion or advice as to the advisability of having all eggs in one basket. It is looking far ahead, as my son will not make a start here until after he finishes at the Ontario Atricultural College in KJ15. Will you do me the favor of se ding me copies of the rules of bee-keepers asso ciations in different parts of America, to help mc to form an association here, also foul brood laws ? 5 Mr. Doolittle. in his book. " A Year in an Out-Apiary." speaks of turning his bottom- boards deep side up in winter, shallow side up, and narrow entrance in spring. I turn deep side up in spring for ventilation, shal- low side up in winter for warmth. BiENOs AvKEs. South America. Answers.— I. My impression is that Mr. Wilder is a good man and a good bee-keeper with whom there would be a fine chance for the things you desire. As to the matter of pay. you would learn that by private corres- pondence. .As to poultry farms in the South. I do not know of any. although there may be a number. A small advertisement in a bee journal or a poultry journal would no doubt bring you information on that point. 2. 1 cannot for certain tell about the names you mention, but my impression is that each of them gets practically all his income from bee-keeping or something connected with it. Opinions differ as to whether it is better to "keep more bees" or to unite something else with bee-keeping— and rightly. One man may do better to stick to bees alone; another may profitably unite with it seme other line. 3. 1 think you have set your mark pretty high, and I doubt if it would be reached in one case in a hundred. The great majority of bee-keepers get only a part— inmost cases only a small part— of their income from bees. The circulation of a bee journal is compara- tively limited, so that it cannot pay the prices that periodicals of larger circulation can pay. Indeed, most of the writing for bee journals has for its pay the pleasure of help- ing others. , 4. It's rather a ticklish matter to give ad vice about having "all ones eggs in one bas- ket." but 1 would say don't start in at first with only one basket, and don't throw away the other baskels until you feel quite sure you will not need them again. In most loca- tions there are years of failure, and there may be 2 or 3 such years in succession. Plainly it would not be wise to depend upon bees alone without having enough ahead to tide over any possible yearsof failure. I thirk you will get the printed matter you desire by writing to General Manager N. E. France, of I'latteville, Wis. S It is quite likely that even in your local- ity you would do better to have more room below bottom-bars in winter, although there is not the same chance for dead bees to be in the way that there is in colder climates. It would be better to have a deep space all the year around, but in summer the bees will build down if too much space is given. If your bees do not build down, the deeper the space in summer the better. -The Black Bees Number of Egss Laid by a Queen- of Switzerland About that article in the .American Bee Journal, page 308. ".Number of Eggs Laid by a Queen. " from the Schweizerische Bienen- zeitung. page 257. Now. as I am a Swiss, too. and have kept bees for a number of years in the old country. I may be able to tell some- thing more. , .... It says in one place. Brood-rearing in his best colonies began about Feb. 10. " This was no doubt outdoors, where brood-rear- ing begins earlier than in a cellar. Nobody in Switzerland winters his bees in a cellar. They are all kept in bee-houses or sheds. And. further, those brown or black Swiss bees do not as a rule breed up and have as much brood as the Italians or Carniolans. But one thing is sure, they never swarm half as much as the Italians or Carniolans. and this ensures them a good honey crop. Some 15 to 25 years ago there were bees imported from Italy and Carniola by the thousand every year, but soonour leading bee keepers found out that these bees swarmed to ex- cess, and started rearing their own queens. The honey season in Switzerland starts with the first days of May. as soon as the fruit bloom opens. This lasts almost through the whole month. They figure on some honey from the fruit trees every two years. Then, again, every two years we figure on some honey dew from the pine trees. Some- times the honey-dew starts in May and lasts until the last days in July, but is heavy for only * few days. , . , , Their best honey-plant, a certain kind of clover, known as esparcet Sainfoin in English, starts to bloom the first days in June and lasts for about three weeks. But this clover does not yield everywhere. In most places there is not enough to go all around for a crop of honey. Then the first days of July they get their second, or onr summer, honey from the white clover and bear-claw. I'his generally lasts until the lasts days of July. Then the honey season is over. They never get honey in August or September, as they do in this country. If they get a good crop from the fruit trees they do not expect a good crop in July: or if they don't get any honey in May then July will be a good month Some years they only gel a little honey in June. Thus you may see why there is such a big difference be- tween your best colonies and Dr. Bruen- nich's best colonies July 3o; and at the same time you can see why they prefer the black bees in Switzerland, bat only the Swiss Again, there is a big difference in the black bees in northern Germany, where they have their buckwheat fields in the fall. Those blacks are more inclined to swarm than either Italians or Carniolans. I am trying those Swiss blacks in this country. Illinois. Answer.— Clearly Mr. Widmer knows what he is talking about, if I may judge from for- eign journals. I have written him to tell us how his Swiss bees turn out. especially as to swarming. You know the Swiss claim to have bees nearly non-swarming. Narration of Failures With Combs Below the Brood-Nest With reference to two questions which you answered in the August American Bee Journal. I am now in a position to tell what really happened as the results of the experi- ments. , ., , , , . i_ J First, as to putting a full depth hive-body with drawn combs under the brood-cham- ber I found no evidence that thequeen had used the under combs. The bees did store a considerable amount of honey in the un- der body; in one case a full frame was sealed I had 3 colonies fixed this way One gave IQ completed sections and 4 filled, but sealed on only one side, the remaining sec- tions not being worked at all. only the foun- dation was gnawed some. The second colony had two extracting frames on each side, and sections in the middle. The frames were filled and sealed, while only five or six sections were com- pleted, the others were in all stages. 1 his colony stored the full frame below. The third colony had extracting frames only, of which four or five were filled and sealed, the others being in all stages. My deduction is. that while the full depth under body may have prevented swarming, yet the falling off in surplus must have been considerable, and I would not practice that arrangement again. The second question, as to putting a shal- low extracting super with foundation and excluder under the brood-chamber, putting the queen also below during a honey-How to get combs drawn and additional brood reared. This was a dismal failure. Af)out a week after this arrangement was niade. 1 chanced to pass the hive and discovered the queen out on the ground with onlytw-oor three bees queen clipped . I made haste to put the colony in normal condition, and found practically nothing done in the super which it had been placed under. This col- ony has been rather poor all the season; it was a swarm with a virgin queen last season. You will see the outcome of these experi- ments is pretty closely in accordance with your answers to the questions. I am Pleased to let you know what really happened. 1 he knowledge acquired by personal experience is what really "counts:" the real relation of cause and effect is thus more clearly ap- preciated and understood. New Jersey. Answer. -Your report is of value. We like to report our successes, yet the report of a failure may be more useful than the re- port of a success, since it may save others from the same failure. Your queens did not go down to lay in the combs below. Sometimes they will, some- times they will not. I don t know just what rute they go by. but it may be something like this- When combs are put under the brood- chamber early in the season, when the bees are doing more at brood-rearing than at stor- ing, the queen is likely to go below; if a good flow is on. the bees are likely to think the added combs below are put there to accommodate the honey-flow. Another lesson is. that if drawn combs 346 November, 1912. American Hee Journal and sections are given at the same time, the drawn combs have the preference, and tlie sectionstaltan. Rock Creek. Ohio. More About Bitter Honey Ever since the question as to the source of bitter honey came ui) in the American Bee Journal, lyii. I have observed the matter very closely, and will say it is not the bitter- weed in this section that causes the honey to be so bitter. This spritig iiuiz) 1 put some empty combs on a hive very early, and when the white clover was in bloom I secured a small surplus of honey in those empty combs. This honey was, as Mr. Russell says on liage 183. as bitter as if 50 percent quinine. It was of a light yellow color, and could not have been the bitlerwei'd in this case, for this i>lant was not yet in bloom. Nor were horchound and the wilt! grapes, as men- tioned in the questioon on page 212. loii. But there was a tree in bloom at the time which the bees worked on extensively that is called " black gum." I don't know anything about the black-gum honey, whether it is bitter or not, but as soon as it went out of bloom I noticed the bitter honey slopped at once. Some may say tltat the bitter honey was stored last fall, and when the How came on they carried it up into the su- per; but they didn't, for many persons own- ing the old box-hives robbed their bees very early so they would get the honey later on in new combs. The honey they took out was stored last fall, and was of good flavor, but in the new combs they got that bitter stuff I have been telling about. About the time I thought the bitter honey had quit coming in, 1 put o\\ supers and se- cured a quantity of nice, good tlavored honey. I left the supers on until about the hrst of October. Although the bitterweed was present it did not make any of the honey bitter in the least. After reading Mr. ( unningliam's article on page iso. and Mr. Hughes' on page 20s of the 11JI2 issue, I decided to test the matter, as my bees were getting lots of pollen from the bitterweed. I examined the brood- chamber of one hive and tasted of the freshly-stored honey; also of the yellow pollen. To my surprise it was not in the November, 1912. 347 American Hae Jonrnall least bitter. Not beine satisHed with that I tried two more hives, and no bitter honey or pollen was found. Now. the bilterweed may be a different kind of weed. The one I speak of grows about the size of " doK-fennel." and has a blossom about the same size, but in color a solid yellow, resembling the yellow of the sunHower. It continues in bloom until killed by frost. I have never known it to yield any bitter honey in this section of the State. George Gunther. Cushman. Ark. Black Bees in the Extreme West This has been a very poor season on this side of the Rockies. There are lots of wild bees in the big woods, but they are hard to get on account of the timber being so high and dense. A neighbor cut down a tree which had a colony of bees in it about 75 feet from theground. When the tree fell it broke in pieces, scattering on the honey every- where. What would you think of a log scal- ing 8000 feet of lumber ? These logs are han- dled with what they call donkeys— steam rigs with steel cable attached. There is a little black bee here that is different from the common bee. and which the bee-hunters praise because they say that these have "the stuff." Onefold me that he got 20 gallons of " strained " honey from one tree: another. 400 pounds. I saw a man at the State Fair with about a ton of honey on exhibition. He said he had one colony headed by a very black queen which gave him 287 pounds of section honey. He wants to breed from her on account of her proliticness. even if she is black. The blacks have the most admirers in this part of the country. I have 40 colonies, mostly Italians headed by queens which I got from different breed- ers. Breeders should take more precaution to have their queens fertile before sending them out to the bee-keeper. M. S. Snow. Littell. Wash. Some Producers Sell too Low In one of my previous reports on the price of comb honey in your esteemed journal, the writer stated that River honey was only II to 12 cents, while others were from is to ib cents for No. i fancy. While at the State Fair I was severely criticised for this re- port, as two parties were securing IS cents for all of their honey, and had trouble in selling some of it to their local buyers for that price. I also stated that I would advise the Amer- ican Bee Journal, and have them make the correction. At the same time I called the attention of the parties to the fact that some grocers were selling at retail nice honey, 2 sections for 25 cents, and asked the parties to explain the condition. They could not answer who the bee-keeper was who did this selling, and, of course, the grocer would not give his snap away. Berkeley, Calif. John C. Frohliger. the Bees Averaged Over SO Pounds to Colony Dr. Bonney, of Buck Grove. Iowa, reported in August, and it was published in the Bee Journal for October, that "if there is any surplus stored hereabouts it will be from now on. ' Our 200 colonies stored s'A tons of surplus up to July. I believe in an improved bee, and we have some that ahviivs store some surplus. I have one colony that has stored 50 pounds and more ei'ery year for 10 years, and has not cast a swarm in that time. Who says a bee is a bee ? We also made an increase of 50 colonies, hut not by natural s^'armine- E. S. Miles. Dunlap, Iowa. Losses Made Up in Illinois Best fall flow I have ever seen. Bees are swarming well. Prospects are that there will be as many bees to winter as we have ever had before, and they will be in fine condition, as the honey is of the best quality. St. Anne, III. Sept. 1. H. S. DOBY. Another Poor Report from California This has been the poorest honey season I have ever had in my 5 years of bee-keeping. I have 170 colonies, and have only secured two tons of extracted honey and no comb. I ought to have had at least 12 tons from so many bees: however, bees have made their own living all the season except during the month of May. I haven't sold any honey as yet except just a little at retail now and then, enough to keep me in postage stamps. We have had for the last 4 or 5 days a very stiff north wind in which the bees are unable to fly, and it is a little cooler. We expect a rain as soon as the wind clianges, as we get our rain from the south. E. A. HovvARU. Yuba City. Calif. Losses Expected in California Most of our beekeepers in the country will lose a large percentage of bees this win- ter, owing to such a poor season just past, and a good many are extracting so late they will take all the honey the bees have stored for winter, thus starving them out. Our inspector comes around just when he ought to stay at home, removing all the covers from the hives which the bees have sealed for winter. Being very poor of sight, he puts back about one cover in fifty in its proper place; thus the bees start robbing at once, and the result is that nearly all the apiary is infected- Salinas City. Calif. W. F. Hackmann. Motto—" Take Bee-Papers " The reason I take the bee-papers and I take all three of the bee journals published in the United States) is that that is the only way to keep up to date, and keep up with the improvements as they are discovered. I have kept bees 34 years, and at present I am running four yards, and would not think of getting along without the bee-papers, and I think any bee-keeper should take one or more bee-papers even if he or she has only one colony. A. W. Smith. Parksville, N. Y. Bees Did Well in Michigan Bees have been doing finely. W^ehad a good clover and buckwheat flow, also autumn flowers were good Bees have built up rap- idly, and will be well provided for winter. I have 20 colonies for sale; that many more than I have time to handle. Litchfield. Mich. Edwin Ewell. Poor Report from Oklahoma Bees have done no good here for two years East: too dry. I am goingout to cut some ee trees, and will look sharp forfoul brood. I believe it is present among the wild hees in the woods here. Will report later. Lynch, Okla. L. W. Benson. Wants, Exchanges, Etc. (Advertisements in this department will be inserted at 15 cents per line, with no dis- counts of any kind Notices here cannot be less than two lines. If wanted in this de- partment, you must say so when ordering.] BEES AND QUEENS. Golden Queens that produce s andbband bees. Untested. $1 00; Tested, S3. 00. Robert Inghram. Sycamore. Pa. For Sale— Three-banded Italian Queens bred for honey, gentleness, and prolihcness. One. $1.00: 6 for $5.00. Wm. S. Barnett. 7A4t Barnett. Va. Mv System — Union bee-hive and Queen. Will increase both your colonies and honey crop, and improve your stock, making bee- keeping a real pleasure. Cash orders $10.00. jAtf Joe Egner, Box 552, Lavergne, III. Queens — Italians and Carniolans. Will exchange choice queens for bees by the pound, frame, or hive. Write, stating what you have. Frank M. Keith. 3Atf 83!^ Florence St.. Worcester, Mass. Quirin's famous improved Italian queens nuclei, colonies, and bees by the lb., ready in Ivlay. Our stock is northern-bred and har- dy; five yards wintered on summer stands in ioij8 and louo without a single loss. For prices, send for circular. sAst Quirin-the-Queen-Breeder, Bellevue. Ohio. Carniolan Queens— Bred from best im- ported stock. Many colonies can be manip- ulated without the use of smoke or veil. Un- tested, one for 75c: six for $4.25; twelve for $8.00. Tested, one for $1.00: six for $5.00: twelve for $10. William Kernan. Kt. 2, Dushore, Pa. SUPPLIES. For Sale— a full line of Bee-Keepers' Supplies. Agents' prices. Save freight. Dreamland Farms. Buckingham, Fla. For Sale— Empty second hand 6u-lb. cans 25 cts. per case of two cans: 100 for $22. so. 7A4t E. R. Pahl & Co., Milwaukee, Wis. For Sale— Empty second-hand 60 lb. cans, two cans to the case, good as new. 2; cents per case. C. H. W. Weber & Co.. 2146 Central Ave., Cincinnati. Ohio. Aluminum Hive Numhers i''« in. high, 2c each figure: soor more. i!»c. postpaid, includ- ing brass nails. Honr,. Ronlra Henry Benke. PleasantvilleSta.. N. Y. Order Ideal Winter Cases now, and be ready for the stormy days. Extracted honey taken in exchange. R. H. Schmidt. Rt. 3. Box 200, Sheboygan, Wis. HONEY Honey for Sale— Clover honey of the finest quality in new do-lb. cans at g cts. per pound. 8Atf J. P. Moore. Morgan. Ky. Wanted— Comb, extracted honey, and beeswax, R. A. Burnett & Co., 6Ai2t 173 S. Water St.. Chicago, 111. Choicest Thick Ripe Clover Honey in full-weight 60-lb. cansat lie per pound. Sam- ple mailed for 8c. E. W. Brown. loAtf Box 17, Willow Springs. III. Fancy and No. i white-clover honey $3.50 and $3.35 per case of 24 sections, six cases to carrier. Robert Gilbert. iiA2t White Bear Lake. Minn. Wanted — Choice extracted white and amber honey in barrels or cans. Send sam- ple, and price delivered f. o. b. Preston. iiAtf M. V. Facey, Preston, Minn. For Sale.— Some extracted honey in 60- lb. cans. The early crop, white, well-ripen- ed, of heavy body, and finest flavor. Price, one can or more, 10 cts. per Ib. f. o. b.. Leon. iiAit Edwin Bevins, Leon, Iowa. For Sale —Water White Alfalfa, Light Amber Alfalfa, and Amber Fall Honey from our own apiaries. Put up in any size packages, any quantity. Write for prices. iiAtf Dadant & Sons. Hamilton. Ill, MISCELLANEOUS For Sale.— Dog coon hound, guaranteed to run coons. John Drenth. Kersey. Ind. Colorado Bee-Keepers' Directory is ready. .Join the Association Si o" . and ask for copy. Wesley Foster. Boulder, Colo. Make Pure, delicious fruit acids from honey. Cures all diseases, man or beast. Patent allowed. Mailed. 25 cents. lAiy C. W. Dayton, Chatsworth, Calif, Wanted — Apiarist or helper who is will- ing to invest $250 in apiary. Weallows'ou wa- ges and percentaire of crop as manager. Par- ticulars on request. Apiarist. Sawtelle, Cal. For Sale — White-egg strain Indian Run- ner Ducks, White Orpingtons, White Wyan- dottes, Houdans. Bronze Turkeys. Ducks, J1.25 each. A. F. Firestone, Broadwell. Ohio. New Crop white sweet-clover seed. 4 lbs. by mail, prepaid. Si 12; 50 to 100 lbs.. 15c per lb., hulled: unhulled, 3c less. Alfalfa seed, same price. R. L. Snodgrass. Rt. 4. Augusta. Kan. November, 1912. American Hee Joarnafl The Fruit-Growers' Guide Book is a complete En- cyclopedia of hor- ticulture. It has 300 pages, and is well illustrated. All about spray- i n g, fungicides, insecticides ; how to can Fruits, Veg- etables,etc. It was written for the man with a thou- sand trees, as well as forthe one with a few trees in the dooryard. It is the result of years of study and travel. The Fruit Grower, published month- ly, is filled with up-to-date matter on horticulture. THE GUIDE BOOK, refular price $1.00 FRUIT GROWER, one year - 1.00 AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, one year 1.00 We club all three of these sent to one address for $1.50, or we will send the first two for $1.00. Send all orders to AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, Hamilton, III. Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. Early (FROFALCON ) Queens "ITALIANS" February and March deliveries— for Untes- ted. $1.50 each; April. Si. 25- Tested Queens, Socts. additional; Select Tested. J 1.00 extra. Breeders, prices on application. JOHN C. FROHLICER, 257-g Market St.. Sin Francisco, Cal. Or Berkeley, Cal. Pkase mention Am. B« lournal when writing. FAMOUS QUEENS DIRECTLY from ITALY BEES MORE BEAUTIFUL. MORE GENTLE, MORE WDUSTRIOUS. THE BEST HONEY GATHERERS UNIVERSAL EXPOSITION ST LOUIS, MO., 1904. HIGHEST AWARD Extra Breeding Queens, $3: Selected, $2 ; young, fertilized, $1.50 ; lower prices, per doz., 50 or 100 Queens. Safe arrival guaranteed. Write ANTHONY BIAGCI, Pedeville, Bellinzona, Italian Switzerland. This country, politically. Switzerland Re- public, lies eeographically in Italy, and pos sesses the best kind of bees known. PL-ase mention Am. Bcc Journal when writing. W.H.Laws Will be ready to take care of your (lueen orders, whether larye or small, the cominB season. Twenty-tive years of careful breedins brints Laws' queens above the usual standard; bet ter let us book your orders now. Tested queens in March; untested, after April ist. About 50 first-class breedinequeens ready at any date. I'RICKS: Tested, 5i.25; 5 for Js.ou; Breeders, each \^ 00. Address W. H. Laws, Beeville, Texas. Is Your Association Among This Lot of Live Ones? If Not, Why Not? National Branches and Their Secretarie.s. Arizona Honey E.xcmange G. M. Krizzell. Tempe. .-Xriz. Adirondak— H. E. Gray, Kt. Edwards. N. Y. Colorado— Wesley Foster, Boulder, Colo. Chicago-Northwestern— L. C. Dadant. Hamilton. III. Hampshire— Hampden— Franklin — Dr. Burton N.Gates Amhurst, Mass. Idaho— R. D. Bradshaw Notus, Ida. Illinois— Jas. A. Stone, Rt.4, Springfield, III, Iowa— C. L. Pinney Le Mars. Iowa Indiana— Geo. W. Williams, Redkey. Ind. Missouri— J. F. Diemer Liberty. Mo. Michigan— E. B. Tyrrell, no Woodland Ave. Detroit. Mich. Minnesota— C. E. Palmer. 1024 Miss. St. St. Paul. Minn. New Jersey— E. G. Carr New Egypt, N. J. N. Michigan— Ira D. Bartlett East Jordan. Mich. Ohio— Prof. N. E. Shaw, Dept. of Aer Columbus. Ohio Ontario— P. W. Hodgetts. Parliament BIdg. Toronto. Ont.. Can. Oregon— H. Wilson Corvallis. Ore. Pecos Valley— Henry C. Barron Ha'ierman. New Mexico Pennsylvania— H. C. Klinger. I.iverpool.Pa. Twin Falls— C. H. Stimson.Twin Falls. Ida. Tennessee— J. M. Buchanan Frank I in. Ten n TEXAS-WillisC. Collins, box 151 Goliad, Texas Vermont— P. E. Crane Middlebury, Vt. Washington— J. B. Ramage Rt. 2. N. Yakima. Wash Wisconsin— Gus Dittmer Augusta. Wis. Write for particulars as to how your Association can become a National Branch, and how you as a member can have Branch benefits. National benefits, and a subscription to the "Review," all for $lso. Sample cop- ies free for conventions. Write for them for your convention. NATIONAL BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION E. B. TYKRELL, Sec'y, 230 Woodland Ave., Detroit, Mich. Pkase mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. White Sweet Clover Seed Sweet Clover is rapidly becoming one of the most useful things that can be grown on the farm. Its value as a honey-plant is well known to bee-keepers, but its worth as a forage-plant and also as an enricher of the soil is not so widely known. However, Sweet Clover is coming to the front very fast these days. Some years ago it was considered as a weed by those who knew no better. The former attitude of the enlightened farmer today is changing to a great respect for and appreciation of Sweet Clover, both as a food for stock and as a valuable fertilizer for poor and worn-out soils. The seed should be sown either in the fall or early in the spring. 20 to 25 pounds per acre of unhulled seed is about the right quantity to sow. We can ship promptly at the following prices for the white variety: Postpaid, one pound for 30 cents, or 2 pounds for 50 cents. By express f. 0. b. Hamilton— 5 pounds for 80c; 10 pounds for $1.50; 25 pounds lor $3.50; 50 pounds lor $6.50; or 100 pounds lor $12.00. We can also furnish the yellow biennial seed. This variety blooms about two weeks earlier than the white which makes it preferred by some bee-keepers. For the yellow seed add one cent per pound to the above prices on the white variety. Seed will be shipped promptly on receipt of order. American Bee Journal, Hamilton, Illinois. Make Your Hens Lay Yon (■.■in linnlil.' ynurfk'k'>U'l.l by (Vr.llii^r frr^li-.-u (. m\v Im.im-. It V ^ con till I If i>\ ii- li.iir t lines fin miicfi fHiz imikInK n ml (Tin I an uriilii tiiiJ tiikcs Dm \y\nrv of hiijrs an0cent8. postpaid: or with the American Bee Journal one year. $1.25. How to Keep Bees, by Anna B. Comstock. -This Is a practical work on bees, written with the special intent of Instructing amateurs In bee-keeping. The authoress Is well versed in her subject, and has written a book which Is very good for the amateur or suburbanite who wishes to keep bees In a small way. The book contains 228 pages. Cloth bound, postpaid. $1.00; or with the American Bee Journal one year. $1.75. A Year's Work in the Out-Apiary, by G. M. Doolittle.— The author Is an experienced bee- keeper, who tells in this little book the rerjulrc- ments necessary for keeping bees away from home. For any one who is Intending to keep bees on a large scale, this book will be Inval- uable, paper bound, contains, contains CO pages. Price. 50 cents: or with the American Bee Jour- nal one year. $1.'35. WANTED New Crop Honey BOTH COMB and EXTRACTED Are you looking for a market ? New York is as good as any. We handle on commission and buy outright. Write us before dis- posing of your honey. I HILDRETH & SESELKEN, 266-267 Greenwich St. NEW YORK, N. Y. Missouri- Bred Queens ! My strain of bees is the result of many years' breeding and selection. I believe they are equal to any, r.nd surpassed by none. They are long lived, winter well, breed early, and are unexcelled honey get- ters. The workers are long-bodied, good- sized bees, uniformly marked with bands of orange yellow. They are good comb-build- ers, gentle and easy to handle, and yet pro- tect their homes from robbers. You will make no mistake in introducing these queens into yourapiary. I guarantee safe delivery at your post-office, and make a speciality of long and difficult shipments. I endeavor to keep a large supply of queens on hand. Prices as follows: Untested— One. 60c: 6. $3.25: 12. $6.00. Select Untested— I, 75c; 6. $4.25; 12. $8.00. Tested, i. ti.35; 6. $5-5o: 12. ti2.oo. Select Tested--i. 1.50; 6. $8.00; 12.1500. Two-comb Nuclei with laying queens. $3.00 each; 3'Comb Nuclei with laying queens. $3-50 each. Discounts on large orders. sA6t L. E. ALTWEIN, St. Joseph, Mo. SUPERIOR BEE-SUPPLIES Specially made for Western bee keepers by G. B. Lewis Co. Sold by Colorado Honoy-Produeers* AMOoiitton, Denver. Colo. 350 November, 1912. American 'See Joarnal Order Your Magazines for Next Year Through an agreement with the different publishers we have secured a net rate on nearly all Newspapers and Magazines published, and can therefore offer them at very low price in combination. The following are some of our offers with the Ameri- can Bee Journal for one vear : Pub. Price Both American Poultry Advocate ( .50 $i.2S Am. Poultry World— 3 years i.oo 1.25 Better Fruit i.oo 1.75 Bryan's Commoner i.oo 1.60 Country Gentleman 150 250 Current Literature 300 3.00 Eastern Fruit 50 1.25 Everybody's Magazine 1.50 2.00 F'arm Journal— 5 years 1.00 160 Field and Stream 1,50 200 Garden Magazine 1.50 2.00 Good Housekeeping 1.50 2.00 Green's Fruit Grower 35 125 Pub. Price. LafoUette Magazine 81.00 MetroDolitan Magazine 1.50 Saturday Evening Post 1.50 Suburban Life 3.00 Successful Farming— 3 years 50 Successful Poultry Journal so Sunset Pacific Monthly 1.50 The Delineator 1.50 Twentieth Century Farmer i.oo Wallace's Farmer i 00 Western Fruit Grower i.oo Woman's Home Companion T.50 World Today 3.00 Both $1.60 2.00 2.50 3.25 1.25 1.25 2.00 2 00 1-75 I.7S 1.50 2 00 3.2,? Send us a list of the Magazines and Papers you want to subscribe for the coming year, and we will send you our best price on the combination. American Bee Journal, Hamilton, Illinois. Dr. Peiro will continue to give the readers of the American Bee Journal free advice regarding the subject of Surgical and Medical treatment. Many have availed themselves of this offer. Return postage is all vou need to send. Address, Dr. Peiro, 4536 Perry Street, Chicago, 111. Crotvn Bone Cutter pBED your hens cut grepn bom ' »Da get more egga. With a Crown Rone Cutter you can cut up all scrap boDes easily and quickly, and trlihout any trouble, bldA have out bone fresh every day for your poultry. Send 1 1 ooce for ftee calaloeue. WILSON BRO$., Box 814 , Easlon, Pa. Best MadCf Loivest in Price I EW REE- I ENGLAND D KEEPERS Everything in Supplies. §New Goods. Factory Prices. Save Freight & Express Charges O Cull & Williams Co. Q 4Alf PROVIDENCE. R. I. xsocoBoscocooeoeooooooeoosS Bee-Supplies We are Western Agents for lAtf "FALCONER" Write for Fall Discounts— we can save you money C. C. demons Bee-Supply Co. 128 Grand Ave., Kansas City, Mo. This is The Time to Buy Root's Bee Supplies Next season promises a bumper crop for bee-keepers. Besides the actual cash saving there is con- siderable advantage in getting your season's supplies early. Orders reaching us during the next few weeks can have special attention given to particular items. You get the goods early and can put them up at your leisure at odd moments thereby saving the expense of extra help. EARLY ORDER DISCOUNTS For cash with orders we offer five per cent in November four per cent in December, three per ct. in January and two per ct. in February. ' DISTRIBUTING POINTS Root's goods may be secured from most of the large distributing centers. Complete stocks are always on hand at our branch offices and our jobbers aim to carry as large a line as possible to serve bee-keepers in their territory promptly. Any special items not in stock will be ordered from the factory to come in carload shipments. THE STOCK The well known quality of Root's goods hardly needs mention here. We are not content with making supplies "good enough." They must be just right and a little better than necessary to answer the requirements of our standard. Hives, frames, and sections are uniformly acurately cut and finely finished. From the ma- chine shop to the packing and shipping room every detail is carefully cared for to ensure the entire satisfaction of every customer. E.xtractors, smokers, honey-knives, veils, gloves, honey-tanks, every thing used in the smallest yard or the largest apiary is here ready for your use. Honey labels, letter heads cards, etc., used by bee keepers made to your order promptly. Special catalog for these on request. THE A. I. ROOT OOMPANY, 213 Institute Place, Chicago, Illinois Home Oflice and Factory Mediua, Obio. November, 1912, American "Bee Joarnal 5 Percent Discount ON ALL ii falcon'' BEE-SUPPLIES DURING THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER the other hand, it would probably mean a nice protit. Look around at the various apiaries and you will notice it isn't the fellow who waits until the last minute that's making bee-keeping pay, but, it's the wide-awake bee-keeper. We can give all orders prompt attention. We guarantee entire satisfaction. A trial will convince you. Dealers Everywhere Red Catalog Postpaid W. T. FALCONER MFG. COMPANY, FALCONER, NEW YORK ll'/ierc the good bee-hives come from ^ E ^ K Section Honey Extractor FOR THE EXTRACTION OF HONEY FROM UNFINISHED SECTIONS All of the extractor is made of metal and well finish- ed so as to be strong and durable. It is in fact a Baby Extractor. Suited exactly to the use of the producer who has many sections which he is unable to market and which he wishes to use as bait sections the following season. Total weight of the extractor boxed is 10 pounds. It will come cheaply by express. Price for the reversible style $4.50. Price for the non-reversible $3.00. Section Uncapping Knife - 50c. Address all orders to A. H. OFFER, 6259 Patterson Ave. CHICAGO, ILL. *]c*!mmc»:m:#:mc»x*]:#]:»]:*]mmmmk :*:c*::»]D*:^ ^ ^ ^ ^ E ^ ^ ^ ^ e: Tennessee-Bred QUEENS 40 years' experience in Queen-Rearing Breed 3-band Italians Only I am at last up with all contracts, and can fill or- ders by return mail — two to five dozen daily. Prices for remainder of season — Untested, one for 75c ; six, $4.00 ; twelve, $7.50. Tested, double these prices. The very best BREEDER, $10.00; Select Breeder, $5.00. John M. Davis, Spring Hill, Tenn. Pkase mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. We Make a Specialty of Manufacturing SECTIONS They are the Finest in the Land- None Better. Our Prices will make you smile. We want lo mail OUR BEE-SUPPLY CATALOG to every bee-keeper in the land. It is FREE. Ask for it. H. S. Duby. St. Anne, III., carries a full line of Our Goods, and sells them at our regular catalog prices. AUG. LOTZ & CO. Boyd, Wis. Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. "Griggs Saves You Freight" TOLEDO FOR ME! Is Every IMan's Guide Who Wishes Goods QUICK. BIG STOCK ROOT'S SUPPLIES. Ready to ship day order is received Wholesale prices on Chick Feed. Beef .Scraps. Grit. Oyster Shells. Etc. Honey and Beeswax wanted. Catalogue Free. AQUASUN The flavor of richest apple cider. A table delicacy that has no equal. A beverage that refreshes and invigorates. The strongest health-germs in Nature. Made from Honey& Water In any kitchen, at any hour, at a cost of 2 to 4 cents per gallon. Process and right to make it. 25C. Circular Free. 5Ai2t C. W. Dayton, Chatsworth, Calif. Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. 352 November, 1912. American T^ee Journal Chicago. Oct. 17. —Sales of honey during the month of October have been above the averaee. both in comb and extracted. The market ia well supplied, but not overstock- ed for this season of the year the major part of the comb honey being sold during Octo- ber and November). Prices on No. i to fancy comb honey range from i7@'iHc per lb. Off grades from i(gl3C per lb. less. Amber grades from I2@i5c per lb. White extracted ranges from 8(a'ioc per lb.: ambers from 7&8c per lb. Beeswax. 30@3JC per lb. R. A. Burnett & Co. Boston. Oct. 21.— tancy white comb hon- ey. I6@i7 per lb.; No. i. I5@i6c. Fancy white extracted. io@nc; light amber. oooosooooocoQooeosccce Marshfield, Wis >QOOOGOC< December, 1912. American Tiee Journal Some Good BEE - LITERATURE At Half Price $4 Worth for Only $2 All Postpaid Li.st No. 1 American Bee Journal, 1 year $1.00 (or Gleanings in Bee Culture) " Southern Bee Culture," by J. J. Wilder 50 3 Copies "Honey-Money Stories," at 25c 75 2 Copies "Songs of Beedom," at 25c 50 (10 Bee-Songs in a copy) 100 Copies " Honey as a Health- Food" 1.^5 Totnl $4.00 All the Above List for Only $2 List No. 2 "Langstroth on the Honey-Bee ". .$1.20 2 Copies "Honey-Money Stories," at 2.5c 50 2 Copies "Songs of Beedom," at 25c 50 (10 Bee-Songs in a copy) " Southern Bee Culture," by J. T. Wilder 50 " Pearce Method of Bee-Keeping " .50 " Hand's 20th Century Bee-Keep- ing " 50 20 Copies "Honey as a Health- Food" 30 Total $4.00 All the Above List for Only $2 A Home in the Northwest Do you want a home in the best part of the' Northwest— Northern Idaho? If so, let me hear from you. I have no land for sale myself, but can refer you to those who have. If you will let me know what you'd like, I can also then refer your enquiry to reliable real es- tate men here who can supply you. Remember, no irrigation is necessary here. It is a fine country for diversified farming — dairying, fruit-growing, bee- keeping, poultry, etc. You would be pleased if you could come and look this country over. But the next best thing is to do it by correspondence. I will be glad to help you in any way I can, if you will let me know just what you want. Special Bee-Literature Offers Ask for my circular containing spe- cial oflers of bee-literature. And if you want any bee-papers or other mag- azines, send me your list and I can quote you a price that will save you some money, I am sure, .\ddress, George W. York, Publisher and Subscription Agent, ;50li S. IJo.ver A\e., Sandpoint, Bonner Co., Idaho BOOKINGTORDERS FOR 1913 Untested Italian Queen-Bees Our Standard- Bred 6 Queens for $4.50 ; 3 for $2.50 ; 1 for 90 cents. For a number of years we have been sending out to bee-keepers exceptionally fine Untested Italian Queens, purely mated, and all right in every respect. Here is what a few of those who received our Queens have to say about them : George W. York & Co.:— The two queens received of you some time ago are fine They are good breeders, and the workers are showing up fine I Introduced them among black bees, and the bees are nearly yellow now, and are doing good work. Nemaha Co , Kan . July 16. A. W, Swax. George W. York & Co :— After importing queens for 15 years you have sent me the best She keeps 9 1-2 Langstroth frames fully oc copied to date, and. although I kept the hive well contracted, to force them to swarm, they have never built a queen-ceU, and will put up lira pounds of honey if the flow lasts this week. Ontario. Canada July 22 Chas, Mitchell George W. York & Co.:— The queen I bought of you has proven a good one. and has given me some of the best colonies. Washington Co., Va., July 22. N. P. Oglesbt. George W York & Co. :-The queen I received of you a few days ago came through O, K . and I want to say that she is a beauty. I im- mediately introduced her Into a colony which had been queenles.s for 20 days- She was accepted by them, and has gone to work nicely. I am highly pleased with her and your promptness In filling my order. My father, who is an old bee keeper, pronounced her very fine. You will hear from me again when I am in need of something In the bee l'"*- E. E. McColm. Marlon Co., 111., July 13. We usually begin mailing Queens in May, and con- tinue thereafter on the plan of " first come first served." The price of one of our Untested Queens alone is 90 cents, or with the old American Bee Journal for one year— both for $1.60. Three Queens (without Journal) would be $2..50. or 6 for $-1.50. Full instructions for in- troducing are sent with each Queen, being printed on the underside of the address-card on the mailing-cage. You cannot do better than to get one or more of our fine Standard-Bred Queens. American Bee Journal, Hamilton, Illinois. The Ideal Hive-Tool Free as a Premium Exactly half actual size, Price, postpaid. 3.? cents; or with the American Bee Journal one year— both for J1.15; or mailed Free as a premium for sending us one new subscription at Ji.oo. This is a special tool invented by a Minnesota bee-keeper, adapted for pry- ing up supers, and for general hive and other work around the apiary. Made of malleable iron, 8% inches long. The middle part is 1 1-16 inches wide, and 7-32 thick. The srnaller end is 1% inches long, >^ inch wide, and 7-32 thick, ending like a screwdriver. The larger end is wedge-shaped, having a fairly sharp, semi- circular edge, making it almost perfect for prying up hive-covers, supers, etc., as it does not mar the wood. Dr. C. C. Miller, who has used this tool since 1003, says: "I think as much of the tool as ever." American Bee Journal, Hamilton, Illinois. 354 December, 1912. iMerican l^ee Journalj The Fruit-Growers' Guide Book is a complete En- cyclopedia of hor- ticulture. It has 3110 pages, and is well illustrated. .A.11 about spray- i n g, fungicides, insecticides ; how to can Fruits, Veg- etables,etc. It was it m\ A_i written for the >> ^ — '"^" *'"^ * thou- sand trees, as well as for the one with a few trees in the dooryard. It is the result of years of study and travel. The Fruit Grower.published month- ly, is filled with up-to-date matter on horticulture. THE GUIDE BOOK, regular price $1.00 FRUIT GROWER, one year - 1.00 AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, one year 1.00 We club all three of these sent to one address for $1.50, or we will send the first two for $1.00. Send all orders to AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, Hamilton, III. rU-ase mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. Early (FROFALCON ) Queens "ITALIANS" February and March deliveries— for Untes- ted. $1.50 each; April. Si. 25- Tested Queens, 50 cts. additional; Select Tested, Ji.oo extra. Breeders, prices on application. JOHN C. FROHLiGER, 257-0 Marl^et St.. San Francisco, Cal. Or Berkeley, Cal Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. FAMOUS QUEENS DIRECTLY from ITALY BEES MORE BEAUTIFUL, MORE GENTLE. MORE INDUSTRIOUS. THE BEST HONEY GATHERERS UNIVERSAL EXPOSITION ST. LOUIS, MO . 1904. HIGHEST AWARD Extra Breeding Queens, $3; Selected, $2 ; young, fertilized, $1.50 ; lower prices, per doz., SO or 100 Queens. Safe arrival guaranteed. Write ANTHONY BIACCI, Pedeville, Bellinzona, Italian Switzerland. This country, politically. Switzerland Re- public, lies geotjraphically in Italy, and pos sesses the best kind of bees known. Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. Better Fruit Published at HOOD RIVER, OREGON, Is the l)est. handsomest and most valuable fruit growers' paper published In the world- It is handsomely illustrated and sliows the Western methods wliich have been so suc- cessful in winning hiyh prices. , Subscription Price $1.00 Per Year in Advance SampK' cnpir- n trqiK'st, Is Your Association Among This Lot of Live Ones? If Not, Why Not? Natioual Brauche.s ami Their Secretarie.s. Arizona Honey Exchange G. M. Krizzell. Tenipe. .Ariz. Adirondak— H. E. Gray. Ft. Edwards. N. Y. Colorado— Wesley Foster. Boulder. Colo. Chicago-Northwestern— L. C. Dadant, Hamilton, 111. Hampshire— Hampden— Franklin — Dr. Burton N. Gates Amhurst. Mass. Idaho— R. D. Bradshaw Notus. Ida. Illinois— Jas. A. Stone, Rt.4. Springfield, III. Iowa— C. L. Pinney Le Mars, Iowa Indiana— Geo. W. Williams. Redkey. Ind. Missoi'Ri- J. F. Diemer Liberty, Mo. Michigan— E. B. Tyrrell. 230 Woodland Ave. Detroit. Mich. Minnesota— C. E. Palmer. 1024 Miss. St. St. Paul. Minn. New Jersey- E. G. Carr New Egypt. N. J. N. Michigan— Ira D. Bartlett East Jordan. Mich. Ohio— Prof. N. E. .Shaw. Dept. of Aer Columbus. Ohio Ontario— P. W. Hodgetts. Parliament Bldg. Toronto. Ont.. Can. Oregon— H. Wilson Corvallis. Ore. Pecos Valley— Henry C. Barron Ha^erman. New Mexico Pennsylvania— H. C. Klinger. Liverpool. Pa. Twin Falls— C. H. Stimson.Twin Falls. Ida. Tennessee— J. M. Buchanan Frank lin.Tenn Te.xas— Willis C. Collins, box 154 Goliad. Texas Vermont-P. E. Crane Middlebury, Vt, Washington— J. B. Ramage Rt.2. N. Yakima. Wash Wisconsin— Gus Dittmer. . . . Augusta, Wis. Write for particulars as to how your Association can become a National Branch, and how you as a member can have Branch benefits. National benefits, and a subscription to the "Review." all for Si. so. Sample cop- I ies free for I conventions. Write for ] them for your convention. NATIONAL BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION E. B. TVKKELL, Set'y, aSO Woortlaud Ave., Detroit, Mich. Better Fruit Publishing Company HOOD RIVER, OREGON. White Sweet Clover Seed Sweet Clover is rapidly becoming one of the most Hseful things that can be grown on the farm. Its value as a honey-plant is well known to bee-keepers, but its worth as a forage-plant and also as an enricher of the soil is not so widely known. However, Sweet Clover is coming to the front very fast these days. Some years ago it was considered as a weed by those who knew no better. The former attitude of the enlightened farmer today is changing to a great respect for and appreciation of Sweet Clover, both as a food for stock «nd as a valuable fertilizer for poor and worn-out soils. The seed should be sown either in the fall or early in the spring. 20ito 25 pounds per acre of unhulled seed is about the right quantity to sow. We can ship promptly at the following prices for the white variety: Postpaid, one pound for 30 cents, or 2 pounds for 50 cents. By express f. 0. b. Hamiiton—S pounds for 80c; 10 pounds for $1.50; 25 pounds tor $3.50; 50 pounds for $6.50; or 100 pounds for $12.00. We can also furnish the yellow biennial seed. This variety blooms about two weeks earlier than the white which makes it preferred by some bee-keepers. For the yellow seed add one cent per pound to the above prices on the white variety. Seed will be shipped promptly on receipt of order. American Bee Journal, Hamilton, Illinois. Make Your Hens Lay cnntalii lak.s t : yivUi Uti Illlll-ll -KrcJiUT liTtlUty, t^tron^'iTchU'ks It ^'nuii unci t. llmt s why It lurKcrlMwIs. .ii.Tml 1 MANN'S ^„*J5i: BONE CUTTER cuts frtt^lly ami riiplilly all Inrpfo uiul siimll liniicH svltli ttilluTlnp ^__^_ nu-ut mill ^'^l^^ll^•. Aulniimtlfully inlu,i)ts to ymir strt-iiKtli. Novlt rloj^ry. Sent < 10 Days' Free Trial. No ••ii.m-v tlowii. S^'iid tor OUT frcy bonkn toiluv. F. W. MANN CO^ Bob 348 ^__^_ WLFORP. MASS. I Grab s Appropriate and Practical | CHRISTMAS GIFTS I Carry the Spirit of the Day "The Latest Out" GRAB'S AUTOMATIC LIGHTER And Ash Tray For the Boy Sweetheart A Practical Gift for " Him »? He'll appreciate it. Give so m et h i n tr new — d iff er ent — original— this time. A gift that com- bines usefulness with the spirit of day- Does away with tlie matches entirely— Givesaiargesteady flame. Press the lever -patented lighter does the rest, 1000 lights for one cent. Lighter detachable from ash tray. Always ready — will last a lifetime. Sent anywhere on receipt of price. Price, $1" "The Sensation of the Season" GRAB'S WORLD FAMOUS Keyless Basket Bank For the Girl Sweetheart A Practical Gift for "Her" The Stepping-stone to Wealt hi St he systematic saving of money. You and members of your family can easily culti- vate this admirable hab- it by putting a dime in Grab's Bank every day Your money accumu- lates rapidly. Deposit of each coin registered automatically. Capac- ity $30. Bank opens when Js. or multiple thereof, has been de- posited. Cannot be opened otherwise. Made of solid steel oxidized copper finish. Size. 2.'2X3,'? inches. 1$ YALE-PRESS ^ ^ Sweetheart For Pressing Fruits, Meat, Lard, etc. Best, most practical, durable press for making Jellies, Jams, Grape Juice, Cider. Wine, /■'riiii Ires. Pressing Meats. Stuffine .Satisaires. e/e. No woman has strength to press fruits or meats with her hands-, be- sides, without a press half the juice, and nearly all flavor, which only great pres- sure briniis out. is lost. All steel and iron plates. Clamps to table, etc. With a few turns of the wheel materials are put under 2.000 lbs. pressure. 4 quartsi/e. $4.50. Sold on to-days' trial. Money-back guarantee. Booklet. " Aunt Sally's Best Recipes." with description of Press, sent free. Price, $4.50. Price, $1 00 Grab's Automatic Foot Scrapers " Home— Sweet Home" Mud. snow dust and dirt will not be tracked over your floors if you GRAB'S FOOT SCRAPER outside your door. The only de- vice rnade which cleans bottoms and sides of shoe in one operation. Has ten parallel plates for scrap- ing soles and two stiff bristle brushes which clean sides of shoe AUTOMATICALLY ADJUSTS ITSELF to any size shoe. Handsomely en- ameled. Looks neat. Can be ro- tated and swept under. Fastens to doorstep or any handy place. Get one and save useless work. Price, $1.00. ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ Remember Please ^''^^' Hardware. House FurnishingandToy Dealers sell Grab's 'World Famous Special- nv;iii«fiiiM«^i ■ i^»v»», ties. All dealers can supply you if they so desire. Be careful and avoid all substitutes which generally pay the dealer more proht. Insist on goods made by Victor M. Grab & Co. If you have any trouble getting the Grab Specialties, send your order direct to us and you will be promptly supplied, promptly refunded if not satisfied. Money cheerfully and SENT FREE Illustrated. descriiJtive booklets and folders of any Grab Specialties sent free on request. 'Write to- ^^^__^^_^^^ day and mention which ones you desire. ^ ^ DEALERS — Our Special /'ropostltoii on (hah'.-i .SJ'Ciiallies zcill inlrre.-il and pav you. Write for it. S^ VICTOR M. GRAB & COMPANY ^ General Offices ... k14 Ashland Block, Chicago "1^ ^SC " Pantentees and Sole Manufacturers of Crab's Specialties" 4f^ 1^ ILLINOIS BEE-KEEPERS 4 I Important Announcement | f^ Chicago Distributing House Discontinued for 4 |l Lewis Beeware and Dadant's Foundation ^ ^<- The Arnd Honey & Bee-Supply company having gone out of business. Lewis j^ ji^ Beeware and Dadant's Foundation will no longer be distributed from Chicago. m<- x<*<- Note-the-New- Arrangement ^ — — — o _^ C- NORTHERN ILLINOIS BEE-KEEPERS IN THESE COUNTIES -4 • ^ ^^ Boone Dupage Kane Lee Stephenson -^^ 0^ Carroll Ford Kankakee Livingston Vermilion _^ • Champaign Grundy Kendall McHenry Whiteside ^ ^^ Cook Iroquois Lake McLean Will -^ ^^ DeKalb Jo Daviess La Salle Ogle Winnebago _^ ^^ Send All Inquiries and Orders to ^ G. B. Lewis Company They will prepay the difference, if there be any, right on your shipping bill. Bee-Keepers in remaining Counties in Illinois X Home Office and Factory, Watertown, Wisconsin ^ (^_ By dealing direct with the G. B. Lewis Company, the bee-keepers in the above j^ ^ counties get the benefit of the service afforded by their immense factory and *t ^<- warehouses. Watertown, being located near the Illinois State line, and having ->^ ^y^ two trunk line railroads and two express companies running direct into Illinois, _^^ V* the G. B. Lewis company can reach you as easily and quickly from Watertown, V Wisconsin as from Chicago. -*^ («j^ from the factory at Watertown, Wisconsin, will be no more than from Chicago, ^o ^^ T^Vif>Tr w\U nrpnav tVip fliffprpnrp. if thprp he anv. ricrVit nn vniir sViinnino- hill Sr B •^m Send all your Inquiries and orders to 4 Dadant & Sons, Hamilton, Illinois .# ^^ The above firm carries constantly on hand an immense stock of Lewis Beeware ^^ and are manufacturers of Dadant's Foundation. By dealing with them direct _^ you will receive as good service as from Chicago, or even better. - ■^M NOTICE If you are not on the Mailing List of the G. IJ. I.KWIS COMPANY, seiul your name in at once. Their Annual ("atalofj will be issued about Jan- ->^^ uary 1st, which will tell you whether to send your Order to Watertown, Wis- _^^ cousin, or Hamilton, Illinois. ^ D iK- (Entered as second-class matter at the Post-Office at Hamilton, 111., under Act of March 3, 18*9.> Published Monthly at $1.00 a Year, by American Bee Journal, First National Bank Building C. p. DADANT. Editor. DR. C. C. MILLER. Associate Editor. HAMILTON, ILL, DECEMBER, 1912 VoL LII-No. 12 Editorial Comments How Far Cau Swarms Travel? T. W. Swabey, in the British Bee Journal of Sept. 26, asks the above question and quotes a previous writer as authority for the statement that a swarm traveled more than 10 miles, though having settled on a tree about a mile distant from its final abode. In Vol. XVIII of the American Bee Journal, page 186, Q. C. Jordan reports having followed a swarm 6 miles. In Vol. XX, page 634, James Heddon says that a swarm alighted on a ship in the middle of Lake Michigan. The writer holds that they will go 25 to 50 miles. In Vol. XXV, page -Oo, H. G. Rogers ridicules the 2o-mile flight, and says : "We will soon have them crossing the Atlantic." Eugene Secor, a very reliable writer, in Vol. XXV, page 230, mentions run- away swarms as going 8 to 10 miles, to his knowledge. G. M. Doolittle holds that bees will readily go 5 to 9 miles for honey. Why not a swarm, for a home ? The flight of bees is variously esti- mated at from 10 to 60 miles an hour. The latter speed was given after having turned bees free from a running train, but Cheshire very properly says that this furnishes " no evidence of their velocity when unaided, since the train carries the air lying in its neighbor- hood along with it, as leaves and paper scraps frequently make clear." His conclusion is that the flight ranges be- tween 2 and 16 miles per hour, depend- ing upon the load and nature of the errand. When in the enthusiasm and energy of his teens, the writer several times attempted to follow a runaway swarm, but the result was invariably, after a perspiring run over fields, hills and well-nigh, impassable ditches, to be stopped breathless and discouraged against a fence or on the edge of a pond, while the bees went on ; their en- ticing roar finally dying in the dis- tance. The Mississippi River is but a mile and a half away, and at this point a mile wide, but he never succeeded in following them to its shores. However, swarms have often been known to cross it to reach the woods on the other side. But an experienced bee-keeper, who lived on the opposite shore, frequently told us that such swarms were almost invariably queen- less. Very probably the queen accom- panying the swarm was unable to sus- tain her flight, and was perhaps dazzled by the sunlight reflected upon the water. From all this we conclude that it is useless to tryto establish an exact limit to the possible flight of a swarm, and that this question is not to be settled any more positively than the question we might ask some inveterate angler : " What was the weight of the largest fish ever caught ?" The Iowa State 3Ieetiiigr The bee-keepers of Iowa are urgently requested to, attend their State conven- tion, which will convene at Des Moines, in the Club Room of the Savery Hotel Dec. 12 and 13, 1912, as announced in the November number, page 327. It is for the bee-keepers of each State to decide, after earnest and in- telligent discussions, whether they want laws concerning bee-diseases, whether they want courses of study in their industry at the Agricultural Colleges, and also what recognition ought to be given to the production of honey in the State and County Fairs. It is also time for our State Associations to be legally incorporated and endowed by the States in a way similar to the incorpDration and endowment of the State Horticultural Associations. All these things may be done, if we take an interest and show our wants. The past few years' work has shown that there is no difficulty in getting recognition from the Legislatures, Col- leges or Agricultural Fairs, if we show ourselves and claim our rights. If a concerted action upon the sug- gestions above given is successful, we will get the following results: 1. Greater information for the public on the uses and value of honey, hence larger and easier sales. 2. Correct information concerning the usefulness of bees in the fertiliza- tion of flowers and their harmlessness in the puncturing of sound fruit. 3. Greater protection to the pursuit, in the combat against contagious dis- eases and others. 4. Increase of information among the bee-keepers themselves. These things are worth striving for, even if we do not give consideration to the pleasure of exchanging views, making new and pleasant acqaintances and renewing old ones. The bee-keep- ers are almost as gregarious as their bees, and would often meet were it not for the distance they usually have to 358 December, 1912. American T^ee Journal travel to get together. Make an effort, dear reader, and attend this meeting. We know you will never regret it. There ought to be 300 Iowa bee-keep- ers at this convention, for Iowa is one of the leading States in the Union, and if i,t has remained in the background it is not owing to lack of information, but lack of centralization of effort. "(^eeii-Kearing Poiuter.s" The reader will find in this number an article under the above heading, from the pen of Mr. Frank F. France, who has not only practiced bee-culture with his father, but has also worked in California with practical apiarists, thus getting double drill, in addition to his own ingenuity. We cannot better recommend his method than by giving our testimony of e.xperience in this line. During the first of his queen-rearing practice, in the 'OtVs, Grandfather Dadant had no- ticed the desirableness of rearing queens in strong colonies, and the bet- ter quality of such queens. It was with us as with the Frances; we did not like to rear queens in baby nuclei. A compact brood-nest of some size was needed. Two to four short frames, proved better than one to two long, ones, especially as the Langstroth and Quinby frames are of much greater length than height. A frame of either kind, divided into two parts, placed side by side made a much more com- pact brood-nest than in full length. But the handling of an odd frame is undesirable unless it can be originally taken from and afterwards returned to the full-frame hive. The first divisible frames that we used were as cut below. The frame provided with dummies, etc. But after making the exchanges and shifting of frames common in queen-rearing dur- ing an entire summer, we often found ourselves in the fall with a number of tongue half-frames without the corres- ponding parts in the same nucleus, and vice 7'ersa. It is usually necessary to break up a nucleus in the fall — even if it is quite strong — and unite it with a full colony. For this purpose all those half frames should be interchangeable in order to double them back to origi- nal size. This gave rise to a slightly different style of divisble frame, the in- vention of David & Guillet, of Savoie, shown herewith. These frames having only with some such method as the France method. In mentioning all these points, the writer is speaking from an extended experience backed by good results. Spanish - Needles an Incorrect Name A short time ago we received from Mr. E. R. Root an enquiry concerning the plant popularly known in the Miss- issippi Valley as "Spanish-needles," which yields great quantities of honey of as golden color as the blossom it- self. Mr. Root quotes Prof. Lovell, of Maine, and A. C. Miller in support of the statement that this name is a mis- The Improved Style of Divisible Frame. right and left shoulders, and hooks and eyes on both sides are interchangeable, so that any two of them can make a full frame. When the season is over any 4-frame nucleus in the yard may be easily inserted into a full colony, or several nuclei may be built into one in full frame shape. The little hives which have contained these nuclei are put away for another season. On the other hand, one may happen to rtar a number of good queens and nomer. Close examination at this late date, when the plants are almost en- tirely dry, tends to indicate that the true Spanish-needle is the taller kind, Bideiis bipiitnala, devoid of yellow rays in the blossom, and supplied regularly with two awns or burs on the seed, while the real honey-producer is a short plant, not usually much over a a foot in height, bearing bright yellow blossoms, and producing seeds with three awns or burs on a wedge-shaped seed. Those of our readers who live near the lowlands producing this honey-plant are requested to send us what information they have. We wil later publish the decision of the east- ern botanists concerning this plant. If their criticism is well taken, the plant should be popularly known as " liur- marigold." was in two halves, one-half bearing a tongue in the top-bar and a staple in the side-bar, the other half had a notch at both top and side bar. We placed a number of these in our best breeding colonies early in spring, and we thus had combs with brood from our best queens to make our nuclei as early as desirable, in half-length hives TuK P'iRST Divisible Frame. not need them all. These good queens in a good season may build up their nucleus into a strong colony. A (3- frame nucleus, well stocked with bees and brood, at the opening of the Au- gust flow, may be transferred into a large hive by doubling up the frames, and with a little help a good colony for winter will result. This can be done lutroduclnfi a Queen to a Stub- born Colony When a colony has been queenless for a considerable time, it sometimes happens that the bees of such a colony will not only reject any queen given them, but will destroy any queen-cell given, and refuse to start queen-cells from young brood furnished them. A case of this kind is reported in Bienen- Vater. The colony was yet strong in bees, and there was no weak colony with which to unite it. The queen was December, 1912. 359 ^^^^[American Hee Journal taken from another strong colony, and given caged to the queenless one. Then the two colonies were made to ex- change places. The lield-bees that had belonged to the queen, upon returning to their old location, found their own queen caged, and, of course, were kind to her. In the other hive all the home- bees being young and freshly made queenless, a queen-cell was readily accepted. Care of Bee.s iu Cellar If bees are abundantly supplied with good honey, and are in the right kind of a cellar, they should need very little attention throughout the winter. Not every cellar, however, is a perfect cel- lar for wintering bees, and it should be the care of the bee-keeper to do the best he can to make up for all deficien- cies. First in importance is pure air. Try to have the air in the cellar as nearly as possible like the air outdoors. If you can do no better, open up at night some door, window, or other opening whenever this can be done without making the cellar too cool. Better the air too cool than too foul. As to temperature, it is generally be- lieved that at a temperature of about 45 degrees bees are most nearly in a dor- mant condition, and so will consume less stores, and the less stores they consume the longer they can stand confinement. But thermometers are not always correct, and it will be well for you to see at what degree by yoitr thermomcler bees will be most quiet, and then try to keep the cellar at that temperature. Some have reported success in cel- lars much colder. And if the air is as pure as it is outdoors, why should not bees stand as much cold as outdoors ? All the same, no matter how well bees may winter, say in temperature of 38 degrees, would they not winter at least a little better in a temperature that would require consumption of less stores ? On the other hand, it is becoming a common thing to have furnaces in cel- lars, making it impossible in some cases to keep the temperature down as low as 45 degrees. Again it is true that the bees will stand the change of temperature, if only the air is kept pure. In the cellar of the writer it is nothing unusual for the temperature to be 5o degrees or higher. But doors or win- dows are kept open enough so the air is much the same as outdoors. The cellar should be kept dark, but again the matter of pure air makes a difference. Let the air become foul. and then open a door or window, let- ting in air and light in the middle of the day, and thousands of bees will fly out of the cellar and be lost. But open the door in the evening as soon as it becomes dark, and in the morning when the air has become pure, the light may shine brightly into the cellar with- out disturbing the bees for some time. If the bees are in an inner room, the door from this inner to the outer room may generally be kept open all the time, and the outer door may often be kept open all day long without doing any harm, for the light in the inner room will not be very strong. The outer door may be kept more or less open, according to the needs of the case. Mice should be poisoned, or trapped, or both. Persistent trapping with the little traps that can be had for 2 or 3 cents each will keep the trouble down to a minimum. Some screen the entrances to the hives with coarse wire-cloth, three meshes to the inch. If a mouse should thus be fastened into a hive, it is better to have one hive dis- turbed than several. Bees will of course die through the winter, and more or less dead bees will be on the cellar floor. The begin- ner may be tempted to close the en- trance with wire-cloth finer than three meshes to the inch, so that neither mice nor bees can pass through. Don't think of such a thing. While that may keep the floor of the cellar clean, it is much more important for the health of the bees that the floor of the hive be kept clean. Let the dead bees fall upon the floor, and then sweep up the floor. It may not need sweeping possibly for the first two months, but later it will need sweeping every two weeks. It may or may not be advisable to clean out occasionally the dead bees that are on the bottom-board, according as they do or do not accumulate there. In the Bee-Keepers' Review for Sep- tember, Elmer Hutchinson states that he has wintered bees in a very dry cel- lar with a temperature of 34 degrees during almost the entire winter. Com- menting upon it, the editor of Glean- ings in Bee Culture states that in their experience a temperature of 34 degrees, in a bee-cellar, if long continued, has proven disastrous, and he asks whether the thermometer had been tested for correctness ? There is another ques- tion which might be asked: In what part of the cellar was the thermometer kept 1 There is quite a difference in temperature in different parts of a cel- lar where many bees are kept, because their own warmth affects the tempera- ture materially. Miscellaneous ^ News Items More About European Foul Brood. — The following was included in a letter recently received from Morley Pettit, Provincial Apiarist of Ontario, Can. : " I find the article by Dr. Miller, on a question of smells, page 324, and would like to say a few words in reply to his question. The difference between Dr. Phillips and myself, which is a differ- ence of experience rather than a dif- ference of opinion, has often puzzled me. I have not yet had the opportunity of seeing European foul brood in an apiary across the line, but in every case which I have seen here, especially where it is new territory, there is always the pronounced odor which can be compared to nothing better perhaps than decayed fish. I well remember in 1!H)!1, when I was sent into Northum- berland county to investigate the out- break there, going with the local in- spector, Mr. Warrington Scott Wooler, to a number of apiaries that were badly diseased. " It was pitiful to see many apiaries where 30, 40, 00, and 60 hives were sit- ting out with scarcely any live bees left in them, and that decayed, offensive condition of the combs in every one. The weather was very warm and sultry, as it often is in June and on entering the apiary the odor could be noticed quite distinctly in any part of the yard before any hives were opened. On lift- ing out the combs and holding them up for examination, it was almost sicken- ing. The outward symptoms, apparent to the eye, as described in Dr. Phillips' bulletin, were all practically the same, and why there should be this difference in the odor has not been explained to my satisfaction. "I am sending a copy of this letter to Dr. Phillips, to see if he has any- thing further to suggest." Since the above was put in type, the Editor has paid a visit to the Provincial Congress of Apiarists of Ontario, and there saw a sample of European foul brood in a not very advanced stage. -■Mthough the odor was characteristic and not at all similar to that of .Ameri- can foul brood, which we all agree re- sembles very much that of a joiner's glue pot, yet it was not offensive enough to be conspicuous. The stage of the disease mentioned above by Mr. Pettit, where " from 30 to (iO hives were exposed to sultry weather, with scarcely any live bees left in them," is sufficient to explain the very unpleasant effect upon the nostrils, and after once get- ting a puff of this stench, one would 360 December, 1912. American IB^e Journal naturally detect it with disgust where it was the least noticeable. Were we not afraid that Mr. Pettit might object to bouquets, however well deserved, we would tell our readers that Mr. Pettit has very favorably impressed the writer with his cautious, judicious and methodical ways. Origin of Honey-Dew. — Concerning the origin of honey-dew. Dr. A. Heinz, University professor at .Agram, reports as the result of his observations : That honey-dew is produced if unusual in- crease of transpiration is excited by strong light in leaves growing rapidly and not too old, and high concentra- tion of the sap is induced. If the dis- turbance continues beyond a certain limit, the leaf suffers and falls prema- turely. The formation of honey-dew does not always depend upon an abso- lutely high stimulation of warmth and light, but rather upon a sudden great difference, which occurs, for instance, when after very cool spring nights the organ which has been suppressed, in its activity suddenly receives the stim- ulation of the intense morning sun. To this P. Neuman adds: "I have also frequently observed on young lindens upon which few plant- lice were to be found, that the drops which are supposed to be sprayed upon the leaves by these insects were numer- ous upon the uppermost tender leaves where no lice were to be found at all." — BieticuwirtschaOh'c/it's Centralbhttt. Illinois State Meeting The Illinois State Association met as per call in the State House at Springfield, Oct. 30 and 31. It was a very good meeting. Two men of "National repute were present, Mr. N. E. France and Mr. E. B. Tyrrell. Only one paper was read before the Association. The other contributors opened their subjects by speaking in- stead of reading essays. But the dis- cussions were lively and the question- box well supplied. The most interesting part of the pro- gram was a talk by N. E. France, who spoke on divers labor-saving methods and devices. Any person who hears Mr. France becomes easily convinced that he is as much of a benefactor to the apiarian public through these talks as he was through his management of the National .Association. Mr. France spoke with praise of the concrete hive-stands. He thinks they should come into general use. But he spoke disparagingly of concrete hive- covers, which some persons recom- mend. He tried them and found them too heavy, too lirittle, and too much subject to temperature changes, for they are, he says, "too cold in winter and too hot in summer." He spoke of having tried salt water in troughs side by side with clear water, and that the bees visited in preference the salt water, but it should not be heavily salted; only enough to taste the salt. He advised, when you build a bee- house, to place the joists just far enough apart to hang frames between them.by nailing a projecting strip on the underside of the joist, for the ends or shoulders to rest upon. In this connection he emphasized a remark made elsewhere by the Editor, that frames which are hanging freely in an open space without being close to each other are much less apt to be in- fested by the moth. Mr. France also stated thatthe moth- balls sold by all druggists for keeping moth away from woolen clothes in the summer will also keep the bee-moth away from combs in a box or a hive. But, to his mind, the bi-sulphide of carbon saturating a small rag and in- serted in a hive is the best moth-killer. Two resolutions were brought for- ward by the Resolutions Committee and were passed unanimously. The first was to recommend the establish- ing of a course of apiculture at the all members free of charge. Those of our Illinois readers wlio do not yet be- long to the State .'Vssociation, should not hesitate to send their $1.00 or $1.50 for both Associations to Mr. Jas. A. Stone, Rt 4, Springfield, 111. The election of officers, which took place at the last hour, resulted as fol- lows: President, E. J. Baxter; Vice- Presidents, W. B. Moore, H. S. Duby. Aaron Coppin, G. M. Withrow, I. E. Pyles; Secretary, Jas. A. Stone; Treas- urer, Chas. Becker. Sweet Clover is a Biennial. — By over- sight, an error at the lop of page 302 was allowed to pass uncorrected. It is Memhers Present at the Illinois State Meeting. First row, left to right— J. H. Roberts, E. B. Tyrrell. N. E. France. C. P. Dadant. Chas. Becker, E. J. Baxter. Xavier Widmer. Second row— W. B. Moore. W. H, Gray. L. C. Dadant. Jas. A. Stone. G. M. Withrow. D. S. Beeler, J. M. Beeler. Third row-B. L, Sherril. H. S. Duby, B. O. Vaughn. H, 1,. King, W. H. Stumm. A. Coppin. Miss Coppin. Miss Stewart. State University, the other an increase of the premium list of prizes by the State Fair management to equal that of Minnesota. A very interesting part of the pro- gram was the statement made by Mr. Tyrrell, the National Secretary, con- cerning the present and future of the National Association. He acknowl- edged that there were flaws in the Con- stitution which must be mended at the coming February meeting, but ex- plained what great hopes he had for the future of the Association. It was generally conceded that we must be patient and give the new arrangements a fair trial. Meanwhile the State .'\s- sociation voted to accept members at the former price of $1.00, with the un- derstanding that such members would not reap the benefits of membership in the National on an equality with those who paid $1..')C) for membership in both. This is only a short synopsis of the meeting. The full report, taken down by Miss Stewart, the usual stenographer of the State Association, will be pub- lished in book form in the same man- ner as formerly, and will be mailed to there said that sweet clover is a per- ennial, and does not bloom until its second season's growth. Unless there is a brand of sweet clover in Texas different from that which grows farther east, none of it lives longer than two years. The most of it is biennial, grows one year, blossoms and seeds the second year, and then dies, root and branch. None of it Jives through the second winter. There is one kind of yellow sweet clover that is not even biennial, but annual. Massachusetts' Ten-Weeks' Course. — We wish to call attention of the bee- keepers to the opportunities offered by The Extension Service of the Massa- chusetts Agricultural College, in the Ten-Weeks' Course, beginning Jan. (1. A course in bee-keeping is designed which will be a general, practical sur- vey of the maintenance of bees, not only for their products, but as an ad- junct to modern agriculture. Special effort will be made to correlate the subject with the various phases of hor- ticulture; namely, fruit growing, cran- berry culture, market gardening and December, 1912. American Hee Journal 361 greenhouse crops. Particular empha- sis will be laid upon the most recent and approved appliances and systems of manipulation. The fine collection of appliances of the college will give exceptional opportunity to the serious apiculturist. For further information apply to the Director of The Extension Service, M. A. C, Amherst, Mass. Honigloesmaschine. — Heather does not grow in this country — more's the pity — but in the countries in which it does grow the honey secured from it is considered the best in the world. It has one peculiarity which is at the same time a strong recommendation and a drawback: It is so thick and tough it cannot be extracted. Now, however, the German bee-journals are in great glee over the fact that a ma- chine has been invented which will loosen the honey in the cells so as to make it capable of being extracted, an invention whicli is hailed as being worthy to be classed with the invention of movable combs, the honey extiactor and comb foundation. The machine is called f/onij^loes- mtischiiir " Triumph," or "honey-loos- ening machine." To operate, the comb is uncapped as usual, then laid flat upon the table of the machine, when the operator turns the crank of the ma- chine for a short time, turns the comb over and operates on the other side, and the comb is then ready to go into the extractor. It would seem that when the con- tents of the cell are slightly stirred, the cohesiveness of the honey is broken up, making it possible to throw it out. Over the table of the machine is a sys- tem of long needles, but without sharp points, 160 in number, standing per- pendicularly. When the crank is turned the comb is raised and the needles enter the honey, 3 or 4 in each cell. So delicately do they act that if one of them strikes a cell-wall it is either turned aside or raised up. When one comes in contact with the bottom of a cell, or with the wood of a frame, it is raised up. The result is that the honey is "loosened "in the cell and the comb is entirely uninjured. The continued turning of the crank drops the table, moves table and comb along about half an inch, the comb is again raised, and so on. The cost of the ma- chine is about $9.00. Page-Kenkel MIg. Co. — In the adver- tising columns of the Bee Journal will be found the advertiseme'nt of Page- Kenkel Mfg. Co., of New London, Wis. This firm is the successor of the old Page & Lyon Mfg. Co., who have been in the bee-supply manufacturing busi- ness for 30 years, and with whom many of our subscribers are already ac- quainted. California Meeting It was decided at a recent meeting of the State .Associa- tion to hold the annual meeting in Los Angeles, Dec. 12, 13 and 14, with eve- ning sessions on the 12th and I3th. From letters received a large number of prominent bee-keepers from north- ern and central California are expected, and arrangements are being made by the committees to entertain them roy- ally, and to arrange for a program which will be exceptionally interesting. Men of national repute will be pres- ent. The California bee-keeper who misses this meeting will be unfortunate. The Los .\ngeles County Bee-Keep- ers' Association will hold its meeting on Dec. 11, just previous to the big meeting. ^ Iowa Bee-Keepers to Meet The fol- lowing is the program of the first an- nual convention of the Iowa State Bee- Keepers' Association, to be held in the Club Room of the Savery Hotel, Des Moines, Dec. 12 and 13, 1912: Thursday lo a.m.— Address ^f the Presi- dent-W. P. Southworlh. Sioux City. Report of Secretary-Treasurer— C. L. Pin ney. LeMars. Greeting from Illinois— C. P. Dadant. Ham- ilton, III. Committee Appointments. Thursday 2 p.m. — " Production of Comb Honey "-F. W. Hall. Colo. " Production of Extracted Honey "— D. E Lhommedieu, Colo. " WinterinfProblems"- C. H. True, Edge wood. "Helpful Suggestions"— T. W Blackman Nevada. Friday 10 a.m.— "Fuss and Fun of Bee Keeping "—Eugene Secor. Forest City. "The Foul Brood Situation "-P'rank C Pellett. State Inspector. Atlantic. "State Aid for the Industry"— E. E. Town send. Ft. Dodge. " Is Improvement Possible?"— Dr. A. F. Bon ney. Buck Grove. Friday 2 p.m — Ouestion-Box. " Making the Most of the Home Market " — .J. L. Strong. Clarinda "Cooperation in Marketing. Increasing the Forage and Bettering Locality " — Frank Coverdale. Delmar. " Exhibits at Fairs as a Means of Adver- tising "—G. W. Nance. Anthony. Open discussions led by prominent bee- keepers. Making the most of the home market. Increasing the forage and bettering the locality. Exhibits at Fairs as a means of advertis- ing. Election of officers. Let every bee-keeper bring samples of his best product to put on display, and come prepared to demonstrate any new kink or short cut that is likely to prove of value to the fraternity. BIHeadquarters will be at the Savery Hotel. A Socialist Bee-Keeper Candidate for Governor of Idaho A small handbill is before us giving the portrait of Mr. L. A. Coblentz, of Idaho Falls, Idaho, a very neat-looking man, and his pro- gram as candidate for Governor. We quote : " The candidate for Governor has been a grain farmer, a fruit farmer, and is now an affitirist. It may seem a joke to vote for one of your own class Custom makes the most sensible program seem foolish if we do not stop to think. But think. Would it not be a far greater joke for a working man to vote for a big business man. a banker, or even a lawyer, who. nineteen times out of twenty, is the servile tool of capitalism ?" Strength of Bees in Uniting An in- structive article on uniting bees, by Ernest Eaton, appears in the Irish Bee Journal, page 96, in which we find this sentence : " Success lies in having the bees about the same strength, in the same condition, and quite free from irritation." That equality in strength of the two lots to be united should be placed first as a requisite of success is something new. Coming from the source it does, it is worth considera- tion. Yet it is only fair to say that the experience of the writer in hundreds of cases would lead to the belief that there is no disadvantage in having the two lots of different strength, if indeed there is not a positive advantage in it. By far the greater number of cases have been in the spring, when a single frame of brood and bees would be united with a weak colony, the frame being placed at the side of the brood-nest with no precaution whatever, and with never any fighting. Giving Swarms Extra Room Below. — There is nothing very new in the idea of allowing a swarm to have an empty story under the brood-chamber for a few days, in order to prevent desertion, but it has perhaps not received the at- tention it deserves. R. Beuhne, Aus- tralasian Bee-Keeper, page 8, has this to say about it : " I find bees are more contented if allowed to hang in a cluster for a few days after be- ing hived, instead of being divided by the intervening full sheets of foundation. Some swarms which I hived on full sheets or on drawn combs actually built combs for a few days from the bottom-bars of the frames down into theempty hive-body below before they commenced drawing the foundation or storing in the drawn combs. " P'or the average season I find the best plan is to hive swarms on clear drawn combs, with an empty body underneath, in which they can hang in a cluster. They may build a little comb on the bottom-bars of the frames, but thisthey will soonneglect. In a week or so I put a set of full sheets on top and withdraw the empty box from below. It is natural for bees to hang in a cluster for some days aft^r swarming, and when given this opportunity they are less inclined to turn out; that is to say. swarm again within a few days.'as they do some seasons." Wisconsin Bee-Keepers' Association Meeting. — The 34th annual convention of the Wisconsin State Bee-Keepers' Association will be held at the Capitol Building, Madison, Wis., Dec. 17 and 18, 1912, beginning at 10 o'clock a.m., Tuesday the 17th. As usual, an interesting program consisting of papers and questions will be presented for discussion. Important legislation, to be presented to the next Legislature, will be dis- cussed. (The Chicago-Northwestern Bee-Keep- ers' Association holds its annual convention in Chicago Dec. 19 and 20, thus giving all members an opportunity to attend both conventions at very lit- tle additional expense. Headquarters for the bee-keepers will be at Simons' Hotel. To secure a room, write in advance enclosing $1.00. GUS DlTT.MER, Sec. Coal Cinders in Front of Hives — Coal cinders are excellent for the surface soil of an apiary location. Cinders un- der the hives and in front of them keep the moisture away and prevent the growth of weeds. They also form a more solid foundation than earth. Stings as a Means of Ascertaining Death. — The "Journal de la Santc'is quoted by L'.-\piculteur as recommend- ing bee-stings for ascertaining death in doubtful cases. They say that in case of death the sting sho\ys no re- action whatever on the skin in the im- December, 1912. American Vee Journal mediate vicinity. This looks plausible, but there are more positive ways of ascertaining death. The Picture Contest Our picture contest, wliich closed on the first of November, was an entire success in point of pictures received, and also as to the quality of the same. Over 200 pictures were entered by 8."i different contestants. Our front cover for this month will show the picture which was awarded first prize by the judges. The two men who judged the contest were Mr. E. J. Baxter, president of the Illinois State Bee-Keepers' Association, and Mr. H. M. Anschutz, of Keokuk, Iowa, acknowledged the best photog- rapher in Iowa, and probably in the middle West. Prizes awarded were as follows; First Prize — Edward F. Bigelow, Sound Beach, Conn. Second Prize— Wesley Foster, Boul- der, Colo. Third Prize— J. F. Diemer, Liberty, Mo. Fourth Prize— L. L. Ness, Morris, 111. Fifth Prize— B. F. Schmidt, N. Buena Vista, Iowa. Other prizes were awarded to con- testants in the order named below: F. E. Millen, Ontario ; Chas. Kennard, In- diana; J. A. Nininger, Kansas; G. L. Sauer, Illinois; T. Yawata, Japan; H. Adams, New Mexico ; F. F. George, Idaho; Ira D. Bartlett, Michigan;.!. A. Green, Pennsylvania; J. A. Buck- lew, Ohio; G. E. Morris, Vermont; K. Okiishima, Japan ; J. H. Berry, Oregon ; T. C. Nail, Arkansas; J. S. Dean, New York; Mrs. Bertha Anthony, Califor- nia ; A. A. Augenstein, Illinois; W. C. Eastman, Ohio ; J. B. Hollopeter, Penn- sylvania; J. M. Butler, Idaho; S. R. Stewart, Colorado ; Dr. J. M. Kleeber, Wisconsin. Weight ol Sections. — 1. When comb honey is quoted at 17 to 18 cents per pound, does that mean that a section is called a pound, or does it go by the actual weight ? 2. If the actual weight is used, what does the commission man do in case a shipment is sent to him which has not been weighed before being sent? 3. What commission is charged? These questions were referred to R. A. Burnett & Co., of Chicago, who give the following answers: 1. No, it does not mean that a sec- tion is called a pound, but the actual. weight is used. 2. He weighs it, and also tests weights given by consignor. 'i. Ten percent on consignments that are sold in less than car lots. past. Several of the noted bee-keepers have promised to be present, and as our meeting comes just after the Wis- consin meeting, a good delegation is e.xpected from Wisconsin. All bee-keepers are invited to attend. L. C. Dadant, Sec. Chicago - Northwestern Meeting.— The Chicago - Northwestern Bee-Keepers' .Association will hold its annual meeting at the Great Northern Hotel, Room L., 38, Chicago, on Thursday and Friday, Dec. 19 and 20, 1IJ12. The Great Northern Hotel is situated on the corner of Dearborn Street and Jackson Boulevard, and easily accessi- ble from any railroad station. As Chicago is a central point there should be a good meeting as in the Colorado Meeting The annual con- vention of the Colorado State Bee- Keepers' Association will be held Dec. 12 and 13, in Denver, at the Auditorium Hotel, 14th and Stout Streets. The Auditorium Hotel will be headquarters for the Association. The rates are $1.00 a day and up. The hotel is new and centrally located. The management has placed the Pompeiian Room at our disposal; the same one as last year. Take Colfax car under viaduct at the Union Depot, and get off at 15th and Stout Streets, and walk one-half block west to the hotel. Every session of the meeting will be a live one, and we hope for a large at- tendance. We will have an " auto ses- sion." This will be a hummer, as we are going to have the "auto " dealers show us their utility cars and their winning points. The program has not been entirely arranged for at this date, but we will have worth-while sessions, every one. Wesley Foster, Sec the man whose death we erroneously reported in our last number. He is taking his final year at the Ontario Agricultural College, specializing in biology, with a view of taking up bee- work in some definite form when he graduates ne.xt spring with the degree of B. S. Agriculture from the Toronto University, with which the College is affiliated. The Roswell Fair. — TheRoswell (New Mex.) Morning News of Oct. 4, pub- lishes a list of the winners at their Fair. The local winners in bees, honey and wax are Ernest Nelson, J. W. E. Bash- am, R. B. Slease, Henry C. Barron, B. H. Crawford, A. J. Crawford, E. W. Marable. This shows there were at least seven e-xhibitors ; a larger number than in many a State Fair. A Tea Rose Which Produces Honey. — In L'Apiculteur it is reported that the rose bearing the name " Marie Van Houtten," a tea rose, yields honey, and that bees were seen licking the nectar between the stamens of its blossoms. They say that it produces as fully formed seeds as the wild rose. Might not the one be the cause of the other ? Demonstrating Bees. — On another page will be found a contribution from Mr. F. E. Millen, of Ontario, a de- scription of the demonstration of bees, which is very interesting, and which might- well be imitated at fairs throughout the country. Mr. Millen is Washington State Meeting. — On Jan. 8, 1913, the Washington State Bee- Keepers' Association will hold a two- days' convention in North Yakima, Wash. In all probability Mr. George W. York, president of the National, will attend. J. B. Ramage, See. Bee-Keeping ^ For Women Conducted bv Miss Emma M. Wilson. Marengo, III. The 1912 Season As has been already mentioned, the season of 1912 was unusual. It may be well to give here the outcome of the season, and to mention some of the unusual items. In the first place, the heavy winter loss was something very unusual. In the fall of 1911, 114 colo- nies were put in the cellar, and only (14 were left to begin the season. A loss of nearly 44 percent is something Dr. Miller has not experienced in many a year. Sickness and death, practically in the family, in the fall, and Dr. Mil- ler's sickness in the spring, may ac- count in some part for it. But others in Jhis region lost from T.*) to 100 per- cent, and we had no occasion to com- plain with ."id percent of ours left. The prospect looked pretty blue. No show of white clover, and feeding up to the last of June, and we felt we would be thankful if the bees would only get their winter supplies. But white clover seemed in some myste- rious way to come from nothing, and now with an increase of ih percent, nearly Oildd sections, and colonies heav- ily supplied for winter we are more than thankful. -After all supers were taken of? the hives with their contents hefted, if a hive felt as if nailed to the ground, it was not even lifted, but passed by as safe. If there was the least bit of un- certainty about its weight it was weighed with the use of a spring bal- ance, and if it weighed less than .50 pounds, combs of sealed honey were given to bring up the weight. In most cases this is heavier than necessary, but in case a hive is filled with old combs that are unusually heavy, or have an unusual stock of pollen it is none too heavy. Many of our colonies weigh (10 pounds or more. Absence of Brood in Sections Among the peculiarities of the sea- son of 1912, was the fact that in our crop of about (1000 sections, not a sin- gle section was found with pollen in it. Of course, it is not impossible that there may have been one or more cells partly filled witli pollen, then filled out December, 1912. 363 American 16gc Journalj '-^-'ih^^P I with lioney and sealed over, so that the pollen vvou'd escape detection un- less the sections were held up to the light, when a dark spot would be shown when one tried to look through ; but it is not so very likely that there were any cases of this kind, for when pollen is present in sections there will almost surely be some of it left unsealed. We generally have very little trouble with pollen in sections, but an entire ab- sence of that trouble is something de- cidedly unusual. Could it in any way be connected with the unusually late season, .with tlie harvest beginning late in June? ^ * »■ Improving by Requeening Perhaps in no other case does so great a responsibility rest upon so small an atom as the weight that rests upon the queen-bee. She has to an- swer for the good or bad qualities of the whole colony. If the bees are good honey-gatherers, if they are gen- tle, if they are non-swarmers, if they seal their honey with extra white cap- pings, etc.. all these good qualities are credited to the queen. .'\lso she has to answer for all the bad that is due the colony. If the bees are lazy, good for nothings, if they are regular little vix- ens as to temper, if they persist in swarming, swarming, swarming, if they seal their honey with greasy cappings, she is the one who is blamed, too. Is it right to lay all the blame on one small bee ? If she is a hne looking queen and a good layer, and yet the work of her colony is below the average, don't you hate to pinch her head ? Don't you feel like pleading for her life, saying, " Oh, let's try her a little longer, may be she will do better next year ?" Well, if you do, just steel your heart and bravely pinch her head, for she is surely the culprit, and it doesn't pay to keep poor stock when you can just as well have the best. If you have never tried weeding out your poor queens and breeding from your very best colonies, just try it, and see what a difference a few years will make in results. Take the item of temper alone. One very cross colony will make the whole apiary appear cross, and it may take you some time to locate the real cul- prit, but once located lose no time in pinching the head off of the queen. Naturally you would not expect any improvement in the temper of the bees until the progeny of the old queen were all dead, and the new bees had taken their places. That would be nine w-eeks from the time the old queen was killed. The strange thing about it is you don't need to wait that long, at least not in all cases. This summer we had one exceedingly cross colony. We knew it was somewhere in the lower part of the apiary, but it took us some time to locate it. When we finally did locate it a new queen was given. We didn't have to wait nine weeks for an improvement in temper, for within a week after the new queen began laying we noticed a decided difference, and long before the new bees were old enough to tly, that col- ony appeared to be as good tempered as any in the apiary. Xeither is this case solitary. In several other cases the same thing has been observed, and the conclusion seems to be almost irre- sistible that the queen in some myste- rious way has an influence upon the progeny of her predecessor. It hardly seems a reasonable conclusion, but these are the facts. An interesting query arises: If a queen from a cross colony should be given to a gentle colony, would the gentle bees turn cross ? John S. Harbison. Biography of the Largest Honey-Producer in the World The following biography of the late John S. Harbison was kindlyfurnished to us by his daughter, Mrs. Hinkle, together with the picture which we re- produce herewith. She has our thanks for this kindness : "John S. Harbison was born in 1826 in Beaver Co., Fa. He came to the Sacramento Valley in 1854. He found that many of the men who were raising food products were making more money than the average gold prospec- tor. He worked for wages in Sacra- mento until he had enough money to start for himself. In 18.J7 he went back to Pennsylvania and prepared a ship- ment of honey-bees, consisting of (57 hives. These made the trip by way of New York, then via steamer to San Francisco and up the Sacramento River. On arrival he was offered over $100 per hive. -At this time there were no bees west of the Rocky Moun- tains. In 18-50 a second shipment of bees was made from Pennsylvania, also fruit and ornamental trees, and he es- tablished a nursery along the Sacra- 3C4 December, 1912. American Hee Journal mento River, two miles from the Capi- tol building. The year of the big flood, about 1863, his nursery and many of his bees were swept away, and he had to make a new start. "He returned to New Castle, Pa., in 1865, and was married to Mary J. White, and brought her to California. "In 1869 Mr. Harbison established apiaries in San Diego county, and moved to San Diego in 1874. He was then the largest honey-producer in the world, and won many silver and bronze trophies and diplomas for finest honey exhibited at the Centennial and other exhibitions and fairs. "He patented the Harbison hive, which was used almost entirely in the West until the one-pound section boxes were introduced. He also pub- lished a book on bee-culture. The last years of his life he kept an apiary of 250 colonies, and also experimented on the grafting of English walnuts on to the native California stock, with great success. " Four weeks before his death he at- tended a bee-keepers' convention at El Cajon, San Diego county, and urged them to consider the following: 'That San Diego is to have a Panama Califor- nia E.xposition in 11115, to celebrate the opening of the Panama Canal, and that this is the first American Port of Call on the Pacific ; that the conditions in the grounds for the said Exposition are ideal in every way for the planting and maintenance of all honey-produc- ing plants, and for the establishment of a model apiary in conjunction with the same.' "He believed that by a judicious use of glass and wire-screen, this could be made one of the most attractive exhib- its of the Exposition, and if carried out to show the old and new methods of handling bees and honey would be a splendid advertisement, and most in- structive from every point of view, and he urged those at the convention to make such an exhibition, and to start the plantation of bee-flora at once. "After attending this convention he sent thr^e varieties of sage seed to the nurseries connected with the Exposi- tion, that the plants might be ready to set out the coming year. " Mr. Harbison died Oct. 12, 1912, at the age of 86 years and 13 days." ¥ar Western <^ Bee-Keeping Conducted by Weslev Foster. Boulder. Colo. The Honey Market in October The potato crop is reported to be one hundred million bushels above normal this year. The price has " gone to pieces " to such an extent that there is little profit to the grower. In many cases the crop will be a loss. But the cost of potatoes is down when the con- sumers are considered. The consumers are benefitted this year along with the dealers and shippers, while the growers lose. The apple crop is in a like con- dition, but from present indications it does not seem that the consumers are to get much advantage of cheap apples, and the growers are not getting much for their crop. The dealers and carriers get the big lumps there. The rush of these two crops to mar- ket has engrossed the attention of the dealers to such an extent that they have not had time for honey; hence the slow sale of western comb honey in car lots. The larger part of this honey will probably be shipped before Nov. 15. The market has dropped somewhat on comb honey, and $3.00 is the high- est price that has been secured for No. 1 comb honey since early in the sea- son. Somewhat lower prices may pre- vail before all the honey is moved, -<^# I- t¥k although there is not'much more honey unsold. ^-•-* Wanted--A Queen-Breeder in Colorado There is not now a queen-breeder in Colorado who makes a business of it. There are several bee-keepers who sell queens, buttheyare not soliciting busi- ness. The mailing of queens to Colo- rado from the South and East is a haz- ardous process. Many queens are lost. It takes three days from eastern Colo- rado. You may see what a queen is up against if she has already traveled from several days to a week before reaching the eastern Colorado line. I believe that there is a business for a queen-breeder here, that would keep him busy. The bee-keepers need to get queens within a day or two from the time they are mailed. If a location could be found where queens could be reared as early as May, the breeder would prosper. Coi.oKAUo Mountains in Wine'Ek-Thk Source of Ikricathin Water. More About Moving Bees In the September number I gave an account of a bee-keepers' week. Per- haps I should now tell how those smothered bees came out. Thirteen of of them were lost from the combs breaking down and drowning the bees as much as from smothering. The Monday following the events I have told, we had the bee-meeting in Corfez, reported in the November American Bee Journal. The next day George and I started down the canyon again with a spring wagon after what bees we could haul. We reached the place where we had left them before sundown, and got the bees straight- ened up before dark. I placed the combs of the smothered colonies on top of the strong ones, first cleaning out the dead bees and broken combs. We loaded up the e.xtra covers and bottoms and 22 colonies, leaving 11 with the e.xtra bodies on top for ex- tracted-honey production. We started about 6 o'clock aud reached the ford of the McElmo River about noon. A heavy rain had fallen some days before, and the river bed was changed somewhat, so we unhitched and rode the horses back and forth to find the best fording point. Then we hitched up again and began the fording. Upon reaching the homeward bank the rear wheels cut down into a sort of quick- sand, and they settled down until the wagon bed was but a short distance above the water. We had started with a shovel, and it came in play here. A half hour's shoveling and removing branches and boulders so that the horses could have a good footing, we were ready to pull out. The rear wheels raised nearly two feet when the horses started, and had our team been at all unsteady we would have had serious difficulty. We reached the apiary in good time, and had no overheating of tlie bees at all, as I had the supers, with section holders removed, on top, and wire-net- ting over that. Frequent sprinkling keot the bees contented. Thursday, Aug. 1, was busy fixing up the bees and putting on supers, finish- ing the honey-house, etc. The cracks in the walls of the house I covered with December, 1912. American l^ee Journal lath, and tliose in the floor with tin sl;rips. I covered the window with wire-screen. When I had the house ready I walked 3ji miles to George's place and we prepared to haul over my 450 supers, 1.5(t hives, covers, bottoms, etc. We got this all done the next day, and I piled up all the supers and hives the following day, leaving room for my bunk and small work-table. I bought 27 colonies of a neighbor and moved them to the apiary and supered them. When the II colonies— still down in the canyon — are brought up I will have an apiary of (30 colonies. I secured 70 cases of honey from these bees, which is pretty good considering that the apiary was finally established after Aug. \. Southern Beedom^ Conducted by Louis H. Schoi.l. New Braunfels. Tex. [The True Value of the Honey-Bee The writer has been engaged in va- rious positions in which he was enabled to aid in spreading the knowledge of the true value of our little insects. It is of untold worth to any State, and the country at large, to emphasize the value of keeping a few colonies of bees on the many farms that are without them, both for the honey they gather as well ZS /he great aid they render hi the pol- lenalion of our fruit and other blossoms. At the same time it is very important for us to educate the people that would keep bees to keep them in a proper manner, since we know the results caused by the bee-keeper who does not take care of a colony of bees in frame hives. Simply putting them in the most up-to-date hive and leaving them there to take care of themselves will never do. So these things should be taught, and it is for the more experienced bee- keepers of the country to lend their aid in such educational work. Unless this is done, ignorant bee-keepers' will be quite a detriment to the honey-pro- ducer. For this reason alone many bee- keepers would not advocate the keep- ing of bees on more farms, but there are many places where no large api- aries exist, and with the proper educa- tion of the farmers much good would result. I tried to emphasize the point fully in the following part of a chapter in Bulletin No. 24, on "Texas Bee- Keeping :" " A serious trouble and a great mis- take of the majority of farmers is their neglect of these mostimportant of their friends, the honey-bees. They should receive as good care as is given to any- thing else on the farm. Their value can- not be overestimated, "It is not sufficiently understood that honey-bees were not only created for the purpose of furnishing mankind with delicious honey, but for another and much more important reason — that of fructifying the flowers visited by them so that it may be possible for these to bear fruit and seeds. The most of our host of plants absolutely require the visits of the honey-bees, or other insects, to carry pollen from one flower to another and thereby fertilize the blossoms. Pollen is gathered by bees from flowers for food, and carried to the hives in little bright-colored pel- lets on their hind legs. They must have pollen to prepare the partly- digested food with which the young larvae are fed. Inability to secure suf- ficient pollen causes delay, or dimin- ished progress of the colonies. Ordi- narily but one kind of flower is visited on a trip when pollen is being gath- ered. In gathering either pollen or honey the bees come in contact with the pollen grains of the blossoms, which adhere to their hairy bodies. " In passing from flower to flower some of the pollen grains come in touch with the stigmas of each flower visited, which effects cross fertilization and a thorough setting of fruits and ;#^^v^-4'^''<'." g;.'v;, ", >(r*'^'-:ft;3*. % '^- ; aiiil^.fe'J» S'v^-gs-^^, mW. seeds. It is thus that the bees pay abundantly by their services for the treasures the nectar-yielding blossoms offer to them. The exceeding interde- pendence of flowers and insects and the vast necessity of this has long been recognized by horticulturists and other authorities. " Honey-bees are the most important distributors of pollen of all insects be- cause they appear in larger numbers, especially early in the season, and their greater activity makes them more use- ful in the work they help to perform. It is estimated that the value of honey- bees as pollen distributors is far greater to our country than the value of the crops of honey produced. We owe it to honey-bees that we have a larger quantity and better quality of line fruit, vegetable and cereal crops than we would otherwise have. Of this there is not the least doubt. Since honey-bees are general pollen gatherers, appear in greater numbers, visit a far larger number of blossoms over a greater territory, and do this more thoroughly than any other insect, it is apparent that they are indeed most valuable friends to mankind. "Plants or flowers have sex very similar to that in animals, and it is just (l>v\W Vx^moLe Where the Orchard Pays. Ap p X e as necessary that fertilization take place in these before fruit can be borne or seeds be developed. While both male and female sexes exist in the same flower of many plants, there are some plants in whicli the male sex exists in one and the female in another flower of the same plant, and in still others each sex is confined entirely to one plant. In any case it is necessary that the pollen grains from the anthers of the male part of one blossom reach the stigma of the female part of another where they eiiter into the ovules within the blossom and complete fertilization, after which tke development into fruit or seed follows. Without the poUena- 266 American Hee Journal December, l'Jt2. ^=^m^ I tion of the blossom, fertilization can- not take place, and the blossom must wither and die instead of bearing fruit. SOME STRIKING EXAMPLES. "Where many varieties of trees are mixed in an orchard there is less trouble from the lack of proper pollen- ation if the weather is warm and dry, and the wind can carry the minute pol- len grains from flower to flower; but even under these conditions visits of bees make the work more thorough. Such ideal conditions do not always exist. This is especially true where the period of bloom is a long one. It is during conditions not so perfect, when the weather is damp and the pol- len is sticky and not so easily blown about that the journeying back and forth of the insects plays a conspicu- ous part in the production of harvests of fruit or seeds. It is also apparent that when certain varieties are isolated from others of their kind, or when the distance between them is great, or they are in a direction from each other that the wind cannot carry the pollen, the chances of pollenation are cut off, there is no setting of fruit. There have been instances where insects were not present, that the side of a tree from which the wind was blowing the pollen bore no fruit, while the other side yielded abundantly, showing how the bees might have aided. Careful inves- tigation has demonstrated beyond a doubt where the agency of the honey- bee was not only essential, but abso- lutely necessary, to insure satisfactory crops. "Darwin, the greatest naturalist, rec- ognized, in his time, the value of the honey-bees as an important agent in relation to plants when he wisely said: 'No bees, no seed. No seed, no in- crease of the flower. The more seeds from the flower the more flowers from the seeds.' This he proved by exten- sive experiments, and others have done this many times after him. He found in one of his experiments the following results: "Twenty heads of white clover visited by bees produced 2!)iK) seeds, while 2l) heads so protected that bees could not visit them, produced not out- seed.' The same kind of experiments have been made with strawberries and various other fruits. I>"ruit trees that were covered half way with netting, so so that the bees could not visit the flowers, bore fruit abundantly on the unprotected parts, but none at all, or very little, and that of a very inferior quality on the other. MORE nEES, BETTER CROP.S. "This shows the importance of keep- ing a few colonies of bees on every farm. For the large commercial or- chardists. or extensive growers of cu- cumbers, melons, and various other crops, this question is of more impor- tance still. Where large orchards or fields are planted in solid blocks, or where there are a number close to- gether, cross pollenation is not satis- factory on accouiul of the lack of suf- ficient insects to do the work properly, especially when the main part of the trees or plants are in bloom. There- fore, the keeping of honey-bees near them is to be encouraged, to increase Perfett Fertilization. the quantity as well as the quality of the crops. " In one instance the owner of a large orchard did not get any fruit from it for eight years, and was about to dig up the entire orchard. Being advised to try keeping honey-bees to fertilize the blossoms, he did so. The result Imperfect Fertilization. was that he sold thousands of dollars worth of» fruit thereafter. The idea of keeping bees in this case was mainly to fertilize the fruit blossoms. But the usual crop of honey yielded by them, aside from the beneficial service ren- dered, increases their value. Many other instances might be given." Conducted by J. L. Byer. Mt. Joy. Ontario. Exceptions in All Things, So With Uniting That bees do nothing invariably is generally admitted by all who have handled them to any great extent, but every once in awhile they do some- thing so utterly unorthodox as to sur- prise us even when we are looking for the une.xpected to happen. In my ex- perience with the "critters," I have done very little uniting in any form, always aiming to have nothing but strong colonies on hand a// the time. However, what little uniting we have had to do in the past was under- taken with the doubling up of a weaker colony on top and paper between the two stories. It has alwavs worked to perfection, and I am Just s//ic the plan would work under almost any condi- tions. This fall quite a lot of requeening was done at the home yard, and late in October it was found that one real strong colony was queenless, and an- other one had a virgin that had not mated, owing no doubt to the long spell of wet, cloudy weather experi- enced at that time. From two difl'er- ent out-yards 1 brought as many weak colonies with good, young queens, and the next day, towards evening, I dou- bled them with the two colonies re- ferred to. Owing to the miserable weather at that lime, after two or three examina- December, 1912. 367 American l^e Journal tions in an effort to locate that virgin queen, I became disgusted and decided to let them take their chance and double them with one of the weak colonies brought home. The colony that was queenless acted in the usual manner, and all united peaceably, the queen being noticed when I removed the combs out of the top story later on. As for the other colony with the vir- gin queen, they simply butchered every bee that was in the colony united with it. Both colonies were treated at the same time under exact conditions, but what a difference ! The fact of the virgin queen being present must explain the difference, but I will own that I i-x/'ii/td the virgin to disappear and the fertile queen to be accepted in her place, and as for the fate of the bees being introduced, I was s/tri- they would be all right. So much for expectation as compared with realization, and while Ian not worry- ing much about the fate of the bees, I certainly would like to know why they were all killed in such a ruthless man- ner. ^-•-^ A Good Flight Before Winter Monday, Nov. 11, the bees had a glori- ous flight, the day being warm and calm, with a slightly smoky horizon — typical of the weather commonly designated '■ Indian summer." No doubt many cel- lar winterers will place the bees in win- ter quarters just as soon as the weather turns cool again, as it is always advis- able to take them in as soon as possi- ble after they have had a good flight — any time after Nov. 10 in this latitude. Bees wintering on the summer stands will also profit by the nice flight, although many of us, no doubt, would like to see them have another flight later in the month, or even the early part of December. Given a flight at that latter date, personally, I would just as soon see them shut in for three months without a flight, as ex- perience has proven that with good stores a confinement of that length does no harm. Indeed, they are often without a flight four months and longer in this latitude ; and, generally speak- ing, wintering is not to be dreaded even if those conditions prevail, pro- vided the bees have an abundance of good stores, and have a good cleansing flight late in November. Late Feeding By the time these notes are in print, work with the bees for a few months will be a thing of the past. When the first snow comes, it is advisable to carefully look around the hives for the tracks of the deer mice who like to be domiciled for cold weather over the top of the bees, snugly wrapped in the nests made in the packing. If any are in evidence, and you find the hives they are in, instead of rousing up the colony too much in a chase after the mice, better quietly place a few traps in the packing and dispose of them in that way. If for any reason some of the colo- nies have not been properly attended to in the matter of stores, they can still be looked after, although the work should have been done much earlier. For such late feeding as in December, candy properly made is the best if it can be had, but syrup made real thick can be fed on the pepper-box plan. A 10-pound tin honey-can, with the top perforated, and when filled with warm, thick syrup may be placed next to the bees, care being taken to see that lots of packing is placed around and over the pail, so as to prevent the escape of heat. In this way feed can be given to bees at almost any season, but please bear in mind I am not advocating such late attention, as with syrup fed very late, and the bees having no chance to fly for a long time after the disturb- ance, good wintering cannot be looked for in the majority of cases. A Trip to Finland Would be Enjoyable That article from Paul Wickwitz, page 341, was read with a sense of pleasure on my part, as we shall always remember the visit that friend Mick- witz made with us shortly before he left for his home in Finland. A trip to visit him in his northern home is one of the anticipated pleasures looked forward to when some of my rich rela- tions leave this mundane sphere, so that it will be possible, from a financial standpoint, to take a vacation of that kind. By accident, a small vessel of honey was left open in the honey-house after we had finished extracting the clover honey. Although at the time of ex- tracting this honey was very thick, I was amazed, on finding this small pail behind the extractor a few weeks later, to see that the honey was thin and the flavor entirely spoiled. I know a num- ber who left large tanks of honey ex- posed for some time, and while they say it did not spoi/, certainly there was no imf'roi'emenl, for the air was so charged with humidity during all the late summer that moisture was every- where, no matter how dry the local surroundings. Some may say this was an excep- tional season, as no doubt it was, yet any plan that is sure to work disaster in ixccftional seasons, and very apt to do the same in ordinary seasons in the hands of most bee-keepers, should not be advocated for un\ kind of season. Ripening Honey Artificially Talk about ripening honey "arti- ficially." Surely, the past season should forever stop all public advocacy of such a method on this continent. I certainly would like to see the man and the method that could have improved honey by leaving it exposed to the open air during the months of July, August and September that have just passed. Those "Harmless Bees" In regard to those " harmless " bees so much discussed in the last Ameri- can Bee Journal, I notice that the edi- tor of the Bee-Keepers' Gazette, pub- lished in Ireland, pokes a bit of good- natured fun at Mr. Burroughs' claims in connection with his alleged discov- ery. Editorially, he says among other good things, " By the way, no one, so far, has claimed to have heard bees laugh. We all have heard them cry, and many of us know what their rage is like. Can it be that they, poor things, are deprived of the pleasure of healthy laughter with so many provo- cations to merriment as mankind af- fords them ? We hope not." Bee-Keeping In Dixie^ Conducted b.v J. J. Wilder. Cordele. Ga. Spring Management of Bees — A Word for Queen-Excluders "Friend Wilder: — Agreeable to my promise that I would write my meth- ods of operating with bees as soon as I could get them off to their fall loca- tion, I will now make the attempt. "Our surplus honey flow comes from what is called here white tupelo. It usually begins to bloom about the mid- dle of April, sometimes a little earlier, and on very rare occasions later. We only have it about three weeks, often not so long, so you see how important it is that we get our bees in the very "pink" of condition. Of course, we have some honey from other sources, but if the tupelo were taken out I don't believe any of us would attempt to keep bees in this immediate section. " \ number of years ago we used to have quite a lot of very nice honey, though very dark, from what is called snow-vine, but of late we have failed to harvest a sufficient amount of this grade of honey for the bees to winter on. "Well, to begin with my plan, in Jan- uary as a starting point, we assume that all the bees have been returned to their winter or spring location here at Wewahitchka, and we are now prepar- ing to get them ready for the harvest. Usually during the beginning of this month we have maple, ironwood, and other plants or trees blooming, from which source bees, weather permitting, get quite a little honey and lots of pol- len, and they begin rearing brood to a considerable extent. "As they are wintered in two stories I examine the lower story about the middle of January, or as early as pos- sible thereafter, taking record as to the strength, amount of brood and stores of each. Owing to cool weather we are very likely to excite robbing, and I endeavor to be careful, going very slowly, using little smoke, and picking up all pieces of comb, especially if with honey. I haven't had a case of robbing in my apiaries in 10 years, and 36S December, 1912. American See Joarnal I attribute my success along that line, to being very careful about leaving wax, etc., around the apiarv. " By Feb. lU, I have gone over the api- ary for the first time. This represents my individual vt'ork in apiary No. 1, which consists approximately of about iiOil colonies, and this is the one to which I give my undivided attention. In our other two apiaries we have ex- perienced men who work in about the same manner. We now begin work in earnest, as titi is about to bloom, and bees are getting down to business. I now make the second visit over the apiary. This time, where bees are in a normal condition, we find from two to three frames of brood. " All colonies havingas many as four frames of brood, and a corresponding number of bees, I spread the brood; that is, I open the brood in the center and place an empty comb, or, better, a comb partly fdled with honey in the space thus made. Before going further, for fear that I may get some ine,xperi- enced brother in trouble, let me say that in case the comb contains honey, it should be brought to the brood-nest from some other part of this hive ; or, if from the honey-house, it should not be placed there unless it is very late in the afternoon, and after the bees have about stopped flying for the day, otherwise you might start robbing; thus handicapping you very materially with your work. I would not advise a novice to begin this kind of wTk too early in the season. I deem it very necessary to be careful; if not, you are likely to do a great deal more harm than good by making the brood-nest too large for the bees to properly cover, as we are apt to have cold snaps at this season of the year, and the brood that the colony already has may be chilled or killed outright, if tlie thing is over- done. " I go over the apiary speading brood only where I find the colonies of suffi- cient strength to permit it; say where they have as much as four frames of brood and bees in proportion. At this season, in an apiary of 200 colonies, you will probably find two-thirds of them in a condition to warrant this spreading. Having made a record of the strength of each colony in going through them the first time, I can judge Ijy that, and by the way the colony is working, whether they will be able to have their brood spread, and I am saved opening every hive. I will have finished the second visit by the first of March, or near that date. By this time the bees, if the weather and other con- ditions have been propitious„are gain- ing strength right along, and in a very short time, say by the loth^ they will begin swarming. " However, I do not wait for this, but go right back over the same ground, giving two instead of one empty comb in the center of the brood-nest, and opening some that were passed over on the last trip, friany of which I find of surticient strength to take one frame of empty comb. In some instances I find it necessary to raise one or more frames of brood to the super. Black tupelo, black gum, and several other trees, among which 1 will mention the range, are now opening, and I am ept busy. Here is the time for wha t I consider my most profitable work of the entire season. " I number the location of each hive, nol the kin-, and as all of my queens' have their wings clii)ped. when 'a swarm issues I catch and cage the queen, then, move the parent colony to one side and place there a new brood-chamber filled with combs or foundation, then place an e.xcluder on, and set the super from the parent colony over it. I now place the caged queen at the entrance of the new hive, and after putting a cover over the parent colony I go on with my work, AHer awhile, the swarm having found that their queen had [ailed to accompany them, begins to come back. I go and liberate the queen and let her go in. then I brush all of the remaining bees from the par- ent colony in front of their old loca- tion, and as I have an alighting-board in front of each colonv, they all go at once into the hive, and l' take the brood from which I have brushed the bees, and give assistance to the colo- nies that are too weak to spread their brood, being careful not to give any to those that are not numerically strong enough to take care of it. "Sometimes I can give a colony only a frame, and have to go back a number of times, repeating it until by this method I get it up to the standard. Later on, say a week or more after- wards, I help out these swarms; other- wise by the time tupelo begins to open they will have become depopulated, and will not do anything toward har- vesting a crop. You now see why it is best for me to number locations in- stead of hives, as I would have every- thing confused, and no uniformity in the apiary. But I have not stopped the spreading of brood, and I continue to do this until tupelo is well open, and I never use any of my swarms to make increase until this time, for I consider brood judiciously divided among the weak colonies in the apiary to be the most profitable work that I do. " As I have from 3 to 16 swarms in a day, when swarming is at its best, I am able to get every colony in the apiary in prime condition by the time tupelo is well open. You must remember that this bloom only stays with us for some- thing like three weeks, and often not so long. "I use a 9-framehive; its dimensions are standard except in width, and this is K! inches, inside measurement. I use 9 frames in the lower story or brood- chamber, and 8 in the super. I believe this size is most convenient. It is large enough for the best flows, and not too large in a light flow to dis- courage the bees ; it is a compromise between the 8 and 10 frame hives, but with an extra prolific queen the brood- chamber isn't large enough to accom- modate her, and it may be necessary to raise some of the brood from below to the super. Unless the time for ex- tracting is at least 10 days off, I am careful to raise only capped brood, otherwise I would fail in carrying out my idea of sanitation in honey. " Let me here digress long enough to say that I don't believe a pure article of honey can be harvested unless (|ueen- excluders are used in working for ex- tracted honey, for two-thirds or more of the fermentation in honey is caused by uncapped brood which is thrown into the honey in the process of ex- tracting thereby becoming a part of it and truly an unsanitary part I use queen-excluders on all colonies oper- ated, or caused to be operated by me 1; nend Wilder, were you ever present during the time of extracting honev in an apiary, where there were no queen- excluders used? If so, it is unneces- sary for me to tell you of the filth as you know much of the uncapped brood IS thrown out; but if you have never witnessed such a' sight, I would advise you to do so in order that you may truly appreciate honey that is taken from above queen-excluders. I believe that any one who is familiar with oper- ating with or without queen-excluders would be willing to give from one to two cents a pound more for honey taken from above queen-excluders " Wewahitchka, Fla. J. K. Isbell. Bee-Keeping— Sala ry My season's honey crop was 12.5,000 pounds of chunk, extracted and comb honey from 2000 colonies, or an aver- age of a httle better than GO pounds Your present salary is much larger than any extensive bee-keeper could attord to give you to look after his bee interests. To establish yourself in a bee-business, the returns of which would be as large as your present sal- ary, would require some time, and not less than a $3000 investment, even if you vj^ere to buy out an already estab- lished business. It would take, in a similar location to mine, 600 colonies «?n,l'i'''"''i" °^ '^''''^'' "^'ght amount to' *lo00, and you could do all the work ■ and perhaps you would have more leisure than you have now. But you would have to make the investment Wants a "Shove Off" DearMr. Wilder:-A friend bee-keener gave me your address and told me to wr^fl you. that you would five me a good )°,^Jo,f I am a young man and a farmirand have ■= strong coloniesof bees, and I love them next o my family. I want to learn more about bee-culture and make increase until we have enough bees to support us. Help ml al Is'ou can now and I will make you glTd ^Vekou. Ga. '■ ^^ G^^^^'^' This young man is not far from where I was once in bee-culture I had a great love for it, and a determi- nation to succeed, and this is the secret of my success. I was not a very strong man in intellect, however I had a natural love for the culture of bees and enough determination to succeed' A man with "willing hands " and deep interest in his business doesn't need much of a s/iotc oir. He needs only to know whether there is any monev "at the other end of the rope." Any man can be sidetracked in almost any line of business, and espe- cially in bee-keeping. All of my friends came to me when it was generally known that I had "thrown up " my good job as head mechanic for a large concern for the purpose of embarking December, 1912. American ~Bae Journal upon extensive bee-keeping, ami beg- ged me to give up my idea and go back to the shop to work or to enter some other line of business where the oppor- tunities were great. Even my wife joined with them, and said my mind was a little overbalanced, but none of these things moved me, and no regrets have followed except that I wished I had started sooner. I mention these things for no other purpose than to show to what extent a person must be determined on a pur- suit if he expects to succeed. The Partridge-Pea as a Honey-Plant The picture shown here is a snap- shot taken by the writer while visiting bee-keepers, and shows the partridge- pea growing in all its glory. It shows how it grows on the mountains in Dixie. There are two well-known spe- Where the Partridge Pea Grows Kank. cies of partridge-pea. One that grows on low, damp land where the water stands near the surface. It grows mostly in sections where there are lakes and along the coast, and is dis- tinguished from the other by its rag- ged leaves, and it does not grow as tall. This species does not secrete nectar, while the other plant grows from 18 inches to ,5 feet, and on higher land, and is perhaps the greatest nectar- yielding plant known. The plant blooms profusely, but does not yield its nectar through its bloom, but through nectar-cells at the bases of its leaves. Here it collects in drops and runs down to the ground during the night or damp, cloudy days. The greatest mystery about this plant IS why the bees do not gather more honey from it, as it yields so heavily, and the duration is so long, about lUO days. But the bees do store from one to three supers during its flow of very fine, light honey. The flow begins in June and lasts until about the first of October. The point I want to make is that a very large section of Dixie would be almost a desert so far as bee-keeping is concerned were it not for this plant. It grows out over the forest and uncul- tivated land in the poorest sections of our country; thus making bee-keeping possible even in seemingly the most unfavorable sections. It is not always a sure " hit " for its honey, but by tak- ing several seasons in succession it makes bee-keeping profitable. Then, too, there are two otlier minor honey- plants which grow on the same kind of soil, and these very often give a yield of nectar that makes up fully for .the partridge-pea during its off seasons. Contributed Articles-- Improving the Bee BY ARTHUR C. MILLER. Now, what do you think of a man wanting to improve the bee ? Why, all one has to do is to decide what kind of a bee one wants, and pick it out. If one is wanted that is kind, tractable, quiet in harness, won't kick, bite, or balk, select the Carniolans. They are neat in their habits, do not daub up their hive with propolis, and build paper-white combs. To be sure, their coat is but a somber black, trimmed with soft, gray fur, not striking, but good and serviceable. Or, if one wants a similar bee, but one that properly guards its doors, just take the Caucasians. Regular gum- mers, these fellows, and one might, perhaps, do well to keep them for the business of raising varnish gum — though he might have to dynamite his hives to get the gum out. Or, mayhap, one prefers a thing of beauty, the glitter of near gold, and therefore piAs the sparkling goldens. Nice, playful fellows, these, and one needs a fine quality of sheet steel armor with them, for they are prone to be very rough in their play. But they are mighty nice to use when there are other bee-keepers around you, for as sneak thieves, they are far and away ahead of anything yet invented, and will pack their hives while those of the neighbors grow beautifully light. If none of these suit, take some of the old standby, leather-colored Ital- ians. Nice, steady fellows, who mind their own business and do not consort with the festive bee-moth. .'\nd if you get the right strain, you will have good, heavy supers and a lame back. We will not mention the sprained fingers and wrists from trying to shake these fellows from the combs, nor will we say a word about the way they per- forate cappings when we try to take off the sections. You, who would specialize on comb honey can pick out the good, old blacks, the bee that gran'ther used to keep. They shake olT so easily; in fact, they fairly tumble over each other and you, in their anxiety to get off of the combs. It is real sport to find their queen, when one has not another blessed thing to do for a whole, long week. And yet there are those who assert that the honey-bee is not variable, that she is unchanged and unchangeable. There rises to the mind's eye two api- aries which it might profit the persons who hold that view to visit. Both lots are Italians, and beauties, too, well cared for and well handled. The first lot can be handled at any season in any weather, flow or no flow, with scarcely a vestige of smoke. An ideal lot, assuredly. The bees of the second lot are most excellent workers, but the Old Nick himself couldn't stand their heat. They meet you far from home, and escort you most attentively. Blow smoke in at the entrance and there rush forth myriads of the ugliest stingers man ever met, and no skill, no method, serves to subdue them. .-Knd in the face of this some persons would still have you believe that the honey-bee is not variable. In color, in habit, and in behavior, the honey-bees vary as much as most kinds of animals and plants. Some of the traits of some races, and other traits of other races, are of advantage to us. If, by crossing and selecting, we can combjne and fix the desirable characters, and eliminate the undesir- able, we " improve the bee." And there is just as much possibility of doing this with bees as with other animals. 370 December, 1912. American Vae Jonrnal It is not a question of creating a new organ, or of radically changing the size or shape of the bee, but a question of combining all the good traits and leaving out the bad. We speak of good honey-gatherers as if such bees possessed physical characteristics which were responsible for their work. It is more probable that the good results are due rather to a nervous energy. That some races are better honey-producers than others is pretty well known, and is evidenced by the widespread use of the Italians instead of blacks, Carniolans, etc. That some strains of the same race are superior to others in honey getting is disputed, and superior results are at- tributed to " manipulation " or "man- agement." In the opinion of the writer this view is erroneous, and his opinion is based on many years of careful observation and comparison. In support of this contention, I would cite my system of bee-keeping and the results. With few exceptions, all colo- nies are requeened in August of each year with queens which have just be- gun to lay. This ensures uniformity of colonies the following season. The occasional colony which may be below normal size in August is brought up to the average when the queen is put in, so that all start evenly. The following spring, save for a cursory examination at the entrance and across the tops of frames, the bees are not manipulated— they don't have to be. Supers are put on before fruit bloom, and the bees left to go it alone, save for getting honey off and putting on more supers. With such a uniform start, and such a "let alone" management, every col- ony shows what it is good for. To be sure, whenever the hives are close to- gether considerable mixing of bees oc- curs during a good flow, but not enough to materially affect the results. Under the above conditions, when all colonies of a certain strain, regularly on every flow, show greater amount stored than any other strain, we must assume that they are superior workers to the rest. And when this occurs, season after season, the assumption be- comes a certainty. I chance to have in one apiary three strains of bees, and several colonies headed by daughters of one of these strains mated to still another strain. One .strain is especially commended for vigor and hardiness, another for gentleness, and the third for wonderful work, and the daughters referred to are from this latter. Every colony of this strain, and of these daughters also, has kept well ahead of the others. Is it not right to consider them superior honey gatherers ? Granting that bees can be "im- proved," the objection is made that few bee-keepers are so located that they can get pure matings, and. furth- ermore, that because the individual male cannot be selected, progress is impossible, or, at best, uncertain. Re- sults belie this. Some bee-keepers have achieved marked results in the work of their bees, others in gentle- ness, and others in color. It was the settled conviction of the late Henry Alley that queens mate within a very few rods of their hive, and that it is the drones that wander afar. My own experience supports this view, and, furthermore, I believe that the flight of the drones is largely controlled by the prevailing winds and the contour of the country. One apiary which I maintained for over 2i» years lay close to the west shore of a large sheet of water. The prevailing winds were southwest. Black bees were abundant one-half mile north. No bees west or southwest, and a few some strains are better than others on certain flowers. I may be wrong, but I propose to find out. I have no bees or queens to sell, for if I produce any "infant prodigies" in the bee-line, I do not want them to cause worry and loss of sleep to those who doubt. But it's well to be "from Missouri " sometimes. Providence, R. I. A Practical Demonstration at Toronto. a mile due south. Year after year I reared queens there, and mismating was so exceedingly rare that when it did occur it was a genuine surprise. So mobile is the bee in my hands that I have gone about the work of building up a series of apiaries of dif- ferent strains with as much confidence as if I were handling cattle. Demonstrating Bees at Exhi- bitions BY F. E. MILLEN. One of the portions of the Apiarian exhibit at the Canadian National Ex- hibit, held at Toronto a short time ago, was the demonstration of the I'. I.. Mii.i.KN ToiNiiNii Out the Dreaded Euroi'Ean Foui, Brood to Two Young l.ADY BEE-KeEI'ERS — SYMI'TOMS AN[) TREArMENT ARE Al.WAVS FuLLV EXI'I.AINED. It may be asked why I care for sev- eral strains ? I want pure stock for crossing, and also I want to try out pure stock of my own rearing on the different fields, as I have a notion that handling of live bees which was con- ducted by the Ontario Agricultural College authorities. A large screen cage for the purpose was built, and a colony of bees pro- 371 American Hee JonrnalJ vided for the demonstrator, in order that he might show what could be done. The interest of the spectators was plainly evident, and to the uninitiated it seemed miraculous that a man could handle so many thousands of bees and not get stung. Many of the people wanted to know how they were tamed, or how the stings were taken away from the bees; another would ask what we put on our arms, etc. Sensational methods were discarded, such as appearing half-naked; our aim was to show people that any one with a sufficient interest and courage can handle bees without getting too badly stung. Interesting points of the life of the bee and work of the bees were explained, and their usefulness demon- strated. At every demonstration we drew a crowd of from 50 to 100 people, and many enquiries were made as to keep- ing bees both as a hobby and as a business. Guelph, Ont. — ^^^-♦^^^^ Queen-Rearing Pointers BY FR.\NK F. FR.\NCE. Is not the subject of bee-keeping like a game of checkers ? Are there not certain moves to make to get to the king row ? I would say yes in both cases. The first and best move to make is to provide each colony with a good, young, laying queen. A queen that does good work is one that pro- duces a hive full of bees that zcoi-k. I once had a queen, and one of a high type of breeding, that produced a strong colony, but her bees did not secure more than enough honey — the whole summer long — to live on, while colonies all around her filled three and four supers. Such a queen should be killed at once, even though she ap- peared good. There is a great study before us when we work out and compare the lives of different queens. There is as much difference in -the personality of bees as there is in people. It is won- derful to watch half a dozen colonies and observe their differences and like- nesses. One of the most important features is to have your queens as nearly alike as possible, both as to breed and age by securing them from some reliable breeder. Breeding queens should be changed every year to secure the best results. I have been asked by many bee-keep- ers to explain some of the methods I use in queen-rearing ; also to explain how I use a little device to do away with a large share of queen book- keeping. This device, as pictured here, is the invention of Mr. H. Per- kins, of Artesia, Calif., and is the best device I have yet seen to do the work required. To begin with, I secure good breed- ing queens from excellent stock, and if they come up to my standard as good layers, with well-marked bees that ziork, such are used for breeders. By importing new stock and changing breeders every year, and also testing them for honey gathering, I have stock that is worth while. As the temperature here in the North is generally cold, I do not begin my cell building until the latter part of May or the first of June, when drones are plenty and there is little dandelion honey coming in. From this time on until the middle of August I put out cells on the average every other day, but in the height of the flow I put out cells every day. To produce the best, long-lived queens that bring results, larva; not more than 24 hours old must be used division-boards and a super, thus mak- ing four (two-full-Langstroth) frame nuclei, each division having a separate entrance and cover. The entrances are so arranged as to have one on each side and end. Over all is placed a full cover. Figure No. 1 will illus- trate this point more fully. As the season advances and the weather becomes warm and settled, I use a twin nucleus hive. This hive is made on ih^ same principle as the Root twin hive, only the frames are KiG. I.— Regti-ak Super Arranged to Make Fotr Two-Frame Ntclei. for starting cells. All cells are raised in full colonies under the swarming or supersedure impulse. These cell- builders are made extra strong with brood from other colonies, so that there is an over supply of nurse-bees that will thus provide the proper amount of royal jelly for each cell. All colonies and nuclei are fed to imitate a good honey-flow (if there be none) ; made one-half a standard frame instead of one-third. I have a great many more bees to keep the brood warm, a larger space for the queen to lay in, and I have less swarming. The divis- ion-board is made of plate tin with an oilcloth fastened to the top to overlap each side. Over all is placed a tele- scope cover. Fig. 4, next page, will show how the Fig. 2.— View Showing Side of Frames. about half a quart of feed in the eve- ning of each day. The best results cannot be expected unless this is done. The subject of the proper sized nu- cleus here in the North is of greatlim- portance. During the earliest and latest periods of the year I use a com- mon lO-frame super with three tight frames fit in a standard frame, and can be used as such if need be, also for the purpose of drawing out e.xtra comb for more nuclei. One of the most important features of queen-rearing is the book-keeping, especially if a record is kept of each individual nucleus. The little device =T*-l'flJJ American Hee Journal shown Fig. 2, is used to do away with a part of this work. It is made of tin, with a small knob to turn eacli wing out as desired. Each wing of the sig- nal is painted a different color, as red, white and blue. In connection with the signal 1 use a small piece of card- board tacked on the side of the hive numbered in a half circle as this : 1, 3, ti, il, 12, l.j, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30 with a wire bent to point to any one figure or to any third day in the monfh. For in- stance, suppose the signal indicates that there is a virgin (the white wing), and the hand points to 15, it would mean look for a layer the 15th, when the signal can be turned to the red, meaning laving. The blue indicates a cell. After the queen has begun to lay the entrance queen-excluder is pushed down over the entrance, thus holding her in case of swarming. Platteville, Wis. Improvement in Bees BY E. S. MILES. Referring to the discussion of im- provement in bees. I cannot see how a man who believes an improvement pos- sible can be compared, by Dr. Bonney, with those who believe in " the divine right of kings " or "the divine right of slavery." I would, on the contrary, put the one who says that it can't be done along with those who said that slavery or monarchy could not be abolished. Because the Doctor has failed to pick out a queen whose progeny would be like her, he should not conclude that others cannot. It takes close ob- servation to determine that a certain colony has the qualities we want in a sufficient degree to warrant the belief that they will transmit the same to their progeny if properly mated. I can- not see how learning the different the- ories of breeding could help a man in the breeding of animals unless he had this ability to pick out the ones having the traits wanted in sufficient degree to perpetuate said traits. The argument that a colonv will produce a large crop one season and be worthless the next only shows that the Doctor has taken his e.xperience with mi.xed bees. With that kind I have the same experience, and that is just what I v/ant to avoid by selective breeding. I want a bee which is thrifty, can accumulate a little when the common bee cannot; for such a colony will give some surplus almost, if not every year. That is why I mentioned a col- ony, No. 10, which never fails to pay me something because they have that very thrifty disposition. They do not boom up, make prepara- tions for swarming as most common bees do (bred by themselves under this impulse), but they are alwavs on the lookout for nectar, and when the How does come they are always ready, and seem to bend all their energy to storing honey instead of swarming. The Doctor claims that these bees won't peri>etuate their kind, because they are "wild by nature." I cannot see wliy my No. l(i is any wilder by nature than my Duroc Jersey hogs. In 10 years they have stayed in this same Fic. 3^— The Constuction of.theIHive. Feeder. F'rame. Etc.— (See pase 371. hive, superseded their queen three times, and have never been out of the hive in that time except in quest of stores. They are always there. I know where to find them, and my hogs have to be kept at home by />»/<<>-. If I neg- lected my hogs, as some neglect their bees, I would soon have hogs "wild by nature." With such arguments as the Doctor uses on page 272, of the September .American Bee Journal: "While we always have had the bee just as it is now, and especially that branch known tendency toward swarming. It may be the Doctor e.xpects too much in the way of improvement; it may be he ex- pects us to have bees as large as rob- ins, and able to carry a half pound of nectar at a trip. Improvement in bees doubtless will come, as in other ani- mals, gradually. He says : " I do not deny that it is possible." If it is possible, then it can be done. He quotes several men who admit their ignorance as to whether there are improved bees, yet he dis- credits those of us who claim to have K1G.4.— The Nuci.E'js Frames Kit a Siandard Frame.— See pace 37i.) as the .Ipix family, we can trace the development of some of the domesti- cated animals through the ages, as the horse, for we find the bones of t!ie original Equus fossilized in the rocks," there is not much chance to get at the truth, for that is just a guess. It mat- ters not how learned a man said this. I assert that such statements are just plain iruesses. IVr do not k/ioic what the bee was hOW) years ago, as to color or habits of industry or swarming, etc., but we per month. This is my excuse for writing about selling and advertising honey, for I have had good success in disposing of honey, as well as other goods — by ad- vertising. I shall start with the proposition that advertising is guess work, for no man alive can tell the result, the clia-cinf,r /lo.-ivv- of an ad, until after he has been permanently separated from his coin. His answers may cost him 10 cents each ; they may cost him twice what the article is worth that he is trying to sell, or twice the retail selling price, if that be so much as one dollar, and yet it may be a "good " ad ; that is, it may be well written, properly arranged and displayed, and in the proper mediums, but some way does not drazv, and the venture is a failure. A writer suggested that the bee men of the United States raise a fund to advertise honey. It will never be done, because it is not a practical scheme. It would cost too much. Fifty thousand dollars would not be a start; /mean $.50,000 a year, while I opine Mr. Fos- ter had a simple sum of that amount in mind when he wrote ahout it. I like Mr. Foster's writings. He is practical, sensible, entertaining, but in this one case his hope had run away with his judgment. The sum will never be raised ; for while there are many who would cheerfullv subscribe one, two. or even ten dollars for each ton of honey they produce, they know that a few persons only would have to pay all the tax, and to invest under such circumstances would not be good judg- ment. While it might be tried once, I doubt seriously if they could ever get together another fund, unless such ad- vertising were vastly more productive of results, immi-iliatc results, than my judgment tells me it would be. If the scheme were practical, the first question would be, " Where shall we advertise ?" and the answer would be (selfish interest), " In my locality, or where / may benefit." Mr. Foster would want some of it. I should like to see some of the money applied here. California bee-men would naturally look out for their interests, and that miserable little $.50,000 would look like a pound of honey set in the midst of a hundred hives when a drouth is on. The real good magazines, the hiff ones, like The Ladies' Home Journal, get hundreds of dollars for each page that thev print. I have been told that this particular publication gets $1000 a page a month. Fven with their tre- mendous circulation they reach but about one percent of our great popu- lation. This is but one of thousands of publications issued in the United States. Fifty thousand dollars would not put a small ad in enough of them to reach one-fourth of the population of the country once. If we had the money to make an ag- gressive campaign, I doubt seriously if it would pay, because ire liaj'e iiotliinff slaithiffly ne-w or novel to exploit; be- cause we have not a suHicient margin of profits between the cost of produc- tion and the selling price. With the money invested and the time employed, the bee-man who receives $10i>0 a year for his honey has little to spare for ad- vertising. This brings me logically to the things advertised in the papers and magazines, their cost (probable), and the selling price, retail (known). Let us take the first breakfast food put on the market, if my memory serves me. They have the public so into the habit of buying il that they do not now hesi- 374 December, 1912. American Hae Journal tate to tell that it is made of corn, wheat, rye, etc., ground, made into cakes, baked, then broken up and. roasted. There is a little sugar in it, a little salt, but if you try to eat it with- out the sugar and cream recommended — well, don't. The manufacturers of this dope make great claims for it. and that, among others, it improves the nerves. I believe it, and that the manufacturers eat largely of it, else they could never make the claims they do. Let us ana- lyze it. The average cost of the cere- als, as they b>iy. is far below o>ie cent a pound. But let us allow that small sum, then another to cook it and put it into the cartons. It sells, or used to, for IJ cents a package, or about 10 to 1.5 times the first cost without the ad- vertising. Let us take something with which I am even more familiar — patent medi- cines. I assert positively, and I can prove that the average patent medicine which costs the customer $1.00 does not cost the manufacturer 10 cents, ad- vertising and all after the business is established, and there are some medi- cines which allow a still larger mar- gin, as pills and some of the dry "teas." How much, think you, do these firms pay for advertising ? I was once in- formed that a now famous patent medi- cine concern had paid out half a mil- lion dollars in advertising before the f^n-ottnd 2cas broken for IJteir buildings, and I believed it, for the papers were full of their pictures long before I had a bottle of the stuff on my shelves. Where is the margin of profits to en- able the bee-man to pay out much for advertising in his own locality, let alone joining in a national scheme? " Corn syrup " is possible, because they can sell it for something like $2.75 the hundred pounds, and make a clear profit that would make a bee-keeper dizzy with envy; but the amount of money necessary to erect and equip a "corn-swindle" plant would buy every hive of bees in the State of Iowa at a fair valuation. It takes money to make money. A profit of a cent a pound on millions of pounds is big business, while a profit of 5 cents a pound on the amount of honey per colony pro- duced by the average bee-man will alTord him a slim living unless he has several hundred colonies, knows how to liandle them, and has good luck in having profitable seasons. We have many things to overcome besides swarming, bad seasons and disease among bees. In the mind of the average person not a honey-pro- ducer honey is u luxury, and — call me traitor if you will — with section honey at W/z to '2.") cents a pound it would be to me, with my income. It is a luxury to the very large majority of the people of the United States, especially where there are children in the family. De- claring in an ad that "honey is cheap," does not make it so. There are seasons when the honey crop is an almost total failure over a large area, and when the supply of an article is exhausted, one may as well pull down his advertising. No mer- chant would for a minute listen to any proposition in advertising where the supply was held up for 18 months at a time. In this connection, did you ever stop to think that the supply of corn iniquity, be it glucose or booze, is con- stant and unlimited ? There is, however, a way to bring our product to the attention of the world, and that is for each and every bee-keeper in the country to study ad- vertising and become an ad writer, and it is not necessary for him to take a mail course, either. Let him briefly and plainly tell his customers what he has to sell. 1. Don't quote prices unless you are obliged to, or unless you are offering a bargain. 2. Don't lie, for your mendacious chickens will come home to roost to your sorrow and shame. 3. Don't forget that brevity is the soul of wit in nothing more than adver- tising. 4. Don't brag about your output, for some one may not believe you, and every one despises a liar. These are a few negative hints about advertising, and here follow a few sug- gestions. Shall I commence with musi be oi'er a liis/'/ay of FINE honey in a store window. I have advertised here in that way for a long time, making and giving to the store-keeper a case with a glass front to hold 100 pounds (sections), and the word HONEY in black letters 4 inches high on a board and 6 inches wide on top of the case. Later I got up some postal cards which I sent to the farmers adjacent to town, making them myself. A cut of some kind adds to the at- tractiveness of an ad, and there is nothing more appropriate to a bee than a bee or a hive, or both, and in the way of a hive nothing is better than a skep. It is more poetical, but other pictures ; PURE HO.VEY : It should be enough to the average person that honey is in the comb; but while that o'd canard about artificial comb honey is perhaps exploded, there is a hereditary distrust in the minds of the present generation that there is a possibility of adulteration in even the snowy comb. Fortunately we have an irrefutable argument in the Pure Food Law, and it should be worked to a finish. So let us add to our ad : PUKE noxEY : ; Guaranteed Uyidcr Pure Eood Laiu : from the ; : Italian Hee-Apiary, Beetoiun, loiva '. Do I hear some one say: "That is nothing but a label!" Well, what is a label but an ad ? Admitting the im- peachment, let us see what we can add to the ad to make it more attractive, more enticing, more fu/ting. Most persons, in writing an ad, think that they must use up every available inch of space for words. If you will observe advertisements in expensive mediums, you will see that there is vastly more white paper than reading matter, possibly one part of black to 10 of white, and they are paying probably $.500 for the page. Why is this? Be- cause very few persons will read a long ad unless they are mightily interested, and, let me grieve, it is hard to get peo- ple intensely interested in so common a thing as honey. They know what it is, where it may be bought, the price, and if their appetite craves it they will buy ; all we can hope to do is call their attention to it at a time when we can supply a demand. As the bees in the United States are credited with an output of $2r),000,000 an- nually, which is but about 25 cents per capita, the Xatioiia/ i/emand must surely exceed the su/'/'ly. With a commodity so well known the feicer 7corils you use in advertising the belter. That is a cold /VriY. In many cases you need but the one zuord HONEY, but, that one word Advertise Your Honey into which bees come are all right, and I will add some outline suggestions. I have lost my skill with the pencil from 30 years of idleness. I recently read that farmers should be expected to buy by the 60-pound can ! There is not one man in a hun- dred who will, the country over, buy in such large quantities any more than they will buy sugar by the sack. Not as much so, for honey is a luxury. Here, in one of the richest portions of the United States, my customers buy almost entirely in 10-pound pails. WE WILL PAY $1.00 A DROP FOR Ei'ery Drop of Adidterated HONEY Offered for Sale in this Store In this ad the words, " We will pay $1.00 a drop for honey," to be in large letters; the other, "Every drop of adulterated,'' in small. "Know what you want to say, then say it," is a good rule in literature, and a good one in ailvertisiiig. I here append a hint for a good, short, circular letter. I should have it in type imitation, and paper the size of December, 1912. 375 American Hee Journal letter paper, 8>^xll inches, and allow l|2-inch margin on the sides, at least. Two or three cuts of bees scattered on the margin would help to attract atten- tion. /^i/A"/;' HONEY from the Itali.\n Bee-Apiary — Bee Town, Iowa. When I say "Pure Ho.nev," I mean that it is honey gathered by the bees, stored by the bees, and ripened in the hive by the bees ; and its purity is assured by the Pure Food Lazu. More than this, however, it is White Clover Honey, and that is the best that can be said of honey. There are other good honeys for those who are not critical ; but for nice people, persons of refinement and taste, the clover honey is the only one which ixnitly fills the bill. I have it in sections as well as 10, 80, and (JO pound pails. A. B. BEE, ttie Bce-Ma)i. I am dealing with local advertising entirely, and I honestly believe that this is the only kind that will pay the average producer, the man who has from 500 to 1000, or, at most, 200O pounds to sell, the man who sells all his honey to his neighbors, and, pos- sibly, some of it through the stores. If he has more, and wants to find a new customer, a want ad in the bee-journals will do the business. Everybody will read a one-word ad because they cannot help it. Therefore, the fewer -words you hai>e in an ad the more readers you -will get. Why give them a history of your family ? Why tell them how you produce your honey .■' Why abuse "Korn Syrup with a Kane flavor," which smells like a slop-bucket if you boil it ? Why abuse your brother bee-men, if you have any ? Take a sheet of paper and put on it what you are going to advertise. Honey; the kind ; add some pleasant remarks ; also a picture, and if you don't want your mug to be seen, put on it a picture of a bee or a skep. Buck Grove, Iowa. Apiarian Exhibit at the Spo- kane Interstate Fair BV GE0R(:E W. YORK. It was my good fortune to attend the 19th annual Interstate Fair held at Spokane, Wash., Sept. 30 to Oct. fj, U)12. Taken both as a whole and depart- mentally, it was one of the very best Fairs I ever attended. But what will specially interest read- ers of the American Bee Journal are the exhibits of bees, honey, and bees- wa.K illustrated herewith. They were located in a very good place, so that no one could miss seeing the display. There were seven exhibitors — all from Washington, I believe. The total amount of cash premiums offered was $165. Prof. H. F. Wilson, of the Ore- gon Agricultural College, was the judge. Mr. L. C. Barrett, of Spokane, was the courteous superintendent of the Apiary Department. At least two of the exhibitors at this Fair deserve special mention. They are Mr. J. P. Kingsland and Mr. Robt. Cissna. The former, wlio is an enthu- siastic city bee-keeper, spent consid- erable time in securing a variety of ex- hibits for the Apiarian Department, and the latter, who is a specialist bee- keeper, and runs a half-dozen apiaries, had by far the largest quantity on ex- hibition, and probably came the farth- est to the Fair. He sold all his honey to an enterprising local firm in Spo- kane before the Fair closed. An excellent start has been made in the exhibits of the Apiary Department. But it will be necessary to offer more cash premiums before many bee-keep- ers can afford the work and trouble of making an exhibit worthy of three large States like Wasliington, Oregon and Idaho. No doubt the Fair man- agement will increase the number of premiums as well as the cash amounts by another year, and thus attract more exhibitors from the ranks of bee-keep- ers in this part of the country. Making apiarian exhibits at Fairs is one of the very best methods of adver- tising for bee-keepers. There is always a crowd of interested people where live bees are exhibited, and to have their product in large amounts beside the bees is a very effective way to im- press people with the importance of the business. It has always been a sur- prise to me that Fairs do not encour- age bee-keepers and bee-keeping more, by giving greater prominence to prod- ucts of the apiary. Sandpoint, Idaho. [The above letter was received with accompanying picture and a list of the prize winners, that would be too lengthy for our columns. A private letter from Mr. York said : " I am tanned very nicely, as I have been out- of-doors all summer." Idaho life evi- dently agrees with him. — Editor.] Two Recipes Worth Trying CocOAN'UT Puffs — Heat two cupfuls of granulated sugar with one-half cup- ful of cream, and add one-fourth cup- ful of honey. Boil until the ball will form in cold water; then remove, and beat a half cupful of grated cocoanut into it. Beat until creamy, and drop from the end of a small silver spoon on oiled paper. Pineapple Droi'.s — Boil two cupfuls of sugar with one cupful of milk and View of the Bee and Honev Exhibit at the Spokane Interstate Kair. 376 American Hee Journal December, 1912. one-fourtli cupful of iioney. Boil until a ball will form in water, and then beat the stiff white of an egg into it. Add one cupful of chopped canned pine- apple, and drop on oiled paper when it becomes firm. Press a black walnut- meat on each drop. — Womafi's Home Companion. work. I very mucli doubt if it is desirable to save the bees the work of carrying the honey from the lower story to tlie upper. That carrying is very likely a part of the process of ripening the honey. Send Questions either to the office of the American Bee Journal or direct to Dr. C. C. Miller. Marengo. III. He does not answer bee-keeping questions by mail. What Becomes of the Drone? The October number of the American Bee Journal has just reached us. and the writer has read the article entitled. "What Becomes of the Drones ?" This is a question that is most opportune, for I have never heard any explanation other than that the worker stung the drone so that it might die when the season for gathering honey had come t» a close; but your reasoning appeals to my sense of Nature's method of disposing of them by a less radical method, viz.. the refusal of the workers to longer feed them the kind of food which they are able to assimilate or subsist upon. Naturally, starvation would be the result. Not being a practical bee-keeper. I am at liberty to ask any kind of an irrelevant question. May they not be like the Japa- nese soldier who has served up to the time that his usefulness ceases and he commits hara-kiri ?j Illinois. Answer.— The answer to your question depends somewhat upon the meaning at- tached to the word " may." when you ask. "May they not be like the Japanese sol- dier?" It may be used to ask permission, as when a little chap in school I asked. "May I go out?'* If used in that sense. I must answer decidedly ' No." I can never give my consent to have a drone commit hara-kiri, and if ever any drone does such a thing I want it distinctly understood that it is entirely without my consent and advice, and I am in no way responsible for it. But the word " may" may also have refer- ence to the possibility of a thing. If used in that sense I must still answer "No." Firstly, because most of the denizens of the hive are of the gentler sex. and the drone is too much of a gentleman to rip open his bowels in the presence of so many ladies. Secondly, because he cannot rip without a ripper, and he has no ripper. Bees and Strawberries — How to Get Started With Bees 1. What do bees really do for strawber- ries: just the same as on apples ? 2. How is the best way to get started in early spring, by buying two or three nuclei or a pound of bees, and then later buy a good breeder of some reliable bee-keeper and requeen ? 3. How long would it take to build up a nucleus to a good colony ? Indiana, .■\NswKRs. — I. In some respects the work of bees on strawberry blossoms is the same as on apple blossoms; in some respects dif- ferent. Apple blossoms are perfect; that is. each blossom has both stamens and pis- tils. Yet the stamens and i)istils do not ma- ture at the same time. Some varieties of strawberries have perfect blossoms, same as apples. If you should plant a whole acre with a single variety of this kind, and no other kind near, you would get a crop. Some varieties of strawberries havestami- natc, or male, blossoms. Under no circum- stances will a blossom having only stamens produce fruit. Some varieties are pistillate. or female. Plant an acre of these, with no other variety near, and you will have no fruit- But if every fourth or fifth row can be staminate or perfect the iiistillalcvarie- ties bear fine crops. But there miistbe in- sects to carrv the pollen from the male to the female blossoms, and the bee leads all inlthls respect. Yet I must confess that generally I have not seen bees working on strawberry blossoms. Probably it isn't nec- essary for them to work on them every day to produce a crop. 2. It is hardly practicable for you to get started very early in the spring unless you can buy full colonies near at hand Indeed. on the whole that is probably the best way, and afterward you can change the blood if it does not suit you. If you have to send off a distance, then the nucleus, or bees by the pound may be best. But instead of getting a nucleus and afterward getting a breeder to introduce to the nucleus, the safer way would be to get the breeder with the nu- cleus. ■\. Under favorable circumstances a 3- frame nucleus may be a full colony within a month or six weeks. Constructing Hives so the Honey Will Not Need to be Transported to the Upper Story What do you think of a hive constructed something like this: Let the upper and lower half of the hive be separated by a solid board with only a small opening be- tween the two. The entrance will be in the lowest corner of the upper half. Now the upper half will be brood-chamber until the queen finally goes down into the brood- chamber. Thus the upper half will contain the honey, which will not have to be moved up by the bees, as is usually the case in an ordinary hive. If necessary, an excluder can keep the queen in the lower story after she has once entered it. Germany. Answer.— Every now and then someone has conceived something of this kind with the idea that it will save work for the bees if they are allowed to go straight to the sur- plus chamber when they come from the field. But it does not work out in practice, as you will probably find i( you try it; and I should advise you not to try it on more than a single colony. The pollen would most likely be stored in the ui)per chamber, and then laboriously carried down as needed by the nurses, making a great deal of extra Maples as a Source of Honey— What Strain of Bees Winter Best? 1. What do you think of a locality from 1000 to 2000 feet above sea level where there is a large quantity of maple sugar produced every year. Would you consider it a good locality for bee-keeping? 2. Do you preferqueens of northern breed- ing to those from the South? Are queens from the State of Louisiana, or from any other part of the South, considered poor wintering stock ? What is the use of getting queens from the South to make up winter losses if they win- ter poorly here in theNorth ? New York. Answers.— I. The maple is a valuable honey-tree, It comes early, however, and the honey secured from it is mostly used in brood-rearing. The field-force is not yet strong enough to gather much more than will supply the daily needs of the colony. So while it is of value in securing a strong force of bees, the question whether the locality is a good one depends upon what comes later. If there are plenty of later sources the maple will be a great help; if nothingcomes after, there is little prospect of surplus. 2. There is very little complaint of queens shipped from the South being unable to stand rigorous winters in the North. In fact, most northern bee-keepers buy south- ern queens, owing to the fact that they can be gotten earlier from the South. Making Increase I intend to buy queens in the spring, from May 25 to June 15. and intend to increase by taking a frame or two from the old hive with old queen, and place the same in a new hive on the old stand. I will fill the hive with frames with full sheets of foundation. Now the old hive on a new stand will be queenless. To this I will introduce a queen. That queen should be readily accepted, as all the old bees will have returned to their original queen on theold stand. Do you advise this method of increase ? If not, please give your wav of doing it. New York. Answer.— Your plan will work all right. What Causes Wingless Bees ? 1. What resinous substance is used on cement-coated nails? 2. Some young bees of most of my colonies were born without wings about July of this year The hives had been raised a little for ventilation. Do you think they became One uf Jesse H. Roberts' Winter Sheds at Wai^jI.ka. III.- Mr. Roberts c>n ywv. Left December, 1912. American line Journal 377 chilled, or were this way because tlie feed- ing had been neglected, since there was not much nectar being gathered? The hives. especially some, contained considerable honey. California. Answers.— I. 1 don't know. (Rosin.— Eu. 2. I must confess that this. too. is a little too hard a nut for me to crack. It hardly seems likely that the trouble came from the brood being chilled. I would rather guess it came from the heat before the hives were raised. Possibly it might be the effect of wax-worms. Wintering Bees Near a Bailer I have a cellar with a steani boiler in it. I can put the hives at one side about 20 feet away; can give plenty of fresh air. How shall I (ix the hives on top of the frames under the covers; will burlap do or do they need some chaff on top ? I could put them near the boiler if it would be bet- ter, I can't find any one who ever wintered bees in a cellar where there was a heater. New York. Answer,— Very likely you will find that you can winter bees all the better for a heater in your cellar. At any rate I would rather not be without a furnace in my cellar after an experience of 10 years with one. If you have lots and lots of fresh air the bees will do well even if you cannot keep the temperature below S'l degrees. It matters little, while the bees are in the cellar, whether they are covered with burlap or chaff, or have sealed board covers directly over the top bars, or have no covers at all. with the top entirely open. Only, if they are c I OS etj on toil there must be plentyof opening below. I have scaled covers, just as they were on summer stands, with ;; inches of space under the bottom-bars, and entrance the full width of the hive. If your entrance is small, then there must be ventilation above. It doesn't matter whether that top ventilation be made by allowing the air to Eass out through chaff or burlap, or merely y shoving the cover forward so as to leave !^-inch space at the back end. How to Keep Ants Out of Honey How can 1 keep ants out of honey after it is taken off the hive? I took off some, and a few days later, when looking it over, I found it was covered with big, black ants. Arkansas. Answer.— Make a platform resting on four feet, these feet standing in old cans in which to keep water or oil. If you can trace the ants to Iheirnests, punch a hole into the nest with a crowbar, pour in carbon bi- sulphide, and quickly cover over. But be careful no fire is near or there will bean explosion. Kansas State Fair Exhibit The Kansas State Fair held at Topeka last month was a grand success in every way. but especially so in the beekeeping depart- ment. J, P. Lucas, the manager, had taken a great deal of pains collecting different kinds of honey, and this exhibit was quite a drawing card for many people, even some of the bee-keepers had no idea of the va- riety of honey that the bees could gather from different sources. Orange honey had been sent by P. C. Chad- wick, of Redland, Calif.; cotton and tupelo gum by J. J. Wilder, of Cordele. Ga.; bass- wood by the A. I, Root Co.. hearts-ease and sweet clover from .Nebraska; six kinds of white sage from loiu crop, which had never candied, from A Vogeler, of Oakland, Calif. ; one kind from Kruitvale. Calif.; the lower part of the jar was light and clear, and the upper part was candied and almost as white as snow. Fine gum-tree comb honey, a sam- ple of iQoi crop, which was a lemon yellow and very heavy, was exhibited. Then there was manzanola. light orange honey from the South, which was very firm: also sage comb honey, white clover, alfalfa, smartweed. Spanish-needle, and yellow clover from Kansas. The department manager says that an other year he wants to make a larger show- ing of the different varieties, and would be pleased if any one having any other kind would send him a sample. Another attraction was the different things put up in honey. Mr. Lucas had peaches, apples, plums, pears, tomatoes and corn put up in jars with honey. Some of these had been put up three years, and they were as fresh and as good as those that had been put up this year. This goes to show what can be and is be- ing done with honey. Let all the bee-keep- ers help the good cause along. A Bee Keeper. live bee-exhibit. I had a full colony in a wire-cage, and showed the people how easily.bees can be handled, or. rather, how they should be handled: movable combs, queen-cells, queen, drones, etc, .were shown. My exhibit was near the entrance of the building, and peopleblockadedtheentrance in their effort to see the bees and hear the lecture. I got more orders for full colonies and nuclei than I had in my apiary. Of course, this is not a great bee-country, but it is a country in which the bee is indispensable. All you have to do is to show the fruit-grow- ers that this is true, and they are willing to start an apiary even though they do not rea- lize any direct returns from the bees them- selves. John Pashek. The Dalles. Greg. Cleomella Angustifolia. Plant I notice a honey-plant here that is entirely new to me. and no one here could give me a name for it. so I sentit to "Washington. D. C,. for identification, and they call it C/tvmMi It seems to be a remarkable honey-plant. It was in bloom for more than 10 weeks dur- ing the dry season, and bees worked on it freely every morning. The blossom is very fragrant, sweet, yellow, and is at the tips of the branches. It keeps crowding out a new growth and blooming, forming small purse- shaped seed pods as the blossoms drop. The growth is much like sweet clover or yellow mustard, but forming a larger spreading top. Some plants grow 4 feet tall and 1 feet across, and an inch through at the butt, and very hard. It is an annual, and no stock of any kind will eat it. There is but little of it here, but it is spreading quite rapidly. M. S. Hl'BBELL. Helena, Okla., Oct. m. Bee-Keeping in Oregon Bee-keeping is a new industry in this locality. Very few bees are kept, and they are mostly of poor stock and poorly man- aged. Many people do not know the value of bees as fertilizers, of the thousands of acres of fruit-trees which are in blossom liere in the spring. We need more bees here — many more. I made an exhibit at our County Fair of all kinds of bee-supplies, honey, both comb and extracted, etc. But the part of the ex- hibit which was the most valuable and the most interesting to the observer was the The Situation in Oregon I noticed in the October .•\merican Bee Journal, page 3it, this question; "Who is Inspector?" Kindly advise the Oregonian. who asked the question, to get in touch with Prof. D. F. Wilson. O. A. C Corvallis. Oreg. The Professor is Secretary of the Oregon State Bee-Keepers" Association. "The Association had a bill before the Leg- islature in iQii. It was passed by both houses, but vetoed by the Governor. We are preparing a new bill, and it was sent to me by the Secretary a few days ago for in- spection, :'I am one of the Directors.) It is very similar to the other one, but I am sure the Governor will not veto it this time; therefore, we must now try to influence the Senate and House. A good many of the men are new there now. Herman Ahi.ers. Nccanium. Oreg.. Nov. ft. New Method of Transferring Is this method new ? To transfer from box-hives, nail a queen-excluder on the bot- tom of an empty super, cut the brood out and put it all edgewise in the super. Place this on a hive containing one or two frames of brood, the balance of the frames full sheets of foundation or drawn combs, with the bees and the queen. I transferred 50 or more in this way the past summer, some- times putting 2 colonies in one hive. It worked all right. When the brood is all hatched, melt up theold combs. The Ameri- can Bee Journal is surely fine. Liberty. Mo. J. F. Diemer, (This is certainly a sure way of transfer- ring. The only trouble is to have enough frames of brood in readiness, — Editor 1 Description of a Bee-Shed I have built a bee-house in which to keep my bees, built in the form of a shed. It is 22 feet long, 5 feet high at the back, and 7 at the front, and faces the south. It is covered With Atlas roofing, and has a 2-foot canopy in front with shelf upon which I can place light swarms in the spring, so as to easily feed them The house will hold 42 colonies, all told. The front is left open so that the bees can take a flight every warm day. I noticed thisyearthat all bees kept in houses came through the winter alive and strong. My hives are all packed with forest leaves between and behind them, and forest leaves in the caps. Jesse H. Roherts. Watseka. III. (We prefer the shed with only one slope to the one with two slopes, as the former gives more sun to the bees in winter.— Ed.] Another Late Swarm In recent issuesof the American Bee Jour- nal Mr. Byer and Mr. Eastman have told us about late swarms of bees. I had a large swarm in the early part of September. The swarm was hived in a hive filled partly with empty drawn combs and with combs of honey taken from extracting supers. The swarm was too large for one hive-body, and I gave it another filled the same as the first. Lately I confined the colony to one hive- body for wintering, and will give it all the feed it needs. If I had Mr. Eastman's October swarm I would not let it perish. Edwin Bevins. Leon. Iowa. Nov, 12. Hopes for Bumper Crop in 1913 My report is very poor. Before my sick- ness I had 05 colonies of bees in fine shape, but last spring they dwindled down to 37. in very weak condition, but they have built up nicely this season. I have now 45 colonies in fine shape for winter, all of good stock and I have about 2000 pounds of surplus honey. So you see they did well in a poor season, and I hope for a bumper crop in 1013. White and alsike clovers, also sweet, look fine for a crop next season. Matteson. Ill, A. P. Wk iierts. An Ontario Report The season is backward, and I am not through feeding yet. I will be at it a week or 10 days longer. Of 72; colonies over 500 are in shape for wintering, in so far as the stores are concerned; so with anything like fair weather I will soon clean up the bunch. My feeding bill is not as heavy as antici- pated, as 6000 pounds will put all the bees in good condition. Of course. I mean the amount of sugar, not syrup. J. L. BvER Mt. Joy. Ont.. Oct. o. Looking for Big Things in 'Vermont Mr. 1, E, Crane, of Vermont, the promi- nent bee-keeper and inspector, called to see me a short time ago. He said he believed that whoever had bees in good condition next spring would get the largest crop of honey 378 December, 1912. American Hee Journal they ever got. There certainly never was such a lot of clover, both alsike and white, and it doesn't seem possible that bees could go into winter duarters in better condition than just now. Hives are well tilled with young: bees. Mr, Crane is not the only bee- keeper in this section who expects a bum- per crop next year. G. W. Fassett. Middlebury, Vt., N'ov. 4. tho best in the State for honey. I live 11 miles from the famous Natural Bridge. Kdward Sullivan, Buena Vista, Va., Oct. 3, Enjoys the Journal I enjoy the American Bee Journal im- mensely. F. DuNDAs Todd. Victoria, B. C, Oct. 22. Extra Good Report for Iowa My full report for igi2 is 150U pounds of ex- tracted honey from 0 colonies, spring count, and increased to 14 by natural swarming. I took off the surplus arrangement the last week in Aueust and gave them a chance to fill up for winter. They are now well sup- plied with honey. Fred Bkchi.v. .Searsboro. Iowa, Oct. 24. Has 50 Colonies and Good Crop I have kept so colonies of bees for ten years with success, getting from 500 to 2000 pounds per year. This county is not one of Clover Looks Fine White clover looks as fine as I ever saw it in the fall. I have i7 colonies of bees in fine shape for winter. John G. Norton. Macomb, III.. Oct. 24. Another Winter Shed of Mr. Roberts. Index to Vol. LII SUBJECTS AddreEcs to Michigan Convention— 51. Advertised Honey 338, 373. Age of Swarming Bees — 2iJ2. Age of worker at First Flight— 181. Alexander Method of Dividing— 54. Alfalfa Fertilization— 11, 321. Alfalfa Honey, quality— 13, 4C. Alsike Clover— 13S. Amount of Honey used by colony in a year— 1IJ7, 239, 208. Announcement, Change of l^ocation— 133. Ants— 214, 2:)3, 377. Apiary in Hulgaria— 13ii. Apiary, large, in the South— 303, 337. Airiary Work— 236, 337, Appeal for Rces— 175. Apple Selling at Auction— 332. Asphalt Felt for Hives— 121. Autiimobile.'f and Trucks— 174. 342. iaek to Dear Georgia— 77. '.ailing the Queen— 169. 234. i.'isswiHids for Honey — 16. !i-ars in Italian Apiary— 112. iecause of. or in Spite of— 244. iee l)i«-ases in South Africa— 72. '.ee Diseases in Great Britain— 324. '.ee Diseases— (See Foul lirood.) '.et' ICseajjes— 269. {(■e Journals-87, 111, 139, 165, 205, 215, 279. 312. 347. Kee Huiiting— (Bait For)— 214. Bee-Keepers' Salary— 3riR. Bee-Keepers and Orehardist— 213. Bee-Keeper candidate for Governor— 361. Bee Keeping and the "Farming Special" —106. Bee Keeping as a. Business— 115. Bee Keeping asc a Source of Income— 331. Bee Keeping at Long Range— 15. Bee Keeping Desirable — 205. Bee Keeping in Imperial Valley— 327. Bee ICeeping in Michigan— 113. Bee Keeping in Montezuma Co.. Colo. —203. Bee Keeping in Northern Idaho— 276. Bee Keeping in Oregon — 296. Bee Keeping in Schools and Colleges— 14. 48, 136, 165, 197, 198, 293, 295, 360. Bee Keeping, promoting interest— 114. Bee Keeping still in the Woods— 171. Bee Keeping, Successful— IIC, Bee Lice— 6, 10. Bee Poison as a cure- 136. Bees and Fruit Fertilization— 231, 376. Bees and Poultry— 103. 116. Bees as Pollinators— 136. Bees Cleaning Out Combst— 2i;i. Bees, do they know their Master'?- 113. Bees Hanging Out 214, 278. Bees in a Chimney— 214. Bees in (he City— (roof apiary)— 309. Bees Killing Drones— 214, Bees Killing each other- 215. Bees on Forest Reserved in California— 235, Bees Throwing out Larvae— 244. Bees value of— 365. Bees versus Roses — 297. Bees which visit only one kimi nf flower —290. Bees Wingless— 37(\ Beeswax. PnrlfyliiM— 85. 279. Beeswax Market— (See Honey Market.) BIBLIOGRAPHY— American Medical Leaves and Herbs —137. First L,essons— 312. Historical Notes on Bee Diseases— 136. Producing, preparing, exhibiting Bee Produce — 266. Sweet Clover— 103. 199. Texas Bee-Keeping— 137, 265. Texas Bee-Keeping Bulletin— 137. Tunisie Apicole— 295. Zander on Foul Brood— 261. Birds-Nest in a Bee-Hive— 332. BIOGRAPHIES— A. C. Miller— 1. J. K. Harbison— 363. B. Rietsche— 169. R. L. Tavlor— 263. Bitter Hone.v— IbO. 183. Black Bees in the West— 347. Black Bees in Switzerland— 345. Black Bees, the Hardier— 200, 247. Blew out the Safety Valve— 339. Bonner County, Idaho— 296. Boys and Girls (Interest Them)— 267. Brood Chilling— 214. Brood DiseaE.es— (See Foul Brood). Brood in Sections— 362. Buckwheat. (Little nectar in)— 302. Buckwheat Growing in the East— 212. Bulk Comb Honey Packing— 115. 297. Cage for Shipping Bees— 29s. Caging Queens— 85. 86. California and the National— 135. Canada a large Country— 206. Candy for Queens, without Honev— 262. Cappings. Dark and Light— 311. Cappings. Honey for Feed— 311. Cappings. Washing, disposing of— 310. Carbolic Acid— 6. 8, 73. Carbon Bi-Sulphide— 18, 51, 279. "Carbonal" for Robbers— 72. Care of ,Bees for Winter— 306. Carniolan Bees— 56. 86. 141, 205, Carniolan Bees in Finland— 200. Catalpa. does, it yield Honev?— 181. Caucasians— 86. 174. 310. Caucasians and Italians— 170. 183. Cellar Wintering— 22, 359. 377. Cement— (See Concrete). Census and Texas Bee-Keeping— 116. Changing Location— (?)— 271. Character versus Mating— 326. 336. Cinders, Coal— 361. Cleaning Top Bars— 262. Cleome— 333. 377. Climates of the West— 236. Clipping Queen Wing.s— ISl. 206. Closing the Season— 210. 241. Coloniesi Deserting— 235. Color of Varieties — 21. Color Variation— 20. Colorado Directory of Bee-Keepers— 328. Colorado Honev Grading Rules— 231. Combs. Bleaching— 149. Comb Honey— 22. 298. 325. Comb Honey Cleaning Sections of— 325. Comb Honey Granulated— 45. Comb Honey or extracted— (?)— 231. Combs. Storing H'ives full of— 148. Combs, ITsing, where bees died— 117. Concrete for Hives— 17. 120, 173. Constitution of the National^lS. Consumer's Dollar, who gets it?— 171. Convention — (See Meetings). Cook. A. J.— 40, 138, 233. Co-operative Honey Selling— 172. Co-oiierative ExiierinientF*— 38, Courses in Bei'-Kee|iins— 14, 75. Cow-dung for Sniokei-s— 168. Crop Reports and Prospects— (See Re- ports,) Cross Bees— 278. Cuba versus Colorado Honey — 8. Cy pro- Carniolan— 151. Dadant (Charles). Helped Success— 182. Dahlia Flowerf.-119. Dampness— .53. Dandelion ((Poem)— 299. DEATHS OF- D. Chalmers— 141. Gi'o. Coulson— 160. H. T. Davenport— 200. Mrs. nal)erer-141. .1. H. llall-7. .1. If. Harbison— 330. .l.-is. Ifeddon- 7. D. Laukinau— 266. H. Uii-tsebe- 1.36. 169. U. L. Tavlor— 263. .1. W. Thornton— 160. H. Walki-r- 266. Delta County Be<'-Keeping— 75. Dequeenlng- and Requpening- 266. Devices— (Tropnman's)— 310. December, 1912. American "Bae Journal Dickel Theory— 197. Differences between Ontario and Xi)rtli I'Mrolina— im;. Different Breeds— 149. Dispiising of tlie Honey— 294. Distingnished Apiarist— 26* Dividing— 215. Division Board— 20. Dixies Climate— 174. Do Hees Carrv Diseases to Fruit Trees? —lis. Driving Bees out of Supers — 169. Drone Son of His Grand Father— 105. Drone Foundation— G. Drones Death- 323, 37C. Drones in Worker Cells and Vice-Versa —117. Drones Mating— 56. Editorial Policy— 133. Knem.v of Bees — 265. English Apiarist Appointed in Canada - 2C6. Entrances— 145. Entrances— End or Side— 180. Experiments in Bees— 32fi. Experiments in Canada— 38. Exchanging Supers— 198. Extensive Bee-Keeping— 76. Extracted Honey Proauction— .300. Extractor Fastening — S. Extractors— I Novice or Cowan)— 2.33. Extractor.s— What size to get— 18. Facing Hives in Winter — 106. Failures in Bee-Keeping— 106. Faira-233. 263. 326, 328, 329, 362, 370. 375. 377. Feeders— 20, 54. Feeding Candy— 53. Feeding Combs of Granulated Honey— 117. Feeding Cubes of Sugar — 271. Feeding for Winter Stores— 270. 344. 367. Feeding Maple Sap— 149. Feeding Stini\ilative— 56, 167. Feeding Sugar — 262. Feeding Thin Syrup— 85. Fertile Queens and Virgins— 293. Finland. Bees in— 324. 367. Fire at Cincinnati— 298. Florida— (Information wanted on")— 271. Flowers and their color — 201. Flowers. Fertilization— 365. Fortv Inches and a Bee — 72. Foul Brood and Pickled Brood— 166. 269. Foul and Starved Brood— 241. 242. Foul Brood and Queen Breeders— 230. Foul Brood. Baldridge Treatment— 119. Foul Brood-. Bees Resistant to— 11, 48. 101. Foul Brood. Causing Swarming— 213. Foul Brood Destrov or save the Comb— 246. Foul Brood. Dr. Zander on— 261. Foul Brood. European Laws on — 200. Foul Brood. European— 6. 119, 299, 359. Foul Brood. European and its Treatment —211. Foul Brood. European, cause of— 199. Foul Brood. European, in Honey— 72. Foul Brood. European, is 90 per cent Starved— 148. > Foul Brood. European or American— 106. Foul Brood. European. Starved and Pickled— 147. 229. Foul Brood, Greiner Treament— 79. Foul Brood. Illinois Law— 311. Foul Brood in Iowa— 272. Foul Brood in Nebraska— 215. Foul Brood in Trees, etc.— 53. Foul Brood Malignant— 20. 106. Foul Brood. N'umber of Diseased Cells— 144. Foul Brood. Samples of— 242. Foul Brood Smell— 324. Foul Brood to those who have one— 197. Foundation Fastening— 8, 20. 45, 86. Frames. Self-Spacing— 143. Frames. Divisible— 358, 371. Fraudulent Packing— 5, 168. Freight Rates— 13. Fumigating Comb Honey— 51. Getting Honey from Box Hive— 344. Giving up $100 a Month for Bee-Keeping — 27S. Glucose versus Honev— 18, 22. Goddess of Plenty— 72. Going South for Winter- 14. Government and Bee Culture — 41. Grading Honey— 167. 231, 2.3.i. 295. Grafting Wax^l. Graue Juice for Winter— 346. Guide to Nature— .326. Habits and Value of Bees— 309. Handling and Smoking— 81, 144. Have a Letter File— 105. Heather Honey— 324. Health and Profit in Bee-Keeping— 114. Hints for Apiary W^ork— J45. Hints for Jun^llT. Honey Hone>' Honev 223, Honey Honey Honey Hints for May— 133. Hive Construction— 376. Hive Entrance— 211. Hive, Ten-Frame — 15. Hiving Bees in Sugar Barrel— 21G. Hiving Bees under Diflicultiea— 170. Honey Blending— 4S. 74, lii:i. Honey Crop Reports and Prospects— (See Reports.) Honev Deceptive— 117, 216. Honey Dew— 118, 360. Honey Flora Acreage — 105. Honev for Baby's Hiccough— 17i". Honey from Bitter-Weed— 205, 346. Honey from Horsemint — 297. Honey from M.aple — 376. Honey Gathered by One Colony— 5. Honey Guide-Bird of Africa— 103. Honey in Europe— 44. in Pollen Bags— 294. Loosening Machine— 361. Market— 31. 03, 95, 127, 159, 174, 191, 255, 287, 300. 319, 352, 364. Plants and Trees— 47. 369. Honey Points in Favor of— 207. Honey Production Cost— 46. Ripening Artificially — 367. Value as Food— 22, 44, 29S. Horse-Dung for Smokers— 216. Hot Water in Bee Cellar— 55. How a Bee Finds its Way — 343. How Bees Feed One Another— 304. How t Feels to be a Bee— 234. How Many Colonies for a Living— 207. How Much can a Bee Carry— 232. How Sweet is Honey?— 69. How to Secure a Good Crop— 243. Idaho— 296. Ill-Jointed Hives and Robbing— 198. Immunity from Disease — 229. Improvement in Bees— 11. 19, 50, 75, 87, 111, 134, 262. 272. 274, 294, 325, 363, 369, 3T2. Increase. Making Economicallv— 20. 21, 205, 376. Inquiry from Japan— 279. Inspection of Bees— 11. 103. 169. Inspectors' Association — 40. Introducing Queens— 6. 51, 181. 166. 305, S44. Interest in Conventions^l66. Isle of Wight Disease— 230, 324. Italian. Leather-colored Bees— 182. Italianizing Swarms— 246. Japanese Bee-Keepers— 324. 336. Jovs of Bee-Keeping — ^234. Kansas Exhibit— 298. Keep Better more Better Bees — 8, 47. Keeping Bees both North and South — 12. Knife, Steam Heated— 269. Large Hives or Carniolans— 311. Larvae, do Bees Move? — 15. Legal Honey in Ausitralia- 263. Lesson of the Bees — fPoem") — 10. Life of a Bee— (?•)— 278. Lime as Help to Honey Crop— 265. Losses by Spring Dwindling— 246. L>'ing Advertisements — 103. Mailing Regulations for Queens — 165. Mailing System of the World— 197. Man put to Flight— 170, 234. Management of and for Increase — 84. 86. Management. Spring — 367. Marking the Hive Tool— 171. Markings and Color of Bees— 108. Massachusetts Course in Apiculture — 130 MEETINGS— 7. 3.8. 173, 335. California— 42. 361. Chicago Northwestern — 7, 362. Colorado, Boulder— 334. Colorado, Fremont Co.— 11. Colorado, Montezuma Co. — 333. Colorado. Montrose — 204. Colorado State— 138. 362. Connecticut— 87. Dakota. South— 23. 73. Idaho and East Oregon— 265. Illinois. Casev — 17^). Illinois. Eastern— 199, 232. Illinois. Northern and S. Wis— 298. Illinois State— 29S, 360. Iowa— 41, 324. 327, 361. Kansas— 266. 328. M.issachusetts— 73, 328. :Michigan N. — 12. 73. Missouri— 23.3, 264. National- 7, 9. 37, 42, 78. 328. New York— 9, 179. New York. Eastern— 77. Oklahoma— 9. 78. fintario- 302. 336. nVnnessee — 9. Texas— 73. 239. 268. Washington— 362. Wisconsin— 23. 71. 179. ,361. Jlelting Combs— 21.5. Mi-ndelism and Heredity— S3. Mice— 138. Middleman's Profit— 234, 293. Middlemen and Co-operation- 299. Miller's Answers— (Dr.) — 198. Million for a Wife- 200. Missouri State Association and the Na tional— 2U1. Mortality of Bees— 181. Moths— 17, 180, 277, 310. Movable Frame Hive Advantages— 142. Moving Bees— 206, 238, 267,, 344, 364. Mustard Honey— 13. Nails for Shipping Cases— 73, 168 342. National Association — 72, 201. Neck Bleach— 332. New Irrigated Regions— 108. No More Bees to Imperial Co.— 72. No Queens for Sale — 142. N OS em, a Apis— 230. Not Afraid of Bees— 298. Noted Visitor in Dixie— 143. Nuclei— 279, 310. Nucleus Hive— 20. Number of Eggs laid by Queen— 308, 34b Oatmeal Bread with Honey— 332. Observations of Progressive Bee-Keepers 341. Odor of Bees— 229. Ontario Experimental Farm— 266. Ontario College Experiments— 169. Opportunities — 15. Order and Tidiness— 52. Oregon— 296. Origin of First Kiss— 104. Out Apiaries— 181, 303. Painting Hives— 20, 119. Paper for Roofs— 21. Paralvsis— 148. 230. Parcels Post— 71. 105, 197. Picture Contest— 362. Pioneer Bee-Keeper — 236. Poisoning Bees— 214, 262. Poor Queens— 277. Poplar Trees for Honev— 202. PREVENTION OF SWARMING— Allen System— 311. Demaree Svstem— 207. Miller Svstem— 85, 245. By Cutting out Queen Cells— 214. With Excluder— 170. With Queen Trap— ISO. Prevention of Honey Granulation— 86. Price of Honey in South Africa— 167. Prizes offered in Missouri— 326. Producers Sell too Low — 347. Protecting Comb.s— 181. Pueblo County Bee-Keeping — 139. Queen at the Entrance — 247. Queen Bereders and Foul Brood— 230. Queen Breeders Wanted— 364. Queen Cells, s-iving to Nuclei — ^279. Queen Cells in large number— 175. 225. Queen Cells and requeening— S4. (Jueen Deformed When Hatched— 278. Queen Excluder— 170. 367. Queen Experience, unusual— 80. Queen Finding— 84. 134. Queen Introducing— 358. Queen Laying Drone Eggs- 247. Queen Leather Colored— 213. Queen Questions'— 54. 118. Queen Rearing— 149. 236. .358. 371. Queen Rearing. Alley Plan— 10. Queen Rearing. Miller Plan— 243, 269. Queen Rearing Inspection— 311. Queen Size of Virgin and Laying— 5. Queens Fertilized near Hives— 302. Queen Keeping over Winter— 53. Queens Mate, how often?— 268. Queens Tested and Untested— 148. Queens Value as Breeders— 176. Queer Behavior of Bees— 298. Quieting the Bees— 205. Races of Bees— 37. Railroads— 172. Recipes— 233. 267. 375. Reciprocity— 302. Red Clover Bees— 269. Removing Supers- 174. 271. REPORTS AND PROSPECTS— Arkansas— 22. ST. California -22. 55. 56, 76, ,87. 119, 121, 1,50 IS' 216 2.31. 247. 280. 312. 339. 347. Canada-22. 56. 141. 173. 206. 23.3, 336, 377. Colorado— 55. Connecticut— 121. Dixie— 174. 238. 271. 337. General— 323. Idaho- 150. 280. Illinois-23. 87, 280, 312, 3.3'. 347. 362. 377. 378. Indiana— 87. 312. Iowa— 55. 87. 150. 151. 279. 280, 312, 347, 377. 378. Kansas— 23. 216. 247. 280. Kentucky— 280. 312. Massachusetts— 55. 150. Michigan-22. 23. 312, 347. December, 1912. American Me Joarnal Minnesota— 87. Missouri— 55, 119, 150, 182, 312. Nebraska— 22. New Hampshire— 280. New York— 56, 216. Ollio— 87. 150, 21G, 247. Oklahoma— 347. Oregon— 280, 377. Penna.vlvania- 150, 182. Switzerland— 168. 247. Texas— 22, 114, 216, 280, 312. Utah— 87. Vermont— 121, 150, 377. Virginia— 378. Washington— 312. Wisconsin— 22, 87, 150, 279. Wyoming — 22. Requeening— 10, 82, 243, 363. Review (The)— 295. Robbing— 85, 198. Rose Producing Honey— 362. Russia versus America — 21. Salt— 263. Salt and Vinegar— 5, 114. Saving Pull Combs for Feeding— 305. Scholl's Divisible Hive— 47, 102, 140. 166. 3ii. Sealed Covers in Cellar Wintering— 70. Sealed Covers out of Doors— 55 244. Sectional Hives— 169. Sections! Variation in Weight— 166, 362. Seeking a Location— 312. Shipping Carniolans to Finland— 341. Shipping Old Combs— 323. Silly Stories— 326. Size of Hives and Frames— 101. Slaughter of Innocents— 311. Snow. Bees Dying on— 53. Soil and Apiculture— 172. Solar Eclipse and Bees— 200. Solar Wax Extractor— 80. Spacing Frames— 198. Spanish Needles— 358. Spraying Sohitions— 134, 262. Starting with Bees— 12. 76. Stations for Experiments— 175. Statistics- 14, 69. 265, 323. Sting, of the Bee versus the Wasp— 329. Sting Proof People— 7. 48. 81. Stingless Bees- 278, 326, 346. 367. Stings for Rheumatism— 136, 266. Stings to Ascertain Death— 361. Sugar Good for Bees— 49. Sugar in Europe— 262. Supers for Comb Honey— 54. Supersedure of Queens— 310. Suwanee River Apiaries— 270. Swarm Hinderer- 233. Swarm in September— 303. 319, 339. Swarm on Automobile — ^216. Swarm Prevention— 39. 50. 138, 149, 238. 266. Swarm Refusing to Stay in Hive— 246. Swarming, Artificial and Dividing— 107. Swarming in the West— 300. Swarming Prol>|pm— 70. Swarming— fShook)— 53, Swarming Troubles— 116, 202. Swarms on Frames of Old Honey— 115. Swarms, Extra Room for— 361. Swarms, do They Ever Return?— 214. Swarms, How far can They Travel?— 357. Swarn.s. Prime and Afterswarms- 180. Swarmv Season— 2. 99. Sweet Clover— 40. 85, 103, 199. 230, 301, 360. .Sweet Water, Disposing of— 323. Texas— 301. Texas Bee Bulletin— 268. Thieves Besieged bv Beea— 331. Thieves in Dixie— 236. Three Deadly Foods— 264. Tin Comb IToney Section— 235. 327. Tolstoi on Qneenless Hive— 327. Tomatoes and Honey — 10. Transferring Boos — li5, 377. Tunis School.s— 295. Uncapping Combs — 70. Tlnicuiqup Suum— 297. Uniting Bpes-273. 361. 366. Vagr.ant Swarm— 216. Value of T>etters from Bee Keepers — 79. Veil and Shirt Combined— 215. Ventilation— 86, 146, 215. Vi?»lt to C. B. Lewis Co.— 72. Visiting or Traveling— 207. M%. Votes for Women— 266. Wax Rendering— 323. Weak Colonies-117. 149. Weed Tasters in Kansas— 293. What Becomes of the Drones?- 293. 323, What to do with the Surplus— 275. When the Bees are In the Cellar— (Poem) -1. When to Put on Supers— 239. Why Don't Bees Work in Supers (?)— 239. Wilson. Mrs,— 73. Winter care of Bees— 306. Winter, Flight Before— 367. Winter Lesson— 242. Winter Losses— 87, 150, 151, 141, 149, 182, 215, 216. Winter Protection Cases— 20, 307. Winter, Severe— 48, 75. Winter Sheds— 377. Winter Stores— 70, 346. Winter Successes— 119. 182. Wintering Bees in a Super— 345. Wintering Caucasians— 74, 77. Wintering in the North — 376. Wintering in the Wes.t- 104. Woman's Method of Bee-Keeping— 170. Women to the Front in Africa— 2.^4. York. Oeo. W.. Valedictory— 135. York. Geo,, Tribute to— 173, ILLUSTRATIONS Advertisdng Honey— 374 Anthony Hive Lifter— 200. APIARY OF— A. B, Anthony— 193. Bear Proof— 112. Chas. Burke— 280. Frank Darrah— 50. France & Sons— 307. J. C. Frank— 202. J. H. Hunter— 204. Ivy, near Phoenix— 97. In Orchard— 365. M. Kanda— 05. Large and Honey House— 111. Le Maire— 243. Maine— 107. Manouba. Tunis— 302. H. H. Moe— 65. J. F. Otto— 33. Owner Holding Comb— 107. Poole and Son— 51, F. W. L. Sladen— 274. Snow Bound— 194. J. W. Stine— 247. Thommen, on Roof— 309. Troppman— 340. Abbie Warre— 201. Watchkoff— 136. Wilder— 270, Wintered out of Doors— 108. A. G. Woodman— 33. Geo. W. York— 265. Baxter. E, J,— 201, Boneset— 146, Buckwheat— 212. Cages— 80, Cart Full of Combs— 108. Cart of Extracting Supers— 109. Catnip— 144. Cement Hives— 17, Colorado View — 364. Cook, A. J.— 2,33. Cobb's Hive Entrance— 211. Crane, J. E,— 39, Demonstrations— 370, Diagram of Laying— 308. Dine's Device for Queen Rearing— 176. Fairs and Exhibits— 375. Fair Exhibitsi. Oklahoma— 33. Fair Exhibits. Kansas— 65, Fair Exhibts. Kansas— 329, 330. Fertilization of Fruit— 365. 366. Fooled, No Bees There— 168. Foundation Fastener and Cutter— 341. Foster. Wesley— 38. Frame, Divisible— 358. Greiner's Queen Sieve— 80. Harbison. J. S.— 330, 363. Hive Index— 373. Hive Showing Sections in Brood Chamber ■—50, Hive Well Protected from Sun— 216. Hive Well Protected in Tunis— 306, Hive Well Protected from Cold— 307. Honey Extractor and TTncapping Can— 110, Honey Tank for Ripening— HI. Horehound- 137. Iwata. K— 183, Lake Pend-d'oreille— 262, Lamont. Scott— 2.33, Livingston, T, W.— 237. T,. M —9. 106. 146, 1451. 267, 324. McDonald. E. F.— 42. McEvoy, W.— 147, 148, 166. 242, 269. Measer, J. J.— 216, 280. Mendleson, M. H. -66, 87, 121. Merriam, G. F. — 182, 216, 280. Mickwitz, P.— 200, 324. 341, 367. Middleton, H.— 104. Miles, E. S. — 111, 347, 372; Millen, F. E. — 242, 36a 370. Miller, A. C.-l, 10, 13, 19, 46, 49, 50, 74, 75, 82, 108, 109, 244, 305, 369. Miller, C. C— 7. 8, 20, 53, 70, 84, 102, 117, 140, 144, 117, 180, 198, 211, 213, 225, 229, 233, 243, 245, 269. 273, 277, 297, 308, 310. 324. 343, 376. Miller, C. H.— 22. Miller, M. R.— 150. Morgan. F. W. — 368. Moore, J. P.— 119. 2S0. Morrison. W. K.— 340. Morton. W. A. — 17. Mosgrove, J. C. — 150, 216. 247. Mott. E. E.— 312. Mott, G.— 247. Murray, H. D.— 312. Muth, F. W.— 247. 298. Muth - Rasraussen, W.— 342. Neuman, P.— 360. Newell, W. — 137, 297. Norman, P. A. — 312. Norton. J. G. — 378. Nutt W. C— 312. Ochsner, E. D. — 306. Oettle. G. S.— 9. Opfer, A. H.— 229. Otto, J. F.— 167. Parson, A. S. — 55. Pashek. J. — 213. 312. 377. Pellett, F. C— 272, 324. Pender, W.— 231. Pettit, M.— 38. 103, 169. 233, 266, 359. PhillipEi. E. F. — 40. 72. 148. 165. 166, 230. 298: 324: 359. Poole. W. C— 50. Poore. H. V.— 150. Powell, W. L.— 23. P>-les. I. E.— 147, 170, 229, 242. yuirin, H. G.— 87. Ramage, J. B. — 362. Rauchfuss, F. — 1G8, 231. Redford. G. H.-8. Reed, J. A.— 151. Reidenbach — 70. Revnders. C. —10. Ricard. E.— 280. Rich. G. W.— 166. Richards. W. — 23 Richter. M. C— 9. Rish & Bro.— 303. Roberts. J. H. — 233. 377. Robinson, E. F.— 169. Robson. E. — 10, 234. Root. E. R.— 141, 175. 296. 358. Rosaker, M. H. — 87. Roser. E. L.— 131 . Rouse, J. W.— 1S2, 201. Russell. H. L. — i 1S3. I Ryals, J. V,-2n. Ryman, E.— 44. Sasss W.— 120. SchnuckrI, B. — 312. Scholl, L. H.— 14, 47. 78. 116, 140; 166, 172, 207, 238, 265, 268, 301, 323, 334, 365. Scott, J. R.— 216. Secor, E.— 72, 357. Sells, L. M.— 216. Selywn, H. H. — 135. Shiber. G. — 41. Simn.lns, S. — 101. Sladen, F. W. L. —274, 373. Smiley, S. W.— 160. Smith. A. W. — 216. 347. Smith, F. C— 280. Smith. J. A.— 76. S7. Smith, L. B.— 79, 216. 238, 301. Smith, L. G.— 151. Snider, C. L.— 216. Snow, M. S.— 347. Scares. A. G.— 327. Soper. I. T.— 10. Spacer. M. — 121. Spofford. Mrs. C. A. — 139. 170. 202. Stambaugh, W. D. jg2 Stanley. G. — 212. Stewart S. R.— 44. St. John, E. P.— 56. Strikland, Mrs. H. —202. Sullivan. Edw. — 378. Swails. J. W.— 87. Swabev. T. W. — 3.57. Syverud, L. A. — 23. Thommen. A.— 309. Tillinghast. I. — 182. Tinsley, J. — 263, 293. Tipnett. R. R. V. —56. Todd. F. Dundas —378. Tolstoi — 327. Tnwnsend. E. D.— 51. 113. 328. Townsend. E. E.— 150. Tucker, E. — S6. Tyrell, E. B. — 37, 42. 165. 166. 167. 206. 295. 302. 323, 360. Vanderwerken, E. —121. Vangundy, G. VV. —87. Veith, B. A.— 87. Verret, J. — 22. Vigor, J. F.— 247. Vinall, H. N.— 199. Wagner, A. F.— ;2. Wainwright, C. — 87. Webster. G. F. — 119. Werner. L. — 87. Wesley. Chas.— 116. Westgate. J. M.— 199. Weygandt — 37. Wheeler, L. C— 8. White, W. H.— 73. White, G. F.-199. Whitfield, S. W.— 271. Wicherts, A. P. — 377. Wicklein, F. A.— 23. Widmer — 345. Wilcox, F. — 22. Wilder, J. J.— 12, 14, 45; 76, 115, 142, 173. 205, 236, 261, 270, 303, 337, 367. Wiley, H. W.— 69. Wilson, Emma — 10. 44, 73, 114, 13S, 170, 202. 233, 266, 298, 331, 362. Wilson, H. F. — 296. Wilson. W. A. — 142. Wingate, Mrs. W. S.— 114. Wismer. J. M.— 22. Wood. A. D. D.— 77, 183. Yancey, I. D.— Ill York, G. W. -13a 135. 173, 276, 296, 340. 375. Young, A. P.— 70. Zahner. M.— 247. Zahs. W. — 87. Zander. Dr. E. — 261. New Jersey Association to Meet The New Jersey branch of the Na- tional Bee-Keepers' Association will hold their annual meeting in the Ento- mological Building at New Brunswick, N. J., on Friday, Dec. 20, 1912. PROGR.AM— Morning Session. 10 ;,30 a.m.— Address by President, J. H. M. Cook, of Essex Falls. " Gentle Bees "— Penn G. Snyder, of Swarthmore, Pa. "Judging Bees "—Harold Hornor, of Philadelphia. Question-Box. Afternoon Session. 1:00 p.m.— "The Hive in Winter"— Dr. C. D. Cheney, of Hoboken. "The Relation of the State Ento- mologist to the Bee-Keeper " — Dr. T. J. Headlee, of New Brunswick. "Bee Behavior," illustrated with slides. Dr. E. F. Phillips, of Washing- ton, D. C. "Management for Comb Honey"— W. Housel. Hampton. "The Future of New Jersey Bee- Keeping"— E. G. Carr. of New Egypt. Election of officers for 11'13. Election of delegate to the Nationa' conventional Cincinnati Feb. 12and 13. Election of a representative to the State Board of Agriculture, at Trenton, Jan. 7, 8, 0 and 10, li)1.3. E. G. Carr, Sfc. J. H. M. Cook. Fr,s. New England Bee-Keepers Please Notice A convention of bee-keepers of Southern New England will be held in Arcanium Hall, 1.52 Wevbosset Street Providence, R. I., Saturday, Dec 7* 1912,2:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. Dr. E. F. Phillips, of Washington, D. C, IS to address both sessions. Arthur C. Miller, S,r. Wants, Exchanges, Etc. [Advertisements in this department will be mserted at 15 cents per line, with no dis- counts of any kmd Notices here cannot be less than two lines. If wanted in this de- partment. you must say so when orderine 1 BEES AND QUEENS. For Sale- 100 colonies of bees, srood con- dition. W.F. Stuart. Garden City Kans. Golden Queens that produce 5 and6 band bees. Untested. $1.00; Tested. $3.00 Robert Inghram. Sycamore, Pa. Queens — Italians and Carniolans. Will exchange choice queens for bees by the pound, frame, or hive. Write, statine what you have, Frank M. Keith, JiAtf SiH Florence St.. Worcester, Mass. ._,_.__ SUPPLIES. For S.\le-A full line of Bee-Keepers' Supplies. Agents' prices. Save freight Dreamland Farms, Buckingham, Fla. For Sale— Empty second-hand 60-lb. cans two cans to the case, good as new. 25 cents' per case. C. H. W. Weber & Co 2146 Central Ave., Cincinnati. Ohio. Aluminum Hive Numbers I'i in. high 2c eachhgure: soor more, i^c, postpaid, includ- ing brass nails. Henry Benke Pleasantville Sta,. N Y Order Ideal winter-cases now. and take advantage of 10 percent discount until Dec 15. 1012. R.H.Schmidt. Rt. 3. Box 2og. Sheboygan. Wis. Bee-Supplies— When in need of anv write me for prices before buying elsewhere. One story 8-trame hive with double cover h; ili story, $1.35 in flat. f. o. b. Wal- $1.00 eac lace. N. Y I2Alt M C. Silsbee. Rt. 3. Cohocton. X. Y. HONEY WANTED—Comb and extracted honey, and beeswax. Write us. Hildreth i; Segelken. 265 Greenwich St. New York City. , Honey for Sale— Clover honey of the nnest gualiiy in new 60-lb. cans at g cts per pound. 8Atf J. P. .Moore. Morgan, Ky Choicest Thick Ripe Clover Honey in full-weight 60-lb. cansat iic per pound. Sam- ple mailed for 8c. K. W. Brown loAtf Box 17. Willow Springs. III. I-ANCYand No. I while-clover honey $3.50 and $3,35 per case of 24 sections, six cases to carrier. Robert Gilbert. ii.^2t White Bear Lake. Minn. For Sale— Water White Alfalfa. Liirht Amber Alfalfa, and Amber Fail Honey from our own apiaries. Put up in any size packages, any quantity. Write for prices. iiAtf Dadant & Sons, Hamilton, III. 382 December, 1912. American "Bee Journal j Wanted— Comb, extracted honey, and beeswax. R. A. Burnett t^ Co., 6Ai2t 173 S. Water St.. Chicaeo. 111. FoK Sale. — I 'r carloads of choice sa^e honey by the can or case. Samples of honey and desirable California souvenir free for a stamp. C. W. Dayton. Chatsworth. Calif. BOOKS FOR BEE - KEEPERS FOR SALE BY MISCELLANEOUS Colorado Bee-Keepers' Directory is ready. Join tlie Association (Si oo , and ask for copy. Wesley Foster. Boulder, Colo. Make Pure, delicious fruit acids from honey. Cures all diseases, man or beast. Patent allowed. Mailed. 25 cents. lAiy C. W. Dayton. Chatsworth. Calif, Wanteu — Apiarist or helper who is will- ing to invest S250 in apiary. We a How you wa- ges and percentage of crop as manager. Par- ticulars on request. Apiarist. Sawtelle. Cal. For Sale — White-egg strain Indian Run- ner Ducks. White Orpingtons. White Wyan- dottes. Houdans. Bronze Turkeys. Ducks. $1.25 each. A. K. Firestone. Broadwell. Ohio. New Crop white sweet-clover seed. 4 lbs. by mail, prepaid. Si i-: 50 to 100 lbs.. 15c per lb,, hulled: unhulled. 3C less. Alfalfa seed, same price. R. I^. Snodgrass. Rt. 4. Augusta. Kan. Wanted — A man to run 140 colonies for comb honey, for season of I«I3. State salary wanted and experience. Everything new. B. F. Smith. Jr. Care of C. B. .■<. Q. Ry. i2A3t Cowley. Wyoming What have you for established business? .•\rnd Honey & Bee Supply Co., Chicago; can be bought cheap for cash, or will exchange for what have you ? S2500 value. Chance to get into established business. Fantus Bros.. 525 So. Dearborn St.. Chicago. Do You Love SWEETS? Ralph Waldo Emerson Did He said you can attain to royalty by loving sweets. "He who knows what SWEETS are in the ground, the waters, the plants, the heavens, and how to come at these enchantments, is the rich and royal man." " HOW to come at these ?" Aye, there's the rub. How inany people miss them ! and perhaps some of these many, strange to say, /icc/ lii-es. Want to know how ? Send $1.00for a year's subscription to The Guide to Nature Arcadia: Sound Beach, Conn. It is edited by Edward F. Bigelow, a sweet extractor — in other words, "a bee-man" and a naturalist. Dr. Peiro will continue to give the readers of the American Bee Journal free advice regarding the subject of Surgical and Mluisal treatment. Many have availed themselves of this offer. Return postage is all you need to send. Address, Dr. Feiro, -l.'iSli Perry Street, Chicago, 111. SUPERIOR BEE-SUPPLIES Specially made for Western bee-keepers by G. B. Lewis Co. Sold by Colorado Honey-Producers' Association, Denver. Colo. AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, HAMILTON, ILLINOIS. First Lessons in Bee-Keeping, by Thos. G. Newman, revised by C. P. DaUant. —Intended mainly for begrinners. Nearly 2UU pag"es. and over 150 pictures. Bound In atrons paper cover, showing- bee-brood in all stapes of development from the newly-laid e^g. This book contains the foundation principles of bee-keeptngr, as its name Indicates. Price, poHtpaid, 50 cts. : or free with the American Bee Journal one full year If paid strictly in advance— by either new or re- newal subscription at $1.00. Fifty Years Among the Bees, by Dr. C. C. Miller.— 340 pages, bound in cloth, and illustra- ted with 112 half-tone pictures taken by Dr. Mil- ler himself. It is a grood. live story of success- ful bee-keeping: by a master of the subject, and shows with clearness just how Dr. Miller works with bees and produces tons of honey. Price, $1.00, postpaid : or with the American Bee Jour- nal a year. $1. SO: or g-lven Pkee as a premium for sending" 3 New subscriptions at $1.00 each. Scientific Queen-Rearing, as Practically Applied, by G. M. Doolittle. — It tells how the very best Queen-Bees are reared in Nature's Way. A g-ood authority says; " It is practically the only comprehensive hook on queen-rearing' now in print. It is looked upon by many as the foundation of the modem methods of rearing- queens wholesale." Price, bound In cloth, 75 cts.. postpaid; or with the American Bee Jour- nal a year— both for $1.50. The same book bound in leatherette, 50 cts.. postpaid ; or free with the American Bee Journal one full year if paid in advance strictly, by either new or renewal sub- scription at $1.00. Langstroth on the Honey-Bee, revised by Dadant.— This classic on bee-culture has been entirely rewritten. Fully illustrated. No apia- rian library is complete without this standard work by the "Father of American Apiculture.'* Over 50U paeres. bound in cloth. Price, $1.20; or with the American Bee Journal a year. $1.90: or g-lven Free as a premium for sending- i New subscriptions at $1.00 each. Bee-Keeper*s Guide, or Manual of the Apiary, by Prof. A. J. Cook.— This book is very Instructive, interesting-, helpful, and thoroug-hly practical and scientific. It is perhaps the most complete of any bee-book on the Anatomy and Physiolog-y of bees, and also the Botany of bee- keeping-. Bound in cloth, ^ii pag-es. 295 Illustra- tions. Price, postpaid, $1.20: or with the Ameri- can Bee Journal a year— both for $1.90: orgrlven Free as a premium for sending: 3 New subscrip- tions at $1.00 each. A B C & X Y Z of Bee Culture, by A. I. & E. R. Root.— Over 500 lartre pages describing- ev- erything- pertaining- to the care and manag-e- ment of honey-bees. It is a veritable encyclo- pedia on bees. 400 engravings. Bound in cloth. Price, postpaid. $1.50: or with the American Bee Journal a year— both for $2.25; or given Free as a premium for sending 5 New subscriptions at $1.00 each. Advanced Bee Culture, by the late W. Z. Hutchinson.- The author was an extensive bee^ keeper, and a practical, helpful writer on bees and bee-keeping. Over 200 pages, cloth bound. Price, postpaid. $1.00: or with the American Bee Journal for a year— both for $1.80: or given Free for sending 3 New subscriptions at $1.00 each Southern Bee Culture, by J. J. Wilder, of Georgia, perhaps the most extensive bee-keep- er In the State. It Ih a real hand-book of South- em bee-keeping. Bound In paper. 145 pages. Price, postpaid. 60 cts.; or with the American Bee Journal a year— both for $l.;iO. Amerikanische Bienenzucht, by Hans BuHchbauer.— A bee-keeper's hand-book of IHK pageH, which Is just what German bee-keepers need. It is fully Illustrated and bound in cloth. Price, postpaid, $1.00; or with the American Bee Journal a year— both for $1.70. The Honey-Money Stories.— 64pa?e book- let of short, brtt^hi Ucius alH.ui hi.riey. Has 23 fine niusiratlouH. ami ^ b.-<--sniiK-s. Its main object Ih to iTiton-Hl iHopIe In honey as a dally tabic food. Price, postpaid, 25 cenls; or with a year's subscription In the American Bee Jour- nal—both for $1.10. Two copies for 25 cts. The Emerson Binder.— It has a stiff board outside like a bonk-over, with cloth back. Will hold easily 3 volumes lK(i copies) of the Ameri- can Bee Journal. Makes reference easy, and preserves copies from loss, dust, and mutila- tion. Price, postpaid, 75 cts. : or with the Amer- ican Bee Journal a year— bolh for Sl.CO: or given Free as a premium for sending 2 New subscrip- tions at $1.00 each. A Modern Bee Farm, bv Samuel Sininiins The author is a live I':nj.'lisli bee-keeper. He has kept up with the procress in tins line not only in his own country but all over the world. His views are determined, but very well taken, and his points are made with an accuracy which is convincing. Cloth bound 470 payes. Price postpaid S2.00 or with the American liee Journal one year both for $2.75 British Bee-Keepers' Guide, by Thomas W. t'owan.— This is without doubt the standard work for the English bee-keeper. It is very much condensed, containing 170 pages, and is nicely illustrated and well bound. Price, post- paid. $1.00: or with the American Bee Journal one year. $1.75. Irish Bee Guide, by J. G. DiE:ges.-Any one who wishes to become acquainted with the manner and methods of bee-keeping in the old country, and in Ireland particularly, ought to read this book. Price. $1.00. postpaid; or with the American Bee Journal for one year, $1.75. Alexander's Writings on Practical Bee- Keeping.— The late E.W.Alexander is the man who kept 700 colonies of bees at his home place in New York. He wrote a series of arti- cles which have been published in book form. They discuss bee-keeping in broadest terms. 95 pages, paperbound. Price. oOcents. postpaid: or with the American Bee Journal one year. $1.25. A Year's Work in the Out-Apiary, by G. M. Doolittle.— The author is an experienced bee- keeper, who tells in this little book the require- ments necessary for keeping bees away from home. For any one who is Intending to keep bees on a large scale, this book will be inval- uable, paper bound, contains, contains (50 pages. Price. 50 cents: or with the American Bee Jour- nal one vear. $1.25. P-O-R-T-E-R (Trade mark ) Escape SAVi;s AT ALL DEALERS Each, 15c; Dozen, $1.65, postpaid If your dealer does not keep tliem. order from Kactory. with Complete Instructions. R. & E. C. PORTER, MFRS. LEWISTOWN, rLLINOIS Please mention Am. Bee Journal when writing. o •3 2; o o £ o tf) o o c o ■o c o a tf> o o O "5 .o a E re O o £ 'c Q .• ■zc = > o " sis = .§§ g « '^ s X s Deccmher. 1912. 383 American Bee Journal j t " If goods are wanted quick, send to Pouder." Bee-Supplies Standard hives with latest improvemenls. Danzen- baker Hives. Sections, Foundation. Extractors. Smok- ers: in fact, everythinn used about the bees. My equipment, my stock of goods, the quality of my goods and my shipping facilities can not be excelled. PAPER HONEY-JARS Sample Mailed Free For extracted honey. Made of lieavy paper and paraf- tine coated, witli tigiit seal. Every honey-producer will be interested. .\ descriptive circular free. Finest white clover honey on iiand at all times. I buy bees- wax. Catalog of supplies free. WALTER S. POUOER, Indianapolis, Ind. 3s^ Massachusetts Avenue. Protection Hives Liberal early order discounts allowed ;alog. A. G. WOODMAN CO., Grand Rapids, Mich. #xxxxx: sxxxxxxx X X X X y x# COMB FOUNDATION WITH THE SAME TASTE WITH THE SAME SMELL WITH THE SAME FIRMNESS AS THE COMB THE HONEY-BEE MAKES How do you Obtain Yours ?y H w N M N N N N -By selling your Beeswax. Reasonably sure but THE OLD yVAY:- expensive. THE DITTIVIER WAY:^By shipping your wax to us and having it made into Comb Foundation and then returned to you. Write us for further information and samples, also prices and discounts on Bee-Supplies Gus Dittmer Company, Augusta, Wisconsin >TX X X X X XTXYTY^ JL X ¥ YYM M ^ W W ¥ V N N Bee-Supplies We are Western .Agents for i.^itf "FALCONER" Write for Fall Discounts — we can save you mo ne C. C. demons Bee-Supply Co. 128 Grand Ave., Kansas City, Mo. NEW ENGLAND BEE- KEEPERS Everything in Supplies. New Goods. Factory Prices. Save Freight & Express Charges Cull & Williani.s Co. .Mf PROVIDEXCK. R I. XSOOSCOCCOQCCCGOSOCOGOOOOcQ PAGE-KENKEL MFG. CO. MANUFACTURERS OF THE "NONE BETTER" Bee-Keepers' Supplies Thirty Years' Experience Perfect sections from young, white, kiln dried basswood. White Pine Hives and Supers. Excellent Ship- ping-Cases, Brood-Frames. Separa- tors, etc. We invite your correspondence. Page - Kenkel Manufacturing Co. New Ivondon, Wis. WOULD YOU ~4 Show this wholly visible typewriter to your friends and let them see wherein it excells any $100 Type- wrlcer made, if we would send one to you Free of One Cent of Cost for you to k''f> forever as your own ? I hen on a postal card, or ..r in a letter to ufl. simply say: Mail particulars, EMERSON TYPEWRITER CO., Box ^^ Woodstock. III. n A D y PA' Foot-Power DAnlltO Machinery Read what J. L Parent, of Charl- ton, N. Y., says: *TVe cut with one of your Combined Machines, last winter. 60 chaff hives with "-in, cap, 100 honey-racks. 600 brood-framea 2.000 honey-boies, and a great deafe of other work, Thiswlnti6c; No. 2. nJ^@i4/^c; dark comb. :i@i2c; water- white extracted, i&'Slic; light amber, tJ's'J'Sc per lb; amber, 6@7!'2C; lower grades, 5®tic. Beeswax, 27@ioc for nice yellow wax. and 23@26c for dark. ,Tohn C. Frohliger. Cincinnati. Nov. 18. - The demand for comb and extracted honey is fair, with a good supply. No. I white comb honev sell- ing in large lots at $3.60 per case. 24 sections; there is no demand for off grades. White extracted honey in 60-lb. cans is selling from «!2(Sioc. Light amber in barrels from -^T',ic: inoo-Ib. cans from 8&8!4c. Beeswax in fair demand, selling at %n per hundred. The above are our selling prices, not what we are paying. C. H. W. Webek ..^ Co. New York. Nov. 18.— Comb honey keeps in fair demand for all grades at unchanging prices. The various grades of white honey are still coming in. while buckwheat seems to be extremely short. Extracted honey is in lair demand, with suffiient snpplies of all grades except California while sage, which seems to be scarce this season. Prices run the same. Beeswax quiet at 3o@uc. Hildreth & Segelken. Engravings used in American Bee Journal are made by the pontiac engraving eUSJ1?v7rs company Half Tones and Zinc Etchings-Wood Engraving Wax Engraving Electrotyping 542 SO. DEARBORN ST., CHICAGO Crotvn Bone Cutter Best Mader Lowest in Price pEED your hena cut crepn bone • and get more e>;g9. With a Crown Bone Cutter you can cut up all scrap boues easily and quickly, and without any trouble, and liave cut bone fresh every day for your poultry, Si-'nd i : once for free caiiiloKue. WILSON BROS,, B0X8I4 , Easton, Pa. This is The Time to Buy Root's Bee Supplies Next season promises a bumper crop for bee-keepers. Besides the actual cash saving there is con- siderable advantage in getting your season's supplies early. Orders reaching us during the next few weeks can have special attention given to particular items. You get the goods early and can put them up at your leisure at odd moments thereby saving tiie expense of extra help. EARLY ORDER DISCOUNTS For cash with orders we otter four percent in December, three percent In January, and two percent in February. DISTRIBUTING POINTS Root's goods may be secured from most of the large distributing centers. Complete stocks are always on hand at our branch offices and our jobbers aim to carry as large a line as possible to serve bee-keepers in their territory promptly. Any special items not in stock will be ordered from the factory to come in carload shipments. THE STOCK The well known riuality of Root's goods hardly needs mention here. We are not content with making supplies "good enough." They must be just right and a little better than necessary to answer the requirements of our standard. Hives, frames, and sections are uniformly acurately cut and finely finished. From the ma- chine shop to the packing and shipping room every detail is carefully cared for to ensure the entire satisfaction of every customer, lixtractors, smokers, honey-knives, veils, gloves, honey-tanks, every thing used in the smallest yard or the largest apiary is here ready for your use. Honey labels, letter heads cards, etc., used by bee keepers made to your order promptly. Special catalog for these on request. THE A. I. ROOT COMPANY, 213 Institute Place, Chicago, Illinois lloiiiu <)(Ii«'e and l-'sictory Medina, Oliio. American "Bee -Joarnal 4 Percent Discount ON ALIi falcon'' BEE-SUPPLIES DURING THE MONTH OF DECEMBER Mr. Bee-Keeper, how are your bee-supplies for the coming season ? Better look up your requirements for next season, and take the advantage of this discount. Don't delay your order until next spring when you need them at once. Now is the proper time to look after this matter; don't let it slip your mind and think there is plenty of time, for there isn't. If you wait until the last minute it might mean a big loss; while, on the other hand, it would probably mean a nice profit. Look around at the various apiaries and you will notice it isn't the fellow who waits until the last minute that's making bee-keeping pay, but, it's the wide-awake bee-keeper. We can give all orders prompt attention. We guarantee entire satisfaction. A trial will convince you. Dealers Everywhere Red Catalog Postpaid W. T. FALCONER MFG. COMPANY, FALCONER, NEW YORK IF/iere the good bee-hives come fi-om Section Honey Extractor FOR THE EXTRACTION OF HONEY FROM UNFINISHED SECTIONS .\11 of the extractor is made of metal and well finish- ed so as to be strong and durable. It is in fact a Bsby Extr3Ctor. Suited exactly to the use of the producer who has many sections which he is unable to market and which he wishes to use as bait sections the following season. Total weight of the extractor boxed is 10 pounds. It will come cheaply by express. Price for the reversible style $4..50. Price for the non-reversible $3.00. Section Uncapping Knife - 50c. .\ddress all orders to A. H. OFFER, 6259 Patterson Ave. CHICAGO, ILL. m ^ ^ ^ [g s s Tennessee-Bred QUEENS 40 years' experience in Queen-Rearing Breed 3-band Italians Only I am at last up with all contracts, and can fill or- ders by return mail — two to five dozen daily. Prices for remainder of season — Untested, one for 75c ; six, $4.00 ; twelve, $7.50. Tested, double these prices. The very best BREEDER, $10.00; Select Breeder, $5.00. John M. Davis, Spring Hill,Tenn. Pkase mention Am. Bee Tournal when writing. We Make a Specialty of Manufacturing SECTIONS They are the Finest in the Land- None Better. Our Prices will mal