DnnDaDDDDanDaaDnaDDDDDnDDDnDDDDD D D D D D D D ^O* iJ^^-y. D D D D D sd^ h\ □ D D ^ pi rp ^ /m " a D ^ m\vj i/S ^ D D •p ySx^'^'^Ia ^ D D D '^^**' D D n D D D D D D UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS D D D D LIBRARY D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D DDnnnDnDDnDnDnDDDnDDDDaDDDDDDDan in ^ 1?? Olultut^ J Ah I f Vol. XUII jAJNLARY 1, 1915 1 I Jo. 1 b 3 ?• 0^ \/ ■ iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiNiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiNiiiiiiiiininiiiiiiiiiiitrmniiiiiinm^^^^ Monarch Easy-opener Knife No. 150 A Giant Pocket-knife One of the best general-purpose knives that it is possible to produce. Absolutely perfect to the minutest detail. Blades made from the highest quality of finely tempered steel. Have heavy spring, yet are easy open- ers. Handsome stag handle, double German-silver bol- sters and shield. Solid brass-lined and highly polished and finished throughout. Quality guaranteed. Monarch of all knives. Warranted to hold its edge. Illustration exact size Knife Lm for FOUR NEW SIX-MONTHS' subscriptions to GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE, at 25c each. Canadian postage 15c each on each subscription. The A. I. RootlCo., Medina, Ohio (Gleanniinigg ini Bee Cuilltiare Published by The A. I. Root Co., Medina, Ohio A. I. Hoot, Editor Home Dcpiirtnient .', '1'. Caia-kut. Business Manager H. H. Root, Managing P^ditor E. R. Root, Editor A. L. Bovden, Advertising Manager. Entered at the Postoffice, Medina, Ohio, as second-class matter VOL. XLITI. JANTJARY 1, 1915 NO. 1 EDITORIAL In our last issue, page 968, under the general headinu- of " Retrospect," and re- ferring to tho particular work done by the Agn'icultural College at Guelph, Ontario, we inadvertently made the statement thai, said station was in cliarge of S. T. Pet tit when we should have said Morley Pettit, a son of the former, who died a few years ago. Our Cover Picture Except that the hives are a little different ill sliape from most hives used in this eoun- trj' it is hard to imagine that the view shown on our cover is not an apiary situated in a young apple-orchard in some one of our northern States. As a matter of fact it is a picture of an apiary in Taquary, Brazil, sent us by Emil Shenk who, for the last three or four yeai'S, has been " ambulant " teacher of bee culture of the agricultural department of the federal government. Mr. Shenk writes that Brazil- ian bee culture is developing very nicely, but saj-s he regrets that so little is said in regard to that country in Gleanings. He expects to send from time to time an article regarding conditions there. The Bees at the Dignial Swamp According to the last report, these were coming on very nicely. While it was se- verely cold in and about Medina, the bees were flying at our Dismal SwamjD yards. The Virginia bees will be matched up against the bees in cellars and winter cases. If we can make a fair increase in the Vir- ginia colonies that are too weak to winter at Medina, we shall feel abundantly satis- fied. In this connection we may state that !!r. it is not our intention to go in for as heavy ^increase as we did in Florida last winter, ~ for we shall do considerable in queen-rear- ing during March and April in the Dismal ' ' Swamp. r) The editor of Gleanings expects to make :^ a trip to the Dismal Swamp about the 15th C of January. On his return he will give a report of what he finds from a direct in- spection of every colony wintered ; and when we say colony we mean hives with bees in them. These hives, when they went doAvn originally, had only two, three, four, or five frames of bees — bees that had been used for supplying pound packages up to the very last minute at Medina, and which were in no condition to wintex', either in- doors or outdoors. We have always ob- sei'ved that colonies that have been used for filling orders for nuclei or queens clear up to the time of going into winter quarters are either very weak in the spring or die outright. Our Dismal Swamp experiments are to determine whether we can utilize these cripples, so to speak, and make some- thing useful out of them next spring. A Propoged StaHe-wkle Foul-Iirood As a general thing a county foul-brood law, while it is better than notliing by a long way, comes far shoi't of a State law for getting the best results. In every State where a county law is in effect the defects of the system have been so marked that, so far as we know, these county laws have either been replaced by laws State-wide in their application or are on their way to such replacement. Idaho has probably the best county law of any of the States in the Union; but its defects have been already noticed; and the Idaho Honey-producers' Association, the most influential organization in the State, with its headquarters at Idaho Falls, Ida., expects to present to the Idaho legislature a draft of a new State-wide bill that incor- porates some of till' best features in other foul-brood laws adopted by the various States. There are fair prospects that this bill can be passed; but it will need the united support of all the beekeepei's of Idaho. Those of our subscribers who desire to co- operate are requested to get in touch with GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE the secretarj' of the Idaho Honey-producers' Association, Mr. F. C. Bowman, whose post- office is Idaho Falls, Ida. Prompt action will be necessai-y, as the legislature meets very soon. A Variety of Experimments in Winier- ing being Carried on at Medina This winter we are carrying on a variety of experiments in wintering our bees. Part are wintered indoors and part outdoors. The former are in two different cellars. In one (the wareliouse cellar) the temperature ranges from 40 to 45, and in the other (tlie macliine-shop cellar) from 45 to 60. The temi^erature of these cellars is somewhat dependent on the temperature outside, and hence the variation. Each cellar of bees is inspected daily to a.scertain the purity of the atmosphere, the temperature, and the condition of the bees so far as it can be ascertained by a squint with an electric lamp at the entrance of several of the hives. In order to determine the temperature, test- ed merciu'ial thermometers are used. We secured the best we could find, and then placed a set of them outdoors for a few days, and then inside, and those that record- ed exactly alike were selected, and placed in various portions of the cellar — some near the floor, some midway, and some near the ceiling. We note that the temperature in the upper part of the cellar is always higher than when near the floor by three or four degTces. So far, Dec. 30, the bees are wintering nicely in both cellars, with the difference a little in favor of the cooler cellar. A few days ago we brought in one yard of bees containing our finest breeding stock, with a team and bobsleds. These bees were housed in double-walled hives; but as the weather had turned vei-y cold we desired to give these bees every possible cliance, and so we brought them home and housed them in the cooler cellar. We did the same thing last year after the weather had turned severely cold, and there was good sleighing. Tlie results were highly satisfactory. Tlie best time in all the world to move bees from out- yards to the home cellars is when there is good sleighing. One pair of common run- ners for going through the woods after bees are better than a pair of bobs for moving bees. While the former will skid a little more, they will go over bumps easier. OUTDOOR WINTERIXG IX QUADRUPLE WIXTER CASES AXD IX SIXGLE IXDIVIDUAL DOUBLE-WALLED HIVES. As previously reported, we are testing out the ordinary individual double-walled pack- ed hives alongside of hives with quadruple winter cases of the Holtermann type in the same yard. While these big cases are more expensive per colony, the bees in them are certainly showing up well. During the very coldest part of the winter, when the mercury plays around zero, with a high wind, the bees look very comfortable, and no wonder, for there are four hives in the case placed close together and with ten inches of packing all around. Very cold weather does not seem to affect the size of the clusters as it does in single hives. Two colonies in these cases diagonally opposite each other are provided with ab- sorbing packing above, while the two other colonies also diagonally* opposite have a sheet of glass for the purpose of observa- tion, laid on top of the hives. While the latter does not make exactly what w^ould be called top sealing, it does jDrevent to a great extent the upward escape of moisture. A little of it can pass out under the sides or edges, because the glass covers are not sealed down. So far colonies with glass covers are showing up very much better than where there is a free and unobstructed upward ventilation through the packing material. The packing over the hives where the glass is not used and where the moisture and heat can pass upward is a little damp; and this damp packing seems to have the effect of driving the bees down lower on the frames. We called IVIr. Holtermann's atten- tion to this when he was here. The showing in favor of the colonies under glass w^as so marked that he thought the other colonies must have been considerably weaker; but our apiarist assured him that all four colo- nies were of as nearly equal strength as we could get them. Whether the colonies under glass will continue to show up as favorably in the spring remains to be seen. Special We wish to call especial attention at this time to the list of special numbers announc- ed on the inside cover page of the December 1st issue. It will be observed that we have planned for only four numbers, our idea being that, in having a smaller number, we could devote a little more time to the sub- ject-matter and secure better material, per- haps. However, since announcing this list so much material has come in in regard to swamp beekeeping that it is probable we shall have one more number, jierhaps the September 1st issue, on this subject. * The objert of this is to give the same exposure to the pair side by side. JANUARY 1, 1915 It is always a problem to know just what subjects to select. We always have more requests for special numbers than we can handle. For instance, in makinj;' our plans for 1!)15 we had some thirty different sub- jects .sugirested by beekeepers, practically all of which would be suitable for special numbers. We can truthfully add the words " By request " to each subject that we final- ly selected, for in matters of this kind we prefer to act in accordance with the wishes of our readers themselves. The Febniary 1st issue, " Experiences of Prominent Beekeepers," is the first special number for the year. Our plans for the material going into this number are about complete. We expect to present a splendid outlay of advice from beekeepers of the professional class to those of the amateur class. The April 1st number, the special theme of which is the life and teachings of Moses Quinby, is partially under way. What a pioneer he was! The amount of original study that he did is surprising. Working independently- he went on far ahead of his day. If any of our readers have been par- ticularly benefited by the teachings of Mr. Quinby we hope that they will write us regarding the matter, and we shall be glad to have some reference made to it in this number. The August 1st issue, as announced, is to be the beginning of what we hope will be the most complete and elaborate bee botany ever offered to the public. We have already made some extensive plans for this number. John H. Lovell, an expert botanist and photogi'apher, is going to make an elaborate contribution. It is hardly possible to col- lect too much material along this line, however, and therefore we are going to make this proposition : For a good detail photograph of a valuable honey-plant, new or old, together with a little description giving the time of blossoming approximate- ly, quality of honey, importance of the plant, and any other interesting features, we will pay .$1.00 to $.5.00 in cash, provided the photograph is one that we can repro- duce. Where it is possible the photograph should be natural size, and should include both leaves and flowers; but do not use too many of either. For colored flowers (all that are not white) orthochromatic plates are de.'jirablc, and a ray filter will bring out the relative value of orange and blue flowers. All pictures not accepted will be returned if stamps for this purpose are enclosed. You need not be a beekee]^er nor even a subscriber to Gtleaxixgs to accept this offer. It is o})en to every one. Photographs 5x7 are jireferred. Snapshots and photographs taken with small kodaks would probably not be acceptable unless very clear or of rare flowers. Photographs of large plants and trees show the flowers very indistinctly, and it is pictures of flowers that are wanted. In some cases, however, it may be desirable to send also a photograph of the entire plant. There are some exceptions to the fore- going; but what we want primarily is a photograph so clear and sharp that one not acquainted with the plant could recognize it from the picture if he should see it. The lens must be " stopped down " in order to make the picture sharp and full of detail; and this means that the exposure, which must be short to prevent blumng caused by any movement of the leaves or blossoms, must be made in a very good light in order to secure the depth necessary. The negative must be printed on a glossy black and white paper ; and the print, in order to reproduce well, should be just a trifle darker than would be necessary from a photographic standpoint. Here is a chance for beekeep- ers having cameras to make some money on the sidef and, incidentally, to contribute to a much needed cause. Since the publication of our booklet, " The Use of Honey in Cooking," a good many have written us telling of splendid new recipes that they would like to send us whenever we get ready to publish a special number on the subject. We wnsh to use a large number of recipes in this special num- ber of October 1, " Honey for Cooking and for the Table," also " Honey as a Remedy." For any recipe which has not been published before, and whicli w^e can use, we shall be glad to pay $1.00. Therefore, if you have a good recipe which you have tried and know is good, and if you have use for an extra dollar, just send us the recipe in ques- tion. In reference to the material used along the line of " Honey as a Remedy," perhaps we should add here this word of caution : Sometimes honey is recommended as a cure for very serious diseases. While we should be glad to publish any such that are sent in good faith, we feel that it would be best, in case of serious diseases, to have the name of at least one reputable physician who has used the preparation containing honey for the disease in question. This will go a long way toward preventing the publication of what might be called " hearsay evidence." The remedy might not and probably would not be harmful, even if it were of no value; but honey is sutTiciently valuable for oint- ment in case of skin trouble, for colds. GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE including sore throat, hoarseness, etc., to make superfluous any attempt to prove it a cure-all. Boiled Honey Not Suitable for a yueen-cage A YEAR or so ago the postal authorities at Washington required a certificate of inspection with every package of queens that went out through the mails, or a copy of an affidavit showing that the breeder boiled thoroughly all the honey in the queen-cage candy. To boil the honey was a nice procedure, but it seemed like a wise precaution, and we, like many other queen- breeders, not only furnished a certificate of inspection Avith every package of queens, but boiled the honey also. We noticed that, for some reason, shortly after, queens would not go as far in the ordinary mailing-cages as they had done formerly. We observed also that we had to replace more shipments than formerly ; but at the time we did not connect up cause and effect. We discovered, also, that it was practically impossible to send queens to foreign countries where hitherto we had sent them Avithout any great difficulty. We changed the sugar; we altered the size of the cage; we modified the form of the cage. We put in water-bottles, thinking the bees needed a drink on the way. We gave them chunks of comb honey along witli the queen candy; but, no matter what we did, the results were almost the same. We discovered, also, that when we began to ship bees in pound packages this spring and summer they did not go through to their destination as well as they formerly did. We perfected the water-bottle, and that helloed a great deal. We added a can of sugar syrup in addition to the can of water, and that helped, but continued to use the old queen-cage candy as before ; but still the bees did not travel through in pound packages nor in mailing-cages as well as formerly. We were at our wits' end. Finally we went back to the old style of export mailing-cage we used years ago that would deliver about 50 per cent of the queens alive to Australia. This failed as did the others. Then we began to think that possibly in some of the foreign countries the packages of mail, to prevent the spread of disease, were fumigated. But this did not explain the fact lliat in many cases the bees on arrival at destination had died of dysenterJ^ Then we began to think it might be the wire cloth; but it could not be that, because there were some cases where no wire cloth was used, and yet the bees died just the same. We began to get a clue to all our trouble when our Mr. Brown reported that tliere was one lot of bees that showed dysentery very strongly in the last car that went to the Dismal Swamp, Virginia, while other bees from other yards of equal strength showed no trouble. An examination of the record showed that the stained hives came from the Ault apiary. Now, the Ault bees had been fed with boiled Porto Rican honey to prevent any possible danger of disease. But the bees, apparently, did not like boiled honey, so we began to feed it later without boiling. But a great deal of boiled honey* had been fed just the same. The significant fact was that the Ault bees in the second car showed signs of dysentery at the end of the journey, when all the others showed no such symptoms. Finally it dawned upon us that the dysentery in the Ault bees in the carload and the dysentery in the pound packages of bees and in the bees in the mailing cages was due to a common cause, viz., boiled honey. The fact that a number of these shipments showed up dysentery, and that many others died without showing any symiDtoms, began to make us believe that the postal regulations, requiring the honey to be boiled, issued with benevolent intentions toward the beekeeping industry, were responsible for our trouble. Had not those authorities granted us the alternative of using an inspector's certificate in lieu of a statement that the honey had been boiled, the ruling would have come very near bar- ring bees and queens from the mails. It is jDossible that invert sugar might be used in place of honey in the making of a Scholz or Good candy. As invert sugar is similar to honey, there is no reason why it could not be used, providing, of course, that the substitute does not cause dysentery as does boiled honey. Tt is possible, and prob- able, on the other hand, that we may be able to use the " fondant " (made of glucose and cane sugar) praised so highly by our Massa- chusetts friends. But if neither fondant nor any other kind of sugar will answer, it is still permissible to use the old bee-candy such as we formerly used, made by mixing powdered sugar and raw unboiled honey into a stiff dough, jtrovided, of course, that every package of bees is sent out with a copy of a certificate of inspection from a duly authorized inspector. It is too late now to try out the whole proposition of mailing-cages and pound * In boiling honey to kill possible bee-disease germs it is verj- easy to burn or scorch a little of it if it is not kept thoroughly stirred. Years ago A. I. Root found that a slightly scorched honey fed to bees for a winter food was almost sure to bring on dysentery, and \u practically all cases it killed the bees outright befor.' the winter was half over. JANUARY 1, 1915 packages this season with either one of the substitute foods mentioned; but tlie reader may rest assured that we will g-ive them a thorough trial again next summer. Of course it is by no means proven yet that boiled honey has been the source of our trouble; but the indications point that way very strongly. It is certainly worth inves- tigating, as our replace shipments by mail and express last year cost us hundreds of dollars. A Serious Situation in the Spraying of Fruit-trees is Tend- inof to Paralyze the Beekeeping In= dt^try on tlie Weslern Slope More and more it is becoming apparent that the spraying of fruit-trees in Colorado (or rather, perhaps, the spray falling on cover crops beneath) is destroying bees m such a wholesale manner that, unless some- thing is done, beekeepers will be compelled to give up honey production entirely, or move their bees, if they have any left, to localities remote from any orchard. Some of the orchardists feel tliat bees are their best friends, and that they cannot afford to adopt any policy or practice that will cause their general removal. If all were like them the difficulty would be solved. More and more, facts 'are beginning to pile up, how- ever, showing that thousands of colonies are either destroyed outright, or at least are so weakened tha"^t they are practically worthless Unless something can be done it is estimated that something in the neighborhood of 5000 colonies (or as many as may be left) will have to be removed from the vicinity of the orchards in Western Colorado. The expei-ience of the last year or two m that State leaves no room for doubt now that the arsenites of the ordinary strength used for killing the codling moth will kill bees when the sx)lutions containing them fall on the clover-blossoms beneath. Notwith- standing that, there is some testimony that goes to show that the same spray on the trees themselves is not necessarily destnic- tive. In our last issue. Ish: J. A. Green, page 794, gives some evidence showing that the' wholesale destruction of bees as the result of spraying can scarcely be ques- tioned. On the "other hand, Mr. Woodworth, on page 987, introduces some other testi- mony to the contrary. Fortunately this conflict of opinion can be easily explained. A few days ago our Mr. J. G. Brown, one of tlie Colorado sufferers, and who came to Medina to work for the A. I. Root Co. because his business was ruined by the spraying of fruit-trees, offered an explana- tion. He says that the spraying of fruit- trees, even when in bloom, when there are no cover crops or clovers beneath the trees, does not necessarily poison bees. So far he agrees with Mr. Woodworth. The orchard- isls of Colorado, acting on the advice of their entomologist. Prof. C. P. Gillette, have been in the habit of spraying before and after the trees are in full bloom. Very frequently such spraying will be apphed before the petals begin to fall. Against such spraying there is little complaint; but when the orchardist grows a cover crop to fertil- ize the soil of the orchard, the spraying liquids fall down on the clover-blossoms, which are in just the right shape to catch the full strength of the poison. It does not matter whether the trees are in bloom or not. The sprays fall down on the clovers that are in bloom, the bees visit them, and are destroyed by the thousands. One yard of Mr. Brown's bees is practically ruined. Many colonies were killed outright, and others were so weakened that he cpuld not do any thing with them. One of his neigh- bors, an orchardist, stoutly protested that the sprays that fall on the cover crop did not kill bees, saying that the cause was to be accounted for in other ways. He had, he said, a few^ bees in his orchard, and these bees were all right. Mr. Brown told him that he must be mistaken; and to convince him of his mistake the two examined the bees that were supposed to be " all right," wnth the result that they found them nearly all dead. Mr. Orchardist was convinced. Many of the fruit-growers acknowledge that the sprays that fall on these cover crops kill bees; and so far as they are concerned they will do any thing that is reasonable to save the lives of the bees, for bees they must have. Other orchardists are not willing to make this admission. Unless all the fruit-growers will co-operate, bees will be destroyed by the thousands, and a big industry will be practically paralyzed. The question will be raised. " Why have we not heard of this wholesale destniction of bees in Colorado before? " Mr. Brown explains it by saying that green manuring that is, growing cover crops beneath the trees— to renew the soil is a comparatively recent practice. Orchardists over nearly all the country have learned that one of the simplest and most economical ways of doing this is to plow under a crop of some sort. Crimson clover has been used largely for the purpose. In Colorado red clover is used almost entirely; but it happens that it is in full bloom before the spraying season is over. The poisonous liquids that fall from the trees drop on the dover-blossoms, then GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE the bees get them. As these clovers furnish nectar Avhen there is nothing else, bees are killed by the thousands.* Sometimes the spraying is applied on the trees before all the petals have fallen ; but if no more nectar is yielded, no harm is done to the bees. So the spraying of orchards before cover crops were used, did little or no harm to the bee- keeping industry. The damage occurred only when there was ignorant spraying, the poison being applied when the blossoms were full of nectar. But such spraying has practically gone out of vogue. But the recent introduction of green manuring in the State has brought on a new and serious problem, because the bees, naturally enough, will help themselves to the nectar in clover- blossoms. The only remedy seems to be in cutting the clover just before it comes into bloom, or turning it under. The best authorities on soil culture recommend plowing the clover of cover crops under before it blooms, because at that stage of growth it makes a better fertilizer. Whether all the orchardists can be induced to see that this would be to their advantage as well as that of the beekeepers is doubtful. For that reason remedial leg- islation will have to be enacted, for there will always be a few who will persistently remain ignorant, for no ignorance is so dense as prejudice. There will always be some Avho imagine that bees are stealing something from their fruit-trees, and that the bees are of no use to them. Considering the fact that a large number of intelligent fruit-gi'owers will not wish to destroy their best friends, the bees, and will favor suit- able legislation, and the further fact that all the beekeepers will unite with them in asking for a law that will protect their common interests, it is to be presumed that the legislature of Colorado will, at its next session, provide the needed relief. If it does not, we are informed that something like 5000 colonies on a conservative estimate will have to be moved out of the vicinity of the orchards on the western slope; and this will cut down the fruit crop over a large section of the State, and at the same time have a tendency to overcrowd other loca- tions in Cnlorndo that are already over- crowded with bees. Later. — Since writing the foregoing the following extract from a paper read at the Montrose Co. Beekeepers' Association meet- ing has been sent us. The author of the paper, 0. C. Skinner, of Montrose, Col., is the Speaker of the House of Representa- * The fruit-mpn know that these crops should he plowed under before they come into bloom; and about the only reason why they don't do it is because they are too busy with their spraying. tives of Colorado. Here is what he has to say confirming to a great extent what we have already said above: The beekeepers of Colorado, and especially those located within the fruit belts and on the western slope, have been heavy losers this year on account of the poisoning of bees and larvae with spray poisons. The new Colorado law, passed by the last General Assembly, prohibits the spraying of fruit-trees "while in full bloom," and it was thought that this would sufficiently protect the beekeepers from this danger; but in place of the regular fruit-blossom-spray dan- ger, another has arisen to plague the honey-gather- ers. Many orchardists, especially on the western slope, which is an extensive fruit section, have begun to plant a cover crop under the trees in order to fertil- ize, and to protect the surface from sun and wind and drouth. In that locality the cover crop usually chosen is red clover, and the danger now developed is that this clover blooms long and vigorously, after the trees have shed their blossoms, and when the law as it now reads will allow spraying, for the trees are not " in full bloom." The result is that the beekeepers in the heavily fruit-growing sections have been almost put out of business, some having not only lost all the honey crop, and failed entirely on increase, but also lost many stands of bees from dwindling. Around Montrose the loss was very heavy because there is a lot of red clover used as cover crop there. TJie spray mixture falls on the blossoms of the clover ; and while it is generally supposed that bees do not work extensively on red clover, yet in the season of 1914 they worked enough to make the honey business almost a failure in that locality. It is suggested that the year 1914 was conducive to the small growth of the flower of red clover, making it easily worked on by bees, and therefore more to be dreaded than in ordinary years, but that is not proven. The effect of the spray poison is quickly apparent, the bees hopping along the ground, unable to rise, and those which do yet fly exuding a yellowish or brownish watery mixture, which can readily be seen on the ground and on the hives. On crushing the dead bees, this yellow excretion will be seen to exude. Among the orchardists who were driven from the orchards of that locality are J. C. Mathews, who had to move two apiaries ; J. J. Corbut, Will Corbut, A. B. Clement, and O. C. Skinner; while the Allen Bros, and J. G. Brown held their bees in the orchards, and especially in the case of the former, an entire loss of crop and a heavy loss of bees re- sulted. In any yard located in the fruit belt, in the early morning, and just after the bees had begun to fly lively, the ground in front of the hives would be literally covered with sick bees trying to fly, or crawling along the ground, while at any time of day the dead bees could be found all about. J. C. Mathews got little or no return from the bees he moved out of the orchards. The Corbuts had about the same results. A. B. Clement got no re- turns from those he moved out, but saved the bees. O. C. Skinner moved his apiary into two new ones, and got about a quarter of a crop of honey from one apiary and a fair number of swarms; but from 142 moved later to another location he got no honey whatever; had no swarms at all, and the original 142 colonies are now reduced to 114, with a fair chance that there will not be over 100 left in the .spring. This latter heavy loss was probably due to having the apiary, as located before moving, directly alongside a clover-field under fruit-trees, where the bees worked constantly. It seems that the bees were so reduced before moving, and so discouraged, that thev did not even Imild up properly for winter. .lANUARY 1, 1915 Dr. C. C. Miller ITMAY §TEAW§ I Mare„,„,I.I I ExPEKiMENTS reported p. .987 soem to show that poison which kills codling moth doesn't hurt bees. The proof is negative, but I sup- pose it will have to stand unless some one comes along with positive proof that in another ease it does kill l)ees. [See editorial elsewhere. — Ed.] CoxsinKKiXG the pages and pages that l.avo been written about the trouble with candy and syrup, I wonder if we won't some day settle down upon it that the wise thing is for each beekeeper, if he can't have on hand a stock of sealed combs, to have at least enough candied honey, " own make," constantly on hand to meet all emergencies. G. M. DoOLiTTLE 'fesses, p. 973, that he makes mistakes and failures. Thank you — thank you kindly, Bro. Doolittle; glad to have company. Then Editor Root admits that he doesn't know every thing by appeal- ing for " light on this matter " of feeding honey vs. sugar, p. 963. Really, one great beauty of beekeejiing is that you never get to the end — always something more to learn. •• Light Unify snow " to close entrances when cellaring bees, p. 9G3. Good! Wet rags when no snow. Better than either, the way mine were carried in this year — just l)icked up and carried in with open en- trances, and no veils. That should be pos- sible at -JO degrees or lower, when bees have flown two or three days previously. Mine went in the same day as yours, Dec. 8, at 2G degi'ees. George Shiber, you use the Doolittle plan to shake bees off extracting-combs on the gi'ound, p. 988. With heavy combs I wonder if you wouldn't find it a little quick- er and a good deal easier to try the pendu- lum plan. Take hold of one end of the top-bar; swing up the comb in front of you with the bottom-bar pointing forward, then let the other end of the top-bar strike the gi'ound with comb in such position that the cornel- of the frame on the ground and the diagonally opposite corner shall be in a vertical line. OxcE when I was at Medina a colony with American foul brood was at night thrown into a furnace, and hive, combs, bees, every thing, burned up. That's a safe treatment. Yet you would hardly advise it, Mr. Editor, nowadays, even for a careless beekeeper, if he had a dozen afTected colo- nies. You wuuld certainly save the bees, and probably the hive and the healthy brood. You think, p. 882, that if you had European foul brood you'd destroy the combs. Likely enough, just as at first you destroyed bees in cases of American foul brood. But I feel sure you would learn that it is just as safe to save combs with European foul brood as it is to save bees with American foul brood. Moreover, please remember that with me European foul brood came back as mucli with shaking as with dequeening. Say — isn't it a bit ungrateful in you, Mr. Edi- tor, to go back on me for advocating the saving of combs in European foul brood when I began it just to please you? [No, we did not go back on you. We stated that, with your knowledge and your environment, we would do exactly as you are doing. We only thought it was a little dangerous to tell the general jDublic that it was safe to use the old combs over again that have been af- fected with European foul brood. While it is true we originally promulgated the idea that such combs could be saved (and Ave believe they can be in the hands of an expert), j'et we, as publishers of Glean- ings, are dealing with the great masses who are not experts; hence our advice to burn the combs as a general proposition. While we believe we can save the combs of Euro- pean foul brood, yet on the other hand we are selling colonies in nuclei to beekeepers all over the United States; and it would be unwise for us to send out any combs, even after they have been cleaned up by the bees, that have once contained European foul brood, and Ave would be seA-erely cen- sured if Ave did. Y^ou yourself Avould folloAv our policy. We realize the fact that it is a little difficult to be entirely consistent clear through unless we take into consideration the parties Avith whom Ave are dealing. It does look as if we Avere reA-ersing our policy to advocate burning the combs of European foul brood Avhen it Avas Ave who made public the Alexander treatment and published many articles indorsing it, shoAving that the combs of European foul brood could be saAed. If Ave had it to do OA'er again we Avould do it again, because in so doing Ave Avould save experts thousands of dollars. If Ave Avere in the business of honey produc- tion only and were not shijiping bees or colonies, Ave Avould burn no combs contain- ing only European foul brood, because we believe our knowledge and experience Avould enable us to do just as you have done. There, noAv, doctor, have we made ourself clear?— Ei).] GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE BEEE t \ HK y Fig. 1. (c) — giving a side view of comb founda- tion, 1.5 sq. ft. per pound; and the same after the comb has been completed and capped by the bees. The lioney has been extracted, and washed away from the comb, and a section cut down, which, after a thor- ough drying, has been filled with plaster of Paris. From the above it would appear reasonable to expect that the bees keep adding scales of newly secreted wax and then pulling the side wall, thus decreasing gradually the percentage of colored wax. We also conclude that the quality of wax used in the foundation has an influence, not only on the base, but, to a certain extent, in almost the entire wall of the cell. The heavier the foundation, the jjreater tlie influence on the side wall. Again, notes were taken daily when the liees were beginning to draw out the foundation; and although the heavier foundation was scattered about in the various parts of the upper stories, they gave the preference to the heavier foundation, working on it first. Great cau- tion must, of course, be observed in coming to con- clusions. The bees, if the heavier foundation had been taken away, might have been almost as willing to go to work at once upon the lighter grade. At present no way appears open for conducting a sat- isfactory experiment to prove any thing in this di- rection. The measurements taken at the base of the wall, and half an inch from the base, all tend to sliow that the wall is thicker at the base, and tapers, becoming thinner at the mouth. So far as I am aware, no one has ever made such measurements. The " Vandeusen " is a flat-bottom (unnatural) foundation. The various specimens of this kind wliich were put into the sections were partially i-overed to prevent the bees from touching the cover- vt\ portion. The remainder was left to the bees. In every cjuse the bees changed the base from flat-bot- loni to natural. 14 If Mr. Chadwick thinks that all the wall on the foundation, beyond what depth there was on the wall when inserted, is made of beeswax produced by the quart of thin syiiip, this is not necessary. 1 have weighed sheels of foundation when put in the frame or hive (using seven Langstroth sheets to the pound weight). Then after the oomb was built out 1 again weighed the drawn comb and found that the bees just doubled the weight of wax in the frame. If a part of the wax in the comb foundation had not been used for the elongated wall I do not GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE ihink there would have been so little differ- ence. Herein is shown an added value in comb foundation. It saves wax secretion and the expenditure of honey, and I almost invariably use full sheets of foundation wliether in the brood-chamber or the su- pers, be they for comb or extracted honey. If a swarm is thrown on the foundation we must remember the bees are in the best shape for secreting wax, and that they will have a lot of wax scales on the abdomen, and, in addition, will be full of honey. Brantford, Canada. IOWA ANNUAL CONVENTION HELD AT AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE BY F, C. SCRANTON In order to secure the advantages accruing from a meeting at the Iowa State AgTicul- tural College at Ames, which, by the way, is one of the foremost institutions of its kind in the country, attracting students from points as distant as China, it was nec- essary to set the dates a little earlier than usual. The attendance would have been somewhat larger had the convention been held a month later; but those who gathered there were deeply in earnest. They came for information, for help, to learn how to do their work quicker and better, and every one got what he or she (for there were also a number of ladies in attendance) came for. The morning session of the first day, Nov. 17, was given over to the usual routine work such as pz'esident's address, report of sec- retary, reports of committees, and apjjoint- ment of committees. Following this the secretary, Mr. Snyder, read a letter from the Woodbury Beekeepers' Protective Asso- ciation, urging that legislation be enacted prohibiting one beekeeper establishing an apiary within a certain distance of another beekeeper's apiary, and suggesting that the association enact by-laws making it an of- fense for one member to establish an apiaiy within three miles of the apiary of another member without the consent of the member whose apiary is already established. Vio- lation of this would subject the guilty mem- ber to a fine of from $3.00 to $10.00 for each colony in his apiary. In the discussion of this paper it was shown that so many conditions, such as locality, season, topography, etc., enter into the subject that it would be impossible to set any exact limits which would be perfect- ly fair to all. The number of colonies al- ready located would also affect the question of distance apart. On tlie afternoon of the 17th, Prof. Bar- tholomew gave a " short-course " lecture, using a large model of the bee. His audi- ence was deeply interested throughout the talk. He showed why it is impossible for bees to bite the skin of fruit ; compared the pesophagais to the crop in a cliicken; showed how the honej'-sac is filled with honey in winter, and how it passes through a valve into the stomach as needed; explained how the blood of an insect contains no oxygen, fills all spaces between cells in the body, and how it is supplied at these jDoints with oxy- gen, and how a constant circulation of this fluid is kept moving through, the body. On the evening of the 17th, C. P. Dadant gave a history of beekeeping. This was followed by an illustrated lecture on nectar secretion and the honey flora of Iowa. It was both interesting and instructive. At the morning session on the 18th, Dr. Phillips, of Washington, D. C, gave a very instructive talk on temperature and mois- ture of the hive in winter, both as concerns outdoor and cellar wintered colonies. In conducting his exj^eriments along this line he seems to have established the fact, as stated in the Nov. 15th issue of Gleanings, that the bees forming the cluster in winter are not dormant during cold spells, as was formerly accepted, but that they form a sort of ball, the bees in the outer layer of which take a position with their heads pointing toward the center, and remaining very near- ly motionless, while those inside this circle fan with their wings, move about, and at- tend to raising and lowering the tempera- ture. He laid particular stress upon the fact that, when bees are wintered in cellars, ])roper attention should be given to venti- lation and to eliminating moisture from the cellar. Mr. W. S. Pangburn, of Center Junction, la., talked on the subject of cellar winter- ing. Mr. Pangburn is counted a very sue- JANUARY 1. 191 ; FJ^fSS^BB f t fi ( I ' ^ ^ B'|!?Kto- " S '^ir^PV^HBr^^ '^JSMMBpr— ^r '^■■■■'w ^ -'--^ «^ f. ^^' Iowa lonvention at Ames, November 17-19. cessful beekeeper; and not only that, but he is also a good farmer. Prof. Francis Jager, of the Universitj' of Minnesota, told what the agTicultural col- leges can do, and what the Minnesota college is doing, to further the cause of beekeeping. Most of the afternoon was given to va- rious demonstrations by different beekeep- ers. Mx\ Hall, of Colo, again showed how he fastens foundation in sections, and how he folds his sections, as well as his method of putting full sheets in brood-frames. Dr. Leonard, of Minneapolis, who is a champion of the split section, showed how to insert foundation in split sections, four at a time, and without several unnecessary liandlings of the sections. Mr. Pangburn demonstrated his method of fastening foundation in sections with but one handling, they being ready for the super when he finishes fastening the last slieet. In the evening Dr. Burton N.' Gates, of Massachusetts, gave an illustrated lecture. While there was some delay in getting the lantern to operate so the slides would show, tliere was no lack of interest in liis lecture. The meetings on the 19th were devoted to discussions and to cleaning up the business, such as reports of committees, etc. Officers elected are as follows: President, Prof. Bartholomew, of Iowa State College, Ames, la. Vice-president, B. T. RIeasdale, Des Moines, la. Secretary- treasurer, S. W. Snyder, Center Point, la. Directors: W. S. Pangburn, Center Junc- tion, la. ; J. W. Stine, Stockport, la. ; A. P. Chamberlin, Des Moines, la. The next annual meeting will be held at Des Moines, at a date to be announced later. Des Moines, Iowa. DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERIN 1914 MELTER BY F. J. SEVERIN My latest 1014 design of capping-melter surpasses my Iflll model shown on p. 724. Dec. 1, 1911. It keeps itself clean, and melts the cappings, or whatever there is to be melted, more quickly, and holds only about two gallons of water as it is not so large as the old melter. This 1914 melter requires only one burner on a gasoline-stove. It has only 17 X 13-ineh melting surface; but it rontnins 221 half-inch tubes one inch in length. In otlier words, it takes nearly 18 V2 fc-t of half-inch tubing. The melter top is flanged out wide enough to be 231/2 x 191/2 inches, and is 714 inches deep to the top of the tubes. See Fig. 1. Four frames may he put in when uncapped ready for the extract oj'. There is a place for two uncap- )ting-knivc-; at the right of the operator, Vy? inches wide by 9 indies deep, taking any size of knife up to 9% inches in length. One inch below the tubes is a spout ()i/^ inches wide and SVa long, for the escape of 16 GLEANINGS IN BEE OULTUKK the honey, wax, and refuse. A watenvay of fully half an inch is below the spout. A screw cap lets Avater out of the melter with- out tipping it up. Fig. 1. — Top view of P. J. Severin's new capping- melter, showing the tubes. The outside is made of heavy Teuton iron resembling galvanized iron, and will resist rust and wear longer than galvanized iron. The tubes are made of seamless brass tub- ing, above and below, and are soldered into sheets of heavy tinned copper. The parti- tion catching honey, wax, and slumgum, is also of heavy tinned copper. The tubes are well covered with hot wax and honey as soon as made. These holes are well rimmed out smooth so the capping's and honey will pass through as soon as melted. Having a flat melting surface it melts very rapidly, and will not run down as with a sun-extract- or when tilted too much. Tliis melter is supposed to stand level. A flat wooden paddle is used to scrape back and forth the refuse if one is cutting many dark tough combs. I have taken old black combs, brok- Fi?. 2. — Severin's 1011 <;ppnrntnr n'^semMofl en them loose from the frame, laid them flat in the bottom of the melter, and then uncapped in the clear place, and in a verj- short time I could take the paddle and pull it through the comb when it would break and crumble up as if the sun had hit it in a good solar extractor. This could not be done with the V-shaped tubes in the old melter, as that melted on the V edges first, and the full amount of heat could not hit the comb as with the 1914 melter. This melter is by far the best I have ever used, seen, or read about; in fact, it is the result of my long experience in the use of different melters, and in seeing other de- signs in use. THE NEW SEPARATOR. The new separator is also constructed differently from the one of 1911. Fig. 2 shows the separator completely assembled,, and Fig. 3 the separate parts excepting one wax-pan. The separator consists of three parts, all made of Teuton iron^the outside pan, the slumg-um-basket, and the wax-pans. The engiavings give a good idea of what these parts are and how they are constructed. The outside pan is 27 x 17 inches. The comi^artment for the slumgum-basket is 5 inches wide, and as long as the pan is wide. The slumgum-basket is 4 x 161/2 inches, hav- ing one-inch play to allow it to be slipped away from under the spout of the melter when necessary to empty it, without moving the melter or separator. The contents can be damped in an old box; and later, after the season, put through a wax-press or dumped immediately into a solar extractor. The basket follows the shape of the outside pan. The whole separator is very easy to dump, and is self-cleaning. Tf for any reason one is careless, or wishes to run lots of honey through the separator quickly, it will start little driz- zling specks of dirt from the contents of the basket, which will go into the wax-pan. In this case it would be better to put a piece of cheese-cloth inside the basket to catch all such specks of dirt. If left alone, and run as intended, just as every thing comes from the knives, the wa^^ cake will be a bright, clean, yellow wax. The ope- rator can melt comb honey, chunks, or cakes .lANTAUV 1, 1915 ol' \v:i.\ so completely and quickly he will wuiuli'i' liow it is done; and the separator will handle it as fast as it comes. The wax-pan is 20 x 16 in., and 5 in. (lee[). There are two pans in this compart- intMit. One rest.>« down in the honey, and the other fits inside of it closely. Both slide under the spout. Con- sisting of two pans it has an advantage over the other form. By slipping both from under the spout, the cross-bar may be pull- ed out and the wax- pan inside lifted out. Then one need not get daubed up with honey. If for any reason one should fill the first pan, he can lift it out and shove the other one under the spout, put the cross-bar back, and keep on melting until that also is full. The outside wax-pan holds 36 pounds, and the other 35. I have never been able to fill either of these pans in a day's run, but have filled it from other wax. I have extracted from 13 to 15 cases of honey a day, getting from 18 to 20 pounds of wax. This separator is probably too large for tlie average beeman, but can be made any size desired. The reason I made this size was because the w^ax cake fitted a gunny sack much nicer, and I did not have to stop my work when the separator was full, as was I he case with the 1911 separator. The new one has a great deal more slope than I he one of 1911, and cuts all the surplus honey out, as tlie wax-pan closely follows the slope of the outside pan. There is a screw-cap outlet near the bottom to draw Fig. 3.- -The new separator, showing the parts. oft' the honey each morning down to the %- inch partition. Always, when through with a day's work, the slumgum-basket should be lifted out, a sack thrown over the separator to let all cool together. The next morning tlie large cake of wax is ready to take off. Where the slumgum-basket was will be a %-inch piece of solid wax, which must be removed to make room for the basket again. A lV2-iiich pipe carries the honey from the separator to my extractor-pipe. From there a 2V2-inch pipe carries it into the tank. Imperial, Cal. REPORT ON APIARY INSPECTION AND DEMONS' RIO BY MORLEY PETTIT Provincial Apiarist It has not been found necessary to make much change in the management of the inspection of apiaries from the methods reported at jirevious conventions. In ac- cordance with a resolution passed at the last annual convention, more local inspectors were appointed than ever before; but with this exception the work has been carried on much as usual. The inspectois' conference was held at the beekeeping short course in January at the Ontario Agi'icultural College. A letter, warning against danger of spreading dis- ease by allowing bees to rob, was sent to the general list of beekeepers early in the spring, and the self-inspection report-forms went to tiie disease list of beekeepers in May. These were given a hearty response by the recipients. Twenty-one apiary inspectors were em- ployed. Nine of these were strictly local inspectors; tl'at is, they are practical bee- keepers appointed to inspect bees in their (nvn and adjoining counties. Eight have taken some training at the Ontario Agi-icul- tural College, and have returned to their homes to keep bees. They also acted as local inspectors. The four remaining men weie sent out directly from the Ontario Agricultural College, after having received a special course of training in apiary in- spection and in conducting apiary demon- strations. One thousand three hundred and sixteen GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE visits were made to apiaries by inspectors during- tlie season of 1914; and while in the feuropean-foul-brood districts half of the apiaries visited were found diseased, only 31 per cent of the apiaries visited in the American-foul-brood district were found to be in this condition. In other words, where- as the inspectors went only to apiaries where disease had been reported or was strongly suspected, seven out of ten such apiaries in the American-foul-brood district were found to be free of disease. This shows that the educational campaign which we have been conducting for several years is bearing good fruit. While it is exceedingly regrettable, it is not surprising that European foul brood is still spreading rapidly. Some new counties have been taken into the diseased area this year. It is only a matter of time when the whole province will be covered. Nothing but careful requeening with vigorous stock and advanced methods of management will save any apiary in Ontario from ultimate destruction. By our publications, demon- strations, and inspectors^ practically every beekeeper of Ontario has been repeatedly warned, yet comparatively few have taken heed or will heed until the enemy is upon them, and they have suffered heavy loss. In the infected area the business has been re- duced to the very few who have taken ad- vice and are building up their apiaries again to a paying basis. These few are proving the truth of what has been said, and their evidence is of great value in the educational campaign still being waged in advance of the disease. No doubt one reason for the indifference to warnings in the European-foul-brood counties is the fact that previously no bee disease had been known there. It is only this year that the American and European foul-brood territory began to overlap in Victoria County. From now on we can expect an increasing number of cases of the two diseases in one and the same colony. This will, no doubt, make it necessary to treat all such colonies by requeening for European foul brood, and by shaking for the American variety of disease. Fifty-five apiary demonstrations were held in all parts of Ontario, with a total attendance of 1861 persons. In 1912 the average attendance was 25; in 1913 it was 32, and this year 34, showing an increased interest from year to year. This report would not be complete without mention being made of the public spirited- ness and the hospitality of several who have given their assistance. Fifty-five beekeep- ers have at considerable inconvenience al- lowed their apiaries to be used for demon- strations. In many cases their wives and other ladies of the neighborhood have pro- vided refreshments for the demonstrator? and for the beekeepers in attendance. Hun- dreds of other beekeepers have given a hearty welcome and cordial hospitality to the inspectors on their rounds. All this is very much appreciated, both by the in- spectors and by the department, and goes a long way toward smoothing the path of the ]mblic servant, which is not always lined wdth roses. Guelph, Ontario. EL GEARING BY H. H. ROOT E\er since beekeepers began to use power honey-extractors there have been complaints regarding several features in connection with the construction of the driving mech- anism, and a number of beekeeoers have substituted other devices such as clutch jHiUeys, loose pulleys with a belt-shifter, etc., the idea being to secure a more flexible device for starting the extractor, and one that could be operated with less effort, even when the hands are slippery with honey. Again, a number have written regarding the desirability of some scheme which would allow the pump to run all of the time in- stead of only while the reel is turning, so that it may have a longer time to do its work and thus be allowed to run at a some- what slower Sliced. In employing a fric- tion drive instead of the usual bevel-gear drive we feel that we have secured several important results — first, doing away with the idler or helt-tightener. This de\ace has frequently been a cause of complaint; for, besides being rather hard to operate, it is dilificult to get the proper degree of tension on the belt to start the reel as gently and yet as quickly as required. For instance, one notch may leave the belt too loose, while the next makes it too tight. Furthermore, a belt will not last as long when its " back is broken " bv being bent both ways in passing over an idler-pulley. Second, allowing the pump to run all the lime. .lANlAKY 1, 1915 19 -The rnm-levi lorizontal position, the extractor reel at rest With the friction drive the cross-shaft of I lie extractor runs all of the time as does also the pump. This means that the pump does not have to run quite as fast any of the time and consequently tlie load on the en- "iine is reduced, and danger of slipping- of I he pump-belt is prevented. Third, allowing a variable ratio instead of a fixed ratio, as in case of beveled gears. By tins we mean that, in case the engine- pulley is not just the right size to turn the extractor at the proper speed, or if the speed of the engine cannot be controlled to tlie right point, the ratio between the driv- ing-disc on the cross-shaft and the driven paper pulley on the vertical reel-shaft may 1)6 changed. Possibly tliere are some who do not understand the principle of what is known as the friction drive. It may be well to explain, therefore, that in this particular form of friction drive a metal disc with a perfectly smooth tlat surface runs all the time, being located on the cross-shaft of the extractor. When it is desired to start the extractor-reel this re- volving disc i.s brought into engagement with a paper-rimmod pulley on (he reel sliaft ; and rolling against it, as it docs, the reel speeds up. tlie rapidity with which it reaches its maximum speed de- ])onding entirely upon tlie amount of pressure brought to bear by the disc against the paper ,,. ^, ... .,..„. ■ ■ ■ v • f fl "■ — canilever in the vertical position. The disk is thus crowded pulley. iNOW, 11 the over against the paper wheel on the vertical shaft so that the reel turns. ratio of tlio drive is not quite correct — for in- stance, if the reel turns too fast, so that there is danger of breaking combs— the paper pul- ley may be raised, say, 1/4 inch on the reel- shaft, so that it is nearer the center of tlie driving-disc, and then the disc will not drive it quite so fast. On the other hand, if the reel does not turn fast enough the paper pulley may be lowered so that it x'uns nearer the outside of the disc, making a higher speed. Fourth, doing away with noise and danger of a breakdown. Beveled gears, unless sub- merged in grease, are noisy, and wasteful of power. There is also the possibility of breaking a tooth, due to the power being applied too suddenly, causing an expensive delay. To show that the friction drive is ample as a means for trans'nitting power, one has only to point to well-known makes of auto- mobiles such as the Cartei-car, Lambert, Metz, etc., in all of which the friction drive is successfully used. The illustration on page 22 shows the friction drive as used in the Cartercar. The success of this particu- lar make of machine in climbing grades even as steep as 50 per cent is too well known to need further comment here. From over a year's experience with the friction drive as applied to honey-extractors, we believe that the paper rim of the driven pulley will Inst lini;;ei' than a set of beveled gears. TO OPERATE THE EXTRACTOR. Fig. 1 shows the driving mechanism with the cam-lever turned down in a horizontal position. Fig. 2 shows this lever pushed ui> to a vertical position, in which case the cross-shaft and disc are crowded to the left so that the disc is in contact with the paper pullej' on the reel-shaft, thus causing the reel to turn. There is only one adjustment necessary, and that is the position of the collar on the horizontal cross-shaft of the extractor, which receives the thrust from the spring when the cam-lever is in a verti- cal position. Fig. 2 shows this collar and the set-screw that must be loosened when the position of the collar is changed. If GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE position, the tension is released automati- cally by the shape of the cam to relieve unnecessary strain on the bearings. A very slight pressure on the i)art of the disc against the i^aper wheel is sufficient to keep the reel moving at high speed, when it is once under motion; therefore the adjust- able collar should not be located any closer to the cam lever than is necessary to keep Fig. 3. — Ideal .arrangement of extractor, pump, engine, tanks, etc. this collar is too close to the cam-lever the tension on the spring when the lever is in the driving jDosition will be too great, caus- ing an unnecessary strain on the bearing. On the contrarj^, if the collar is too far away from the lever there will not be enough tension to drive the reel. It will be noted that the sliape of the cam-lever is such that the greatest tension on the spring (and conseciuently the great- est thrust) occurs when the cam-lever has been moved up about half way to the verti- cal position. A little more tension is need- ed at the start to get the reel speeded u]v, but when the proper speed has been reached, and the lever moved on over into the vertical the reel turning at full speed when the lever is in a vertical position. When the adjust- ment is correct the lever wnll turn up or down easily, requiring verj' little effort. LOCATING THE MACHINERY AND TANK. Fig. 3 shows the arrangement of the extractor, pump, engine, tank, etc., that we r!Hommend. The outside door to the ex- tractor room should be on the side nearest the capping-melter or uncapping-tank, so that the full supers will not have to be carried about the room any more than i'* absolutely necessary. All new belts will stretch slightly at first, after they have beei' run a short time. It is well not to locate liie engine, i>ump, etc., too permanently at JANl^VRY 1, 1915 Fis;. 4. — A closer view of the pump, showiiij; IIil- tlie start, for they will surely have to be moved slightly one way or the other to make up for the stretch of the belt. After the belts have once been ''broken in." any further stretch is so slight as to be almost im- |i(Mceptible. The punii)-base is secured to the floor by means of large screws or a small coach or lag screw. Tliese should be started at the end of the slots furthest from the extractor, so that, as (he belt stretches, the pump may be moved back away from the extractor slightly by loosening the screw. Fig. 4 shows a close]- view of the pump and its connections to the extractoi'. through an opening in the gate. Tills cnnnef'tion does not inter- ends will be clanii noce.«sarv. ilie iwo fere seriously witli the opening of tlie gate it' desired. In this posi- lion (lie discharge pipe I hat takes the honey from the pump to (he tank is out of the way and does not interfere in any way with the operation of the ex- tractor. Tlie engine does not require a stone foun- dation, an ordinary wooden door being sol- id enough unless the (inihers are in very bad condition. -We usually secuie the engine to the floor by boring' a hole through each eud of each skid and in- serting long lag screws into (he floor through (hese holes. A some- what easier plan, and one that permits some change in location or the floor, is to seleci two pieces of 2 x 4 ma- terial, each a trifle longer than the width of the engine-bed. Cut a notch in each end so thn*^ the piece will fit down between the lian- dles at the ends of the skids. Bore a hole in the center, arid then by inserting a long lag screw into the floor the )ed down. Later on, if screws mav be loosened i.- -All cNlractor loiateil on tli lent when it comes to putting (■ fliHir is iiuiili luorc coiiven- in or taking out. combs. CtLEanings in bee culture slightly and the engine puslied back away from the extractor, to make up for the stretch of the belt. Fig. 3 also shows a good arrangement for a strainer. This is a combination of strainer and settling-tank which works admirablj'. A small barrel with both heads knocked out is as good as any thing for the inner can. Heavy cheese-cloth is firmly tied over the low'er end, and the barrel supported as in the illustration, so that the cheese-cloth is ihree or four inches from the bottom of the main tank. The honey is pumped into the inner tank (or barrel) ; and as soon as it reaches a level above the cheese-cloth the bits of cappings and all foreign matter will float to the surface away from the cloth so lliat the latter may accomplish its purpose of straining the very tine particles without becoming clogged. For best results the honey should be allowed lo fill the large tank nearly full before any is drawn off, and it should be drawn off no faster than Friction drive of Cartercar any is pumped in, in order that the level may be kept well away from the cheese- cloth. POLECATS IN BY H. R. BOARDMAN I have been aware for some time that skunks seemed to be attracted to my bee- yard. I have found them occasionally scratching at the entrance, but it did not dawn upon me that they were robbing the hives of the live bees until quite recentl3^ During the moonlight nights of October and November I caught them on their job. Flashlight of polekitty robliing H. Boardman's hives. JANUAKV 1, 1915 23 By scratching the hives t he bees would be disturbed and run out at the entiance to drive away the intruders. These exi)ert n i o- h t robbers, without gloves or veil to protect them, would gobble the bees up, apparently feax'- less of stings, " and working with a zeal worthy a nobler cause" 1 think the loss of hi'.s (juite serious. I ha\ e 1 !■") colonies in llic yard, and most of tlicni. 1 think, have been worked by the skunks. What the skunks are doing to my bees tliey are doing to the bumblebees. Look carefully, Mr. Farmer, and you will find many of the holes in the meadow and pasture you thought were dug for grubs were due- for the nests of bumble-bees. And Caii2;lit with tho lis on. Anotlier icniaikable flashliglit photograph. don't forget the nests of Bob White, be- cause the echo of his sweet song is far more pleasant than the '' aroma " of the skunk. Collins. Ohio. BEEKEEPING IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA BY A. P. HABERECHT In my locality the season ending last May was one of the best I ever experienced. My average for 66 colonies was 125 lbs. extract- ed honey, and all supers full of stores; about 2500 lbs. of surplus, which, if I could have extracted, would have brought the average up to 161 lbs. per colony, but on account of the coolness of the weather and the thickness of honey I was unable to do so. The honev-flow lasted up to the end of April. ^ly honey was so thick that I could do nothing with it below 90 degrees, and only M 100 would it extract freely. My reasoi) for this was continual high winds dui'ing the main honey-flow, the bees working only mornings and e\enings, and fanning all the rest of the time. My bees worked very cveidy this season, 50 per cent best. 40 per cent well, and 10 per cent that brought about 60 lbs. of surplus — no difference as to color or breeding. The best Italians seem to fly earlier and faster, but do not seem to put more into the comb-bucket. The only conclusion I can come to is that they must consume more stores. The red gum (Eur. rostrata) turned out a complete failure with me last season; but it looks very promising for next season. The yellow box (Euc. melliodora) bloomed from the beginning of September to the end of February, which happens only once in a lifetime. It usually blooms from the end of July to about the end of October; but this season it has no buds, so there will be no bloom on yellow box next season at all, perliaps only an odd tree. The gray box [Euc. hemiphlora) bloomed very patchy, but a good sample (our fall honey). I sold 75 per cent of my honey to the consumer at 8 cents per lb., and 25 per oe.il to dealers at 7 cents, and my beeswax was sold at the market at 281/2 cents, the higliest price I ever had for beeswax. I would strongly advise all apiaris's to do their best to sell as mucli as possible to the consumer, get their honey up in suitable lots, and make a house-to-house canvass; but the honey must be put up attractively. Tliere is a great future for the apiarist; but he nuist keep on teacliing the people to eat honey. You will find that, the more people rat lioncy. the better they will like it. and the more they will eat. I cannot say that T know of one person who said, " I used to cat honey, but now I do not care for it." My experience is, if a family takes 30 lbs. of honey this season I am sure they will GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE take 60 next season. The trouble is to in- duce them to buy the first lot, however small it may be; but if the advertising and the canvassing are left to the dealer we are lost. My idea is to sell all the best honey first, tell the customer that all the best honey is sold out, get him to taste Ihe other, and he will take it and be satisfied, even if it is inferior. But he will get in earlier next season and buy more than ever. I sold all my best first, and the fall honey Avent just as (|uiokly afterward. Our Royal Agriculture Show took place at Sydney at Easter time. The weathei- was perfect, the attendance a record (95,000 people on Good Friday, the main day) ; but the bees and lione}^ exhibits were very few and poor. I went 360 miles to see it, and I was very much disapijointed. I exhibited uuly in the district exhibit. There were practically only two exhibitors and one ex- perimental farm instead of about twenty or thirty contributors; but our brother apiarists do not seem to care or bother so long as they get their honey away at any price. Our district honey exhibit got 18 j^oints out of a possible 20, so we did fairly well. Perhaps it would be interesting to some of your readers to know that my grandfa- ther brought one colony of bees from Ger- many with him in 1848. Bees were then unknown, so far as I know, in South Aus- tralia. They were twenty weeks on the water, and came out in good condition. The first honey was sold at 25 cents a pound, and the first swarm sold brought 5 ]iounds. Those bees were ])ure blacks. Hentv, N. S. W., Australia. THE HODGSON BEE=ESCAPE BOARDS Aifltto Truck isii tine Apiary, and New Twelve-frame FricttioBi-drave Extractor BY R. F. HOLTERMANN There has already been some notice of the Hodgson bee-escape board, which has a wooden frame with the main part of it wire cloth. This is the invention of Mr. Arthur F. Hodg'son, Jarvis, Ontario. The ordinary bee-escape board lias been objectionable to me because, owing to lack 'of ventilation when put under the supers, only one super can be put above it at a time. When we go into an apiary we want to make a complete job of extracting in one day. Next, the bees being off the combs for some time before extracting, and the heat of the bees being shut off by the solid bee- escape board, the honey cools, and there- fore it is more difficult to extract. Of course this latter difficulty has been overcome in part by t4ie use of power extracting-outfits. Last season I saw the way in which these escape-boards worked at the apiary of my son Ivar, and it Avas practically demonstrat- ed to me that they are the proper thing for a well-ef|uipped apiary. I have now 250 of these escape-boards, made for me bj' Mr. Hodgson. This is enough for the apiary we may be extracting in, and for the apiary in which Ave may want to extract the folloAving day. T use a double-outlet Porter bee- escape in each board; and because of these two outlets instead of one I think the bees leave the supers in about half the time. RESULTS. The boards have proved themselves a very great success. We have i^ut them on at almost every hour of the day. Our prac- tice for quick work is for one to lift the super, another to smoke, and a third to slip the escape-board on the hive. This is par- ticularly desirable Avhen there are two supers on a hive; but one can do the Avork by removing the super and setting it down until the escape-board has been placed on the hive. This year, however, Ave did not have many second supers, and in no case Avas the second super full. The escape- boards are best put on quickly after the super is raised and the super returned as quickly. This prevents, to a very great extent, the bees from getting betAveen the surfaces of contact, and thus, of course, killing bees or taking a long time to brush them away. As to the time it takes for the bees to leave the supers Ave found it quite feasible to remove the supers five or six hours after the escape-boards Avere put under them, thus enabling us to put some of the esca])e- boards on in the morning, and extracting from them the same day. I found that the bees begin to roar very soon after they are separated from the brood and queen below (their action is the same as if they had been smoked loo much). Mr. James Armstrong, ("heapside, Ontario, a well-knoAvn beekeepei', told me that he and Ids son go to the hives soon after putting on escape-boards; and unless llie bees are roar- ing, Avliieh can be heai-d from the outside, they know there is something wrong, and they investigate 1o find out Avhat it is. Per- i Wl'AKV 1. 1915 25 Hollermann's power triuk uiih luaJ of cmiJt.\ liaps some beekeepers do not know that, if llie cjiu'tMi and biood are there, the bees will 1 euiain contentedly in the super. We found a few young bees in some >upers; and occasionally, after being on only five hours, some more bees; but there were not enough left to make the removal of the supeis of honey inadvisable if they were needed that soon. 1 remember coming to a .super with a lot of bees on the combs, and saying to one of the students, "We will investigate the cause. Perhaps the bee-escape is clogged." We found the escape raised at one side so the bees could pass back into the super, so that there was really no bee-escape board on that hive. The honey extracts readily with the twelve frame friction - drive extractor. We have now used these boards in five apiaries, and there will be no more shaking and brushing of bees from the combs of honey in the supers. In the years gone by T myself have nearly always had tiie work of removing tlie honey from the hives and freeing tliem from the bees by sharp shake.>< ; and I have found this no light work when followed up day after day about as fast as a rather active man can move. It jars contin- ually the whole system. Another advantage in the bee-escape board is that it prevents the demoralization of the apiary at a time when it tends to robbing and the making of cross bees. However, let me sound a note of warn- ing. There must be no chance for robber bees to get into the super from which the bees have been cleared. THE AUTO TRUCK FOR TRAKSPORTATION. Accompanying this article is an illustra- tion of the auto truck 1 have purchased to use in connection with apiarian work. As seen in the illustration it is loaded with forty supers (twelve- frame), containing combs which have been extracted, and which are about to be re- turned to the apiary from which they have been taken. I find this truck a very g^eat advantage, it has a capacity of 1500 lbs. weight. There are times when a truck of greater capacity would be very convenient; but the desira- bility of this increased capacity is confined to so short a time that it would, in my esti- mation, be more tlian counterbalanced by I'lame supers. i.i.^ son Olrnn .Tiid five stiidonts, vlio wcro \vi(1i him (luring the seasiin of 1014. 26 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTliRE the extra expense of running the heavy truck. This truck can be run into a beeyard, and loaded or unloaded without any fear about stinging horses; and there are not many days in summer when rain prevents its use. We used the Hodgson wire-cloth bee- escape boards this season, as before stated, thus doing away with all brushing and shak- ing of bees from the combs of honey, and extracted the honey from seven apiaries at two points. If the honey crop had been any thing like a normal one, of, say, 50 lbs. to the colony, it would likely have paid us better to move the honey-extractor to the honey instead of moving the honey to the extractor. Another use for the truck is to transport the Avorkers from home to outyards. From the accompanying illustration it will be seen we had quite a number of learners and workers — one each from New York, Penn- sylvania, Jamaica, Cuba, Wales, and three from Ontario, Canada. The one from Wales and a lady from Ontario do not appear in the engraving. THE FRICTION-DRIVE EXTRACTOR. While on the subject let me say we sub- stituted for the bevel gears on the twelve- frame extractor a friction drive, and also ordered another with this equipment. We found a wonderful improvement in the run- ning of the extractor. A great advantage is that the honey-pump runs all the time, keeping the bottom of the extractor always in view. The extractor, too, can be operated with less trouble. Every power extractor sliould be operated by means of friction. Rrantford, Canada. BY M. T. CALCUTT I have noticed in Gleanings for several years past more or less discussion regarding that peculiar disease known as bee paraly- sis. It is to me the most peculiar of all bee diseases I am acquainted with. I have had my experience with American foul brood, but am no longer alarmed over its visit to my apiary as I have learned how to handle it successfully. Bee paralysis I have also been visited with, and have successfully coped with it, so I do not dread its call, although I am not hankering after future visits. But I am not sorry for the visit I have already had, because I am somewhat like that grand old beekeeper, Dr. C. C. Miller. I have had more than my share of enjoyment attending to the bees, overcoming their affliction, and keeping them out of fheir difficulty; so, as A. I. Root says, it is a great satisfaction to feel that you are able to conquer the difficulties that are presented. It has always been my hobby to tackle some- thing that people say cannot be done. Our pleasure lies in demonstrating that it can be done if we only have the patience to go ahead and do it. Now, Mr. Editor-, let us take a good look at this strange disease and see w4iat is the matter. Some say it is due to the honey they gather, and some say it occurs only in lot weather. Others tell us it is due to the queen, and that requeening is what we must do to get rid of it. Now, I have found that they are all wrong. It is not due to the honey they gather at all, as I have had bees afflicted when Ihey did not gather any honey, nor had they anything but white-sugar syrup. Then, again, I have cured them without any change in the queen. Now, N. L. Stapleton, of Colquitt, Ga., page 723, Oct. 15, 1913, will say, "Yes, but you had a suspension of brood-rearing." No, not at all. The queen kept right on laying, and Ihc cure was elfeeted just the same. What is the cause of it? The bees become lollen-clogged; and unless they are relieved they will die. How can they be relieved? If they are not storing honey in the supers, just give them a cascaret dissolved in a little water and mix the same in a jelly-glass of sugar syrup, 1 to 1. It is well to rej^eat this for three or four days according to the size of the colony, then the trick is done. Now let me add that I fully agree with Mr. Stapleton in all he says, with the excep- tions as here stated. A discontinuance of brood-rearing will also effect the cure. If they are storing honey in the super this is the proper method to cure the disease. Some writer has said we cannot cure it and get a surplus the same year. Now, this is wrong again, for I am doing it right now. To explain, last spring I had a colony badly affected. They were pulling them out by the hundreds, and thoy were hopping in all directions. As they crawled around they resembled laying queens. One would think they would burst, so distended were tlieir abdomens. This colony was on a Hand switch bottom-board, so I put the queen into the empty hive with a frame of brood, .TANUAKY 1. 1915 and threw the lever, switching all field bees to their new hive, giving tliein the oiiscaret as mentioned. Tiie other half raised a queen of their own. Here Mr. Stapleton is cor- roborated in his experience — brood suspen- sion. The other lialf, with queen and field bees only, cured by tlie cascarets. When these two halves had built up, which they 27 did by feeding syrup, 1 united them again and put on supers, two queens working liere; and now they are hard at it, storing in the supers. So we have nothing to dread liere. Just pass this along to our bee- friends, and they can try it out for them- selves. It is worth the trying. Seattle, Wash. THE ALEXANDER METHOD OF INCREASE UY J. G. BHOWN (Tlie MTiter of the following article was a beekeeper in Peiui.s.vlvania ; and after that he removed to Colorado, where he spent eight years in the business. He is now with the A. I. Root Co. as assist- ant apiarist in the A. I. Root Co.'s apiaries. — Ed.] I read with a great deal of interest Dn Miller's reply to A. Swahn, Dec. 15, page 979. I wondered at the time if the doctor had been educated for a lawyer, or how he managed to get so much sarcasm into two inoffensive-looking little questions as the following: ''What successful man doubles his white-clover crop by dividing his colo- nies befoi'e the white-clover harvest?" " What successful man (or unsuccessful) increases his white-clover crop each year by dividing his colonies before the white-clover harvest? " In reply to the above I'd like to ask Dr. Miller if he ever tried the Alexander method of increase, using it just as Mr. Alexander did, and leaving out nothing " because he knew it wouldn't work." Mr. Alexander does not say that he gets *• twice as much " honey when he divides as when he doesn't, but "nearly twice as much." Dr. Miller makes no room whatever for poetic license. Mr. Alexander further says that he has two good strong colonies in the place of one to commence work on the clover harvest. But he does not say they are of equal strength, nor does he say they are " as strong as " the one not divided. The fact that he says they gather '* nearly twice as much '' implies that he meant they were not quite equal to one undivided at the begin- ning of the season. Mr. Alexander doesn't even saj^ he gets any more wiiite-dover iioney, but that he has two good strong colonies ready to go to work in place of one. Mr. Alexander gives two illustrations, and in each case he recites what was accom- plished at the end of the season. As a further proof that Mr. Alexander did not mean that the white-clover crop would be doubled, he speaks of the new colony on the old stand being '* in fine shape for a super of sections," but he does not say the other colony is in shape for a super of sections. Mr. Alexander began by using what he called fairly strong colonies about April 15, witli a queen not over ten months old, and tliese he fed every day they couldn't get nee- tar up to and after dividing them. One queen was laying her best up to June 1, and after that he had two queens laying. The first colony contained all the field bees up to May 2G, and bad a hive nearly full of brood. The second colony had the young and hatching bees, and a young laying queen after about June 1. The flow began about June 15, so the second colony had bees old enough to go to w'ork on clover. From this time on until the close of buckwheat Mr. Alexander had two colonies gathering honey in place of one. It must be remembered that Mr. Alexander ran for extracted honey, andT have no doubt he was well provided with good brood-combs so I hat each colony had a hive full of combs at the outset. Dr. Miller in calling for examples, like the angel at Sodom and GomoiTah, is will- ing to be "Jewed down " a little. He asked for two living examples of successful men who doubled their white-clover honey by dividing their bees, or two successful (or unsuccessful) men who increased their white-clover crop by dividing therr bees be- fore the harvest. Some of us might get into the discussion h\ way of the parenthesis. If Dr. Miller will concede that white clover isn't the only flow there is, perhaps some of tlie beekeepers of the West who really keep bees, and, in return, are kept by them, may be able to break into the discussion. The Alexander method of increase, on the whole, is all right and sound doctrine. That, like all other met hods, will have to be ad- justed to fit the locality where it is to be used. This is not merely belief, but to me personal knowledge. I used it in Colorado, but fed outside instead of using individual feeders. The result was, colonies were boil- ing over with bees much earliei' than (he apiaries where not so stimulated. Both 28 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE pai'ls of the colonies divided on this method were, in a few cases, ready for the first alfalfa flow, beginning about June 18, while others did not go into the supers (comb honey) till later. But I should like to give Dr. Miller the names of some of the beemen of Colorado who use this method to a greater or less extent in making increase, unless he in.sists on the white-clover test, and that would, of course, shut the Western beekeepers out. Mr. J. C. Mathews, of Montrose, Colo., who owns and operates 1000 colonies, who is successful in the commercial end of bee- keeiDing as well as the theoretical, uses the Alexander plan very largely. Mr. Mathews says he regards it as the best- known plan of increase. Mr. E. D. Nichols, a beeman of many years' experience, of Montrose, Colo., uses this method of increase, and says the two resultant colonies will produce much more honey than the one undivided. Mr. Nichols keeps a close record, and can tell each colo- ny that gave him surplus and how much. Mr. Nichols uses a comb-honey super on the colony on the old stand, and an extracting- body on the other for the first super. Mr. J. J. Corbut has had a large expe- rience in building up colonies, and he uses the Alexander plan largely. Mr. Corbut is a very observing man, and pays plenty of attention to details. When he adopts a method you may be sure there is a good reason for it. William Corbut and Marion W. Harvey use the Alexander plan with the Doolittle plan and the Dr. Miller plan, and end.orse all of them. This, of course, depends on what they want and the method they use. Mr. Roscoe Miller, president of the Mont- rose County Beekeepers' Association, and a man owning nearly 1000 colonies, use^ this method of increase. Mr. Miller does not believe in sacrificing honey for increase. and yet he believes in the Alexander plan. Don't get the idea that those beekeepers never use any other method. They are keen, wide-awake, practical men, always ready to take up any thing good or to try it once; and these men consider the Alexander plan, adjusted slightly to suit their condi- tions, a good practical method, and one with which any one who is willing to take pains can be successful. Mr. Geo. H. Rea, head of the apiary department for the A. I. Root Co., used the method in Pennsylvania, and knows it will work when followed in detail. If Mr. Swahn will provide himself with a copy of " Alexander's Writings on Prac- tical Bee Culture," and for good measure throw in a copy of " Management of Out- apiaries," by G. M. Doolittle, and read tliem during the present winter, he will be able to increase materially his honey crop any season by following these two able writeis. Even if he have but one colony I tliink he will be able, with his increased knowledge, to pay for these two publica- tions in increased amount of honey the first year. I tliink, Mr. Editor, you should not omit any detail of this method from your next edition. Remember your book and your magazine are read by professionals as well as novices, and the former class, at least, prefer to do their own eliminating when necessary. Don't conclude that this method is wrong without a proper hearing. Dr. IMiller has given his opinion, but does not say it is based on any fact or experiment which has proven the contrary " in his locality." Your own ajDiarist is of the opinion, backed by numerous tests that he can dem- onstrate to 3'our entire satisfaction, that he can increase j'our u-hile-clover crop by fol- lowing the Alexander plan in detail and omitting nothing. GUARDING AGAINST BEESTINGS BY RUTH C. GIFFORD It is a peculiar sensation to be so badly stung by bees that every one, yourself in- cluded, thinks you are going to die. Few beekeepers in this community who have that sort of experience ever handle bees agairi. I happened to be one of the people who kept on; but the time I had could not be described by the word " pleasant." Of course the only thing for me to do was to use a suit that was practically sting-proof. As I could not find either a description or an advertisement of that sort of suit I had to experiment. Every time the experiment did not work ! got stung literally as well as figuratively. The amount of ingenuity shown by those bees in finding places through which to sting was simply wonderful. How- ever, I think my troubles are over so far as a bee-suit is concerned, because 1 have not had to modify this one during the past two seasons. 1 am now going to describe iny suit. If .lAXl'ARY 1, 1915 any woman makes one like it, and follows these direct ions carefully, 1 don't see how she eould be bothered by stings. Tlie suit consists of yloves, bloomers, and a blouse and wire bonnet, which arc sewed securely together. The material for bloomers and blouse is unbleached muslin. The bloomers are made very lonii'. The top is held secure- ly around tlie waist by a long drawing- string. They are also fastened securely around the ankles, over high shoes, with two more drawing-strings. If they are not made long tbey will pull up, and the bees will sting around the shoetops. The gloxes are men's beavy goat-skin work-gloves. They have a disagreeable odor; but a thorough smoking with a bee- smoker will help that. The bees don't bother by slinging through these, even when they are wet. I always sew' a three or four inch strip of muslin to the tops of the gloves; then they won't pull out from under the sleeves of the blouse. The blouse has the sleeves made long with elastic in them ai'ound the wrists. The body part is very wide. To be on the safe side it should be 2Y2 times as wide as the coat. Another drawing-string fastens it around the waist. The neck is cut out until it fits around the bee-bonnet comfortably. The bonnet is the most important part of the costume. Take a piece of ordinary wire mosquito-netting, 30x34; wrap one end over the other and sew securely. Over one end of this wire cylinder sew a round piece of muslin and bind the edges of the other end with two thicknesses of muslin. To this .sew a five-inch muslin curtain. Then, if it gives you the headache to look through the netting, cut out a rectangular piece of wire. Don't make this any larger than necessary. Rind the edges of the opening with a nar- row strip of black material. Measure off a piece of fine wire, such as you use in wiring brood-frames, long enough to go twice across the long way of the rectangle, and another piece long enough to go across the nar- row way five times. Put these in so the spaces between them are about equal, and twist each wire around the other. That prevents them from pulling in any direc- tion. To do this, fasten the ends of the wire which run the long way last. These two ends will, of course, come on the same side. If you want to take the shine oiT the wire, soak it in lemon-juice for a few minutes or in hydrochloric acid about one minute before you use it. Aftei' the wire is in, sew a piece of silk tulle over the space, and leave it loose. Then put on the bonnet and blouse, and have some one sew them together. This suit sounds complex; but if you happen to be one whom the bees take a special delight in stinging you will find it very convenient. The bloomers and blouse can be made '' any old way." just so they're big, and sewed tightly. This suit will last several years, and only a few minutes are requii'ed to rip out the bonnet when the suit needs washing. Northeast, Md. BEESWAX IN EGYPTIAN TOMBS BY GEORGE BUTLER During the visit to Queensland of the members of the British Association for the Advancement of Science some very interest- ing particulars were elicited from Professor (t. Elliott Smith with reference to his re- searches in Egyptian tombs. He is a scien- tist of considerable note, and any informa- tion coming from such a source would not be questioned by any living man. He is a great authority on the mummies of Egypt, and at one time held a prominent position in that country under the government. The subjoined information was the outcome of a letter received by the writer from a fel- low-beekeeper in Queensland, who stated that the professor, in conversation with a friend of his, had mentioned that, during excavations in Egypt, he had discovered a jar of honey, the odor from which was suf- ficiently strong 1(1 attract the attention of bees which were flying near. To obtain a verification of these facts the writer com- municated Avitli Professor Smith, who sup- plied some interesting facts on the subject. Mr. Smith said that, several years ago, in the course of excavations in the valley of the tombs of the kings at Thebes, the tomb of the parents of Queen Y\y, wife of the Pharaoh Amenhotep III., was discovered, and among the rich furniture found in the tomb was a large alabaster jar containing a thick honey-like liquid which Mr. Theodore Davis, who supplied the funds for the excavation, mistook for honey. The pro- fessor ridiculed the supposition that honey would remain in a liquid state for thirty centuries in a. dry climate like that of Egypt. When investigating the contents of tile tomb ho took a sample of the honey-like substance, Avliich smelled like castor-oil. and asked the Government Analyst in Egypt GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE (Mr. Lucas) to examine it. The surmise he had entertained was found to be correct. It was castor oil. This statement was some- what disappointing. It appears the Egyptian women, both in ancient times and at the i^resent day, use castor oil for dressing their hair and anoint- ing their .skin to keep it soft. The profes- sor, however, found considerable quantities of beeswax in ancient Egyptian tombs. It was used to make shields to protect the eyes, ears, nose, and mouth of mummies, and to preserve their features from injury. The ancient classical writers say honey was also used for mummifying. Red Hill, Brisbane, Queensland. BY HARRY G. BRANT The Minnesota I^eekeepers' Association held its annual meeting in the Engineering Building of the State Farm School, Dec. 2 and 3, in connection with the Minnesota Stale Horticultural Association. About one hundred beekeepers were i^resent, quite a few ladies among them. The excellent pro- gram was followed out, and a profitable and enjoyable time was had by all. Here is the progiam: WEDNESDAY FORENOON. 9:00. Social hour. 10:00. Meeting called to order. Reading minutes of last meeting. Report of Secretary and Trea- surer. Correcting wording of Constitution. 11:00. Bee-inspector's Report. J. Alf. Holmberg. « Addi-ess, " Bee Disease," C. D. Siehl. President's address. WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. 2:00. "Progress in the beekeeping industry in Minnesota the past year," Francis Jager, Prof, of Apiculture, Agricultural College, A. F. Woods, Dean of Agricultural Department, University of Minnesota. The Law of Mendel applied to the breeding of bees, C. E. Bartholomew, Prof. Apiculture, Iowa College. 3:30. Symposium on comb-honey production: "Fastening foundation in sections" (a dem- onstration). L. M. Bussey. "Fastening Foundation in Split Sections" (a demonstration). L. D. Leonard. "S'pring management for comb honey," L. F. Sampson. "Putting sections on hives," Geo. W. Shafer, Menomie, Wis. "How to get well-filled sections," Jos. Moser Calmar, Iowa. "Removing sections from the hive," L. A. Stickney, Minnesota City, Minn. "What to do with unfinished sections," C. S. Russel, Pine City, Minn. "Packing and crating honey," Peter Howe, Kellogg, Minn. THURSDAY FORENOON. 9:30. "Marketing honey," P. A. White, Barron. Wis. Mrs. M. McCabe. Minneapolis ; F. E. Lang, La Crosse, Wis. ; Mrs. F. .T. Butterfield, Long Lake, Minn. ; O. .J. Goodmansen, Little Falls, Minn. ; Mr. Fred Oesch, Winona ; L. M. Bussey, Minneapolis. "Bees and flowers," P. R. Little, St. Louis Park. 11:00. Beginners' hour and question-box. Mrs. J. A. DeLameter, Mrs. Mattie Watts, Mr. F. E. Halden. Mr. H. G. Brant. THURSDAY AFTERNOON. 2:00. Symposium on extracted honey. "Preparing bees in spring," C. D. Blaker. What to do at commencement of honey-flow," Frank Schillock. "How to prevent swarming," C. F. Greening. "Methods of uncapping and extracting," P. C. Van Someron. "Uncapping-knives," H. V. Poore. "Why flowers do not always produce nectar," E. L. Hofmann. "Management of bees after the honey-flow," F. W. Ray, Prof. Francis Jager. Among those present were quite a few- students who are taking the course in api- culture. The following officers were elected for 1915 : Rev. C. D. Blaker, Minneapolis, president: first vice-president. Rev. J. Kimball, Duhith; second vice- president, Mrs. J. A. De Lameter, Hopkins; secre- tary and treasurer, P. W. Ray, Minneapolis; Exec- utive committee, L. C. Pilcher, St. Paul; L. F. Sampson. Excelsior, and Mrs. M. McCabe, Minneap- olis. ITTING BEES IN SELWYN'S CELLAR BY G. F. K. A description of Mr. Selwyn's bee-cellar at Kirk's Ferry, Quebec, appeared in the Sept. 1st issue, p. 676. The bees were car- ried into this cellar Nov. 15. The morning was clear, the air crisp, the temperature a few degrees below freezing. The apiary is situated on the side of a Iiill, and the hives are scattered in all direc- tions, the unevenness of the ground making a definite arrangement impossible. The hives are of the eight-frame size, some fitted witli the excelsior cover and some with a packed galvanized-iron cover. Between the top-bars and the cover are two thicknesses of cloth — the lower one of 10-oz. duck, and the upper one of burlap cut from an old sack. In some cases, where an excelsioi" cover was used, the moisture from the bee cluster had condensed and the cloth was fi'ozen stiff. The entrances of the hives — full width but only % inch deep — were blocked with tissue JANUARY 1, 1915 paper stuffed in. This proved an excellent way of closing: tho entrances as long as the paper kept dry; but during- the morning a blizzard caused the snow to dampen the pai)er, and in some few cases the bees found their way out. The hives were arranged in the cellar on long scantlings forming racks, three tiers to I he row. The covers were removed as the bees were carried into the cellar, leaving only the thickness of the duck and burlap over the bees. When all the colonies were in, the doors were closed and all means of light excluded. By the light from a candle the entrance papers were quickly removed and then the bees were left to care for themselves till Christmas. At that time the brood-chambers were raised in front by a block of wood, leaving an entrance about % inch deep. The temperature of the cellar seldom varies moi'e than two degrees either way, the desired temperature being 38°. The 18-inch cement walls and the sub-earth in- take pipe keep a uniform temperature until late in spring. DEVICE FOR CUTTING OUT NATURAL CELLS FOR QUEEN-REARING BY J. H. T0D1> vw The illustration shows you a queen-cell cutter for queen-rearing which I have de- signed. The metliod of getting cells is as follows : From ^ETAL TUBE the brood-nest of your selected nicOfAQ queen take a comb containing newly hatched larvae in the cen- J ter, and with a ^^' • thin sharp knife cut out a piece of this comb containing a suHicient number of larvae newly hatched. Keturn the comb, and the bees will quickly repair the damage. Now take this piece of comb indoors, as if proceeding to graft in th.e usual waj', and, with an uncapping- knife, shave down to the midrib the cells on the side of the comb oppo- site to those se- lected. Have a little molten wax at hand, and lay your comb midrib down on a piece of flat smooth board; then, grasping the tin flange of tlie cell cup in your right hand and the wood flange in your left, pull them apart. Place the cutting edge of the tin tube exact- ly over a cell containing a larva of the correct age, and carefully press it down vAthoiU twisting, keeping the cell in the center of the tube till the midrib is cut through; then lift up the tube containing the cell; dip the end of the wooden plug in tlie molten wax and quickly press it home /JV2. CUT CELL down the sharpened end of the tin tube. The molten wax will stick to the cell base and fix it, and will also provide a thick base for the cell. The pushing home of the plug will make the mouth of the cell project the correct distance beyond the tin flange, which in its turn Avill form a base for the bees to attach the ciueen-cell to. The cup is now placed in a holding bar in a manner similar to a Swarthmore cup. Ird^ELL BAR QUEEN Fig. 3 CELL. the hole being of such a diameter that the tin flange will just pass through it, and the bar of such thickness that, when the cup is in position, the tin flange is flush with tlie under side of the bar. I think the advantages of this cup are obvious. It is much more simply and rap- idly prepared than by either the grafting method or the Swarthmore method, the queen laying directly in the cups; and, above all, in comparison to the usual meth- od of grafting, the larvae are never man handled, and these delicate little insects go to the cell-building bees without removal from their cells, and in their natural state, suspended in their chyle food just as sup- plied to them by the workers. Christ Cliiirch, N. Z. 32 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE PROFITS IN TAKING BEES FROM TREES BY ELIAS FOX T have been reading your comments on taking bees from trees. Now, I am in no position to tell upon what your ideas are based; but they are surely not based on facts — at least as applied to my experience, which was set forth in Gleanings some years ago, and again in my comments upon the writings of Mr. Chadwiek, of California. As to whether or not it was profitable to save bees from trees when cut, I thought I had proven conclusively that it was; but, judging from your conclusions, Mr. Chad- wick's ideas, based upon guesswork, were accepted in preference to mine, based upon a personal and practical experience ; but, no matter. I know I am right, and pre- sume I have had as much practical experi- ence as any man in the United States, and that is taking in a lot of territory. I realize it, and I am willing to take back numbers of Gleanings on your file and compare notes with anybody along this line. All of my transferring from trees to hives has been done in the fall, and most of them late at that, and as late as November 27. I have yet my first colony to lose in winter- ing, so taken. Many of them have given me 100 lbs. of choice extracted honey the fol- lowing season, and had plenty left for wintering. Only a few years ago I cut fourteen trees in the fall, and out of the trees cut I saved ten good colonies. Some- times a tree will break in falling where no small trees are handy to let them fall upon, and in such cases a queen may be lost or a portion of the bees mashed. At such times T doubled ; but you can see that the per cent of such was small when I had ten good swarms out of the fourteen ; and the beauty of it was, I had ten good colonies the next spring; and when fall came I had twenty good stocks and 1000 lbs. of fine honey. Now, who, in the face of this, can say it is not wisdom to transfer bees from trees cut in the fall? I have never done this, simply because I have never had the oppor- tunity; but I will bet some money that I can transfer a swarm in this manner in Decem- ber or January, and save them. When you look at it from a reasonable standpoint, why not? If trees are cut after the brood is all hatched you have exactly the same conditions that you have in the hive — viz., a colony of young bees, and, as a rule, a young queen ; and if properly done they stand just as good a chance to survive the winter and build up early in the season as if they were hatched in the hive. So far as adjusting themselves to new surroundings, it has no ill effect whatever; ard 1 wish to relate my first attempt in this direction. An old experienced bee-hunter found a tree that he knew was useless, sold it to a man running a hardware store in the village of Hillsboro, and the tree was in sight of the village. The purchaser asked me to help liim cut it, saying he would divide with me. I told liim I did not care for a division, but he was welcome to the honey, and I would take the bees and empty combs. This was highly satisfactory to him; and when we cut it and opened it up there was a little bunch of bees and a nice young queen. I actually believe a quart cup would have held every bee (though we might not have been able to get the queen in). They had two pieces of comb, a little larger than my hand, which had been filled with brood, though all were hatched. There was no honey. The purchaser sat there on the little log, about ten inches in diameter, looking at the contents, and finally said, " Well, Elias, you know what the contract was; help yourself." To show that I was game I proceeded to drive the little yellow-banded fellows into my box, and picked up the two pieces of comb, and away we went (on Sunday at that as that was the only time he could get away ) . When I reached home I prepared a hive — I think with four frames of honey taken from an upper story, and the way those little fellows took possession was not slow. I took them to my yard, two miles from the tree, and they went into the cellar with the rest later; and when brought out in the spring they were as bright as the day they were put in. They built the hives up rapidly, and were a nice colony when clover was ready, and at the close of basswood I extracted 100 lbs. of honey from them, and they had plenty for winter, but tliey did not swarm. Now, come on, brother bee-hunters, who don't rob the bees and leave them to starve in the woods. Let us settle this question once for all. Union Center, Wis. [Perhaps our statements referred to in the foregoing were rather too sweeping; but we had in mind advice for beginners rather than for experts. We consider our corres- pondent an expert in taking bees from trees, and we believe, that he can do what many others should not attempt to do along this line. — Ed.] .rANlAKY 1, l'J15 33 ORIGIN OF ALBUMEN IN HONEY Based on a lecture by Dr. Langer-Oraz BY J. A. HEBERLE^ B. S. About 17 years ago, French and German scientists, by experiment and extensive stud- scientists, by experiment and extensive studies, worked out a method of diflferen- dilTerent orii>ins. In order to understand clearly what follows, it is necessary to describe brielly some of the methods. If into an animal a dilute solution of albumen, for instance from a hen's egg, be injected a few times, the blood of this ani- mal undergoes a very subtle change. If blood from this animal is taken, and, after coagulating, the thick part separates, there remains an almost clear solution called serum. Through the injection the serum has acquired the peculiar property of giving a pi'ccipitate with a dilute solution from the albumen of a hen's Qgg, but not with albumen from other sources. It may be mentioned that the serum obtained in the above-mentioned case will not act uniform- ly with Q^g albumen from various birds. With some Q^g albumen it will fail to give a precipitate if tlie dilution is 1 to 100, 1 to 200. or 1 to 1000; while with the albumen of tlie same source that has been used for injection it will aive a distinct precipitate if'the dilution is 1 to 10,000, 1 to 50,000, or even greater. The nearer related the birds are to the one from which the egg albumen was used for injection the more dilute may be the solution of the Qgg albumen and still give a precipitate. This biological method furnishes the only means to decide the deri- vation of albuminous bodies, and is used in food analysis and by court chemists. By this method blood spots, even if old and dried up, can be positively identified, wheth- er from the human body or lower animals. Prof. Langer began to use the biological method for the critical examination of hon- ey in 1002. At the same time, and inde- pendently of him, von Riegler, of Budapest, worked on the same problem. Prof. Langer used albumen derived from honey, while Riegler used a dilute solution of honey for injection. The obtained serums gave pre- fipitates with dilute solutions of honey. The results of several years of study and experiments were published in the Archives of Hygiene. 1909. Prof. Langer lias deter- mined that the albumen in honey is derived from the bees. Animals that have been treated with albumen derived from honey furnish a serum that gave a precipitate, not only with honey albumen, but also with watery extracts from the heads of bees, the larva* of hoes, of bce-hread. and with diluted r-liyle. Animals lieated (injected) with watery extracts of the heads of bees furnished a serum which gave a precipitate with honey albumen. These reciprocal reac- tions pointed to the presence of a uniform albumen in honey, the heads of worker bees, larvas of bees, bee-bread, and in chyle. Prof. Langer's endeavor to prove the presence of albumen of vegetable origin in honey by the biological method was not successful. He recommended a detailed method for the quantitative determination of albumen in honey, and asked that it be thoroughly tested. Two scientists have re- ported, and the results obtained agreed with his. Especially valuable was the report of Dr. Thoeny of the Swiss health office. Dr. Kuestenmacher, in 1910, gave it as his opinion that the albumen in the honey comes from pollen. According to his idea, the albumen of the pollen is dissolved in the pollen-stomach, and diffuses partly through its walls, and so becomes chyle, and part of it (the albumen of the pollen) gets into the honey. The mistake of Prof. Langer, writes Dr. Kuestenmacher (that the albumen in bee-bread gets into it with the saliva of the bees) I need not refute, because I have shown elscAvhere the principal parts of which pollen consists, exclusive of saliva. Prof. Langer was much interested, and either wanted to prove the assertion of Dr. Kuestenmacher (that the albumen in the honey was derived from the pollen) or dis- prove it. He gathered pollen himself from the hazelbush, and made a watery extract from the whole pollen as well as from pollen after triturating it with fine sand. With these dilute solutions rabbits were in- jected, so he obtained a pure pollen (anti- serum). This gave a pi'ecipitate with a veiy dilute hazel-pollen extract with other pollen extracts, only in more concentrated solutions; but it gave no precipitate with honey albumen. Dr. Kuestenmacher claims that honey albumen is a pollen albumen. If that were so, a serum obtained by injec- tion with honey albumen would give a pre- cipitate with pollen albumen ; but Prof. Langer never succeeded in obtaining a pre- cipitate under these conditions. According to the results of his extensive experiments he concludes that the mistake about the origin of albumen, at least of the biologically tangible albumen in honey, is on the side of Dr. Kuestenmacher. The experiments of Dr. Langer force one lo the conclusion thai I he albumen in lioney is derived fiom the bee. Kemjjten, Bavaria, Germany. GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE KOOTENAY BEEKEEPERS' ASSOCIATION, BRITISH COLUMBIA BY W. J. SHEPPARD, HONORARY SECRETARY-TREASURER A well-attended and enthusiastic general meeting of the newly formed Kootenay Bee- keepers' Association, the first one of the kind to be organized in British Columbia, was held at the City Hall, Nelson, Nov. 27, for the purpose of electing officers and passing a constitution and by-laws. The meeting was also a thoroughly representa- tive one, beekeepers from many of the out- lying districts of the east and west Koote- nays and boundary, the territory covered by the association, being present. It has been recognized for some time that, in order to stimulate the beekeeping indus- try, and assist beekeepers in disposing of their honey, a system of co-operation has become absolutely necessarj". Since honey of uniformly good qualitj^ in any quantity is capable of being produced in this section of the Province it could not be expected that it would be possible to dispose of it at re- munerative prices unless a uniform sj'stem of putting it up for market could be pro- vided. The beekeepers have also had con- siderable ditficulty in the past in obtaining bee-supi^lies, owing to heavy freight rates and other causes, and also to get hives suit- able to the climatic requirements of this region. Thousands of fruit-trees have been planted all over the territory during the past few years, and for this reason alone the keeping of bees has become essential. It is hoped, therefore, that the association will be able to accomplish useful work. That the movement is appreciated can be gauged by the fact that nearly half the beekeepers in the territory have already become members and paid the annual sub- scription of $1.00. The objects of the association as set fortli in the constitution and by-laws adopted at the meeting are as follows: The objects of the association shall be to promote and encourage the keeping of bees and tlie most suitable methods for their profitable management. To assist members of the association in disposing of their produce to the best ad- vantage by the adoption of uniformity in its " getup " for market, and the provision of a special distinctive honey-label, for the use of members only, which should ultimate- ly tend to be looked upon by the purchaser as a guarantee of excellence and ])urity. To obtain the most advantageous terms for members in the purchase of bee-supplies. To promote and regulate local exhibitions of honey and other bee products, and ar- range for the competent judging thereof. To advocate the more general growing and cultivation of nectar-yielding trees and plants, such a.s linden or basswood {Tilia Americana), alsike clover {Tri folium hybri- dum), etc. To aid in the dissemination of reliable and practical information with regard to the beekeeping industry, and further its progTess in every way possible in the inter- ests of the members. The following officers were unanimously elected for the year ending September 30, 1915 : President, G. Fleming, Nelson; vice-pres- idents, James Johnstone, Nelson, and Ma- jor-Genei'al Lord Aylmer, Queens Bay; honorary secretary-treasurer, W. J. Shep- pard. Nelson ; executive committee, J. J, Campbell. Willow Point; Mrs. Casler, Nel- son ; J. Hyslop, Nelson ; C. G. Johnson, Nelson ; W. H. Rixen, Nelson ; W. J. Mohr, Nelson ; J. Blinco, Creston ; B. Lockwood, Fruitvale; E. Alpaugh, Kaslo; R. E. Plew- man. Rossland; J. H. Vestrup, Nakusp; H. W. Collins, Grand Forks; H. G. Slater, Robson; T. S. Gill, Cranbrook; G. F. At- tree, Queens Bay; Auditor, J. D. Kerr, Longbeach. BV GRACE ALLEN On a vacation ramble among the Tennessee hills more than thirty miles from a railroad, we came upon this charming couple, aged seventy-six and sixty-six respectively. In an orchard on their farm were about fifty stands of bees, in old-fashioned " gums." In their cottage yard we found them, Back among the trees, White-haired beefolk on a hillside, With their countless bees Humming happily around them, And a quiet calm Like an ancient benadiction Or a psalm. Now when crowded days come bringing Tasks that never cease. We recall the gentle beefolk With their steadfast peace, And we seem to hear a singing On a far-off hill, Wlipre our spirit-s pause and listen, And grow still. \.\r.\KV I, 19 ir. Headg of Grmm from Different Fields The Backlot Buzzer Fall negligence and wide entrances only lead to }rinter traoediex. Report of the Minnesota State Inspector of Apiaries St. Paul, Minn., Oct. 10, 1914. The Hon. A. O. Eberhart, Governor of the State of Minnesota. Dear Sir: — The Inspector of Apiaries herewith submits his fourth annual report, as required by law, and shows: Xumber of apiaries inspected, 374; number of hives inspected, 6975 ; number of apiaries found diseased, 33; number of hives found diseased, 197; number of apiaries given treatment, 27 ; number of apiaries reinspected, 24; number of hives found in- curable and destroyed, 47; number of empty hives disinfected, 25; number of box hives transferred to movable-frame hives, 13. Tlie above apiaries were found in the following counties: Benton. Blue Earth, Carver, Chisago, Dakota, Faribault, Fillmore, Goodhue, Hennepin, Houston, Le Sueur, Meeker, Pine, Ramsey, Rice, Sherburne, Stearns, Wabasha, Waseca, Washington, and Wright. In my last report I discussed the discovery and treatment of " foul brood." I shall, however, make my report for this season as brief as possible, show- ing mostly the work that my deputies and I have accomplished. The bee industry in the State of Minnesota has been nearly a total failure this year, the spring hav- iiisr been unusually wet and cold. There are a few places showing surplus honey, but in the majority of apiaries feeding has been necessary. This state of affairs makes it very unpleasant for both the bee- keeper and the inspectors. T am pleased to say that the treatment for foul lirood has been a great success. We have worked luu-d to stamp out this disease, although we have I'lu-ountered many diihcuUies in so doing. Permis- sion to inspect several apiaries has been refused me this season at first, but a little patient instruction won over the beekeepers. The State law provides, of course, for loinpiilsory inspection, but sometimes it is a little hard to m^ke the keeper understand its benefits. We certainly liave a good law in this State. I have received requests from bee inspectors and agricultural colleges all over the country, asking for copies. The beekeepers of Minnesota have reason to lie proud of this fact. I expect to see a better honey crop next year, as conditions look very promising all over the State at this time. Respectfully submitted, J. Alf. Holmbeeg, State Inspector of Apiaries. Bees Come to Montreal as Stowaways The record for freak stowaways belongs to the steamer Montezuma, which made port on the morn- ing of July 22, with a good swarm of bees on board. Italian bees they were, and it was across a belt of salt water four miles wide the busy workers came when they decided to leave the European field and seek the gardens of the New World. When they arrived on board the big cargo boat, three weeks ago, they were hospitably received by Chief Engin- eer Stanley. They swarmed around one of the boat davits, on the after deck, where Mr. Stanley hived them in a soapbox. Since that day the bees have worked like Trojans. Their diet has been sugar and water, and whatever jam they could purloin from the ship's galley. On the warm days they were all over the ship. Mr. Stanley states that several scouts have gone out to investigate the neighborhood, in spite of the cold. When the sun comes out they will travel further afield, but no fear is felt that they will swarm off, as they seem to be very comfortable. The bees will make the return trip in the same box, and then will be sent to Engineer Stanley's home in Wales. Mr. Stanley states he has not been stung during the voyage ; and when showing the hive the bees walked all over him. The Montezuma is the largest cargo boat running to Montreal, having a full capacity of 12,000 tons. Three and a half years ago she broke the Canadian record for immigrants, carrying 2618 in one trip to St. .Tohn's. Her cargo is general from Antwerp. At the time the Gothland, on the Scilly Islands, ran aground, the Montezuma was not far behind, and was one of the vessels to respond to the S. O. S. call. Boauliarnois, Quebec, Can. A. Sashton. The Effect of the War on Honey Prices in Scotland I am in the best clover district that can be had, but I ani going to a poor clover district, but one where there is milas of heather. It is only a year, now and again, that it is possible to get a big yield of heather honey, and 1914 was such a year. The war has been greatly against the selling of honey. Shops are not buying nearly as much, for ihcy have no one asking for it. The price has been very low. .TAMES SMITH. Drungans, Newabbey, Dumfries, Scotland, Nov. 9. 36 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE Ventilated Coat Sleeves In the sketches herewith I illustrate a ventilated wristlet, or cuff, made of wire fly-screen, connecting the gloves to the sleeve of the coat, or connecting the gloves with gauntlets, to enable the wearer, when handling vicious bees, to enjoy cool arms and hands in consequence of the free circulation of air about the bare wrists. The wire-screen wristlets protect from the stings of the bees by being held away from the bare wrists half an inch or more by the half-inch spiral coils of wire soldered or substantialUy fasten- ed to the wristlet, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. If he participates in the last mentioned he is in- clined to run the bees for increase and not for honey. He will, therefore, keep the increase down as much as possible and run the whole for honey. For fuller particulars you are referred to " Bees on Shares " in our ABC and X Y Z of Bee Culture. — EI..1 Fig. 3 shows the wristlet straightened out flat with the half-inch spiral coils of wire attached in the best shape for sending through the mail. Fig. 1 shows a work coat fitted with ventilated wire-screen wristlets or cuffs. Fig. 2 shows a gauntlet glove similarly fitted. I have used a coat fitted with wire-screen wrist- lets or cuffs as shown in Fig. 1 for the past several years when handling vicious bees during hot dry weather after the end of the honey-flow, and find it immensely more comfortable than a coat without them, having the gloves sewed directly to the sleeves of the coat. Dehesa, Cal. R. J. Krause. An Outdoor Colony Put in a Hive Nov. 15 A man wliile Ininting, Nov. 4, near my apiary, saw four pieces of comb on an oak-tree, and found a swarm of bees on a little bush about 30 feet away from the oak. It was a cold night, and the tree stood by itself in an open field. The bees left the combs to go to the bush, no doubt to get out of the wind. On Nov. 5 I hived the bees and gave them combs of honey. The combs on the limb of the tree were about eight inches across, while one was smaller. This is the first time I ever hived a swarm in November. Last season, which was very dry, with 17 colonies of bees I secured about 800 pounds of honey, mostly extracted. My apiary is at Remington, Va., and I work in Washington, D. C, 57 miles away, so that I do not see my bees in the summer oftener than once in every three or four weks. I had no swarm in 1914. I keep my queens clipped. Washington, D. C. F. Taylor Thompson. Bees on Shares or for Rent I desire some information concerning what is con- sidered as a fair and safe proposition to make to the owner of an apiary for its rental. Houghton, N. Y., Nov. 28. H. R. Smith. [When bees are put out on a rental basis, or on shares, the party who furnishes the bees receives half the honey and beeswax and all the increase, while the party wlio furnishes the labor receives half the honey and the beeswax, but no increase. A 20 X 20 Thirteen-frame Hive as Standard A subject of especial interest is that of a larger liive, under discussion in the last two numbers of Glkaxixgs. I believe that honey-producers quite generally are arriving at the one opinion that the ten-frame o hive is too small. The eight- frame is not worthy of men- tioning as a beehive. It may do for a home for a nucleus for a short time. I believe that the eight-framo hive is the direct cause of excessive swarming in this locality. I believe that a standard size should be agreed upon, and manufactured as a standard by the supply-houses. This, perhaps, would be hard to agree upon, as at present there seems to lie a great diversity of opinion. To my mind it seems that the square hive, 20 x 20 inches, containing 13 L. frames, would make an ideal stan- dard hive. True, many of our best queens under proper care would fill a larger hive ; but with this hive it would not require any great amount of man- ipulation to keep ahead of the most prolific queen. In the past few years more than half of my queens under stimulative feeding (one-half pint warm sugar syrup each evening from the close of fruit-bloom until the opening of clover bloom) have filled from fifteen to twenty L. frames with brood before the clover bloom opens. What we want is a hive that V ill provide plenty of room for breeding to the limit of their strength, assist in curtailing swarming, provide a good honey-producing hive, and at the same time prove a good winter hive without excessive manipulation. This 20 x 20 square hive, it seems, will strike a happy medium for breeding, honey production, and summer. For winter, furnish it with a telescope top ten or eleven inches deep, and large enough to allow half- inch packing on all sides and a heavy packing on top under cover. This, I believe, will make an ideal hive for outdoor wintering. While brother Hand makes a good plea to cut out excessive manipulation, it seems to me that his sixteen-frame hive with an eight-frame inside for winter, with sixteen-frame su- per added, requires about as much manipulation as any plan I know of in use or advocated by any one else. Removing the queen together with two frames of brood at the beginning of the honey-flow, to prevent swarming, works very sucessfully in preventing swarming, giving a good honey yield and an increase of 100 per cent with a ten-frame hive. IJrbana, Ohio. O. .7. Janes. Sections Stamped with Too Low a Weight We were much interested in reading the article on page 221, Dec. 1, on the net-weight law as applied to the comb-honey business. Both your comments and those of Mr. R. A. Burnett, of Chica- go, meet our views. We think that if the beekeep- ers would take a little more pains and very little r.i:irc labor they could comply with the law, and the results would be more satisfactory to them and to the dealers. As Mr. Burnett says, " make the sec- lANUAKY 1, 1915 tious more equal in weiglit in each case." For in- stance, we handled a car of comb honey this fall in uiiich there was entirely too much difference in the .narked weights of the sections and the actual weights. We found sections marked 8 ounces when they actually weighed on the scales from 13 to 15 ounces. This was the way with the majority of the cases in the car. If these sections had been marked 12 or 13 ounces, the law would have been complied with, and the honey sold for more money. About the first question our customers ask us when we offer lioney for sale is, "What do the sections weigh?" We open a case, showing a section marked " 8 ounces," and the customer says, "Too light weight;" consmiuently it is difficult to get all the honey i.s actually worth if it had been properly marked. Eight ounces complies with the law all right; but the seller gets less for the honey than if it were marked correctly. We think that this is really an unnecessary law, and the benefits the beekeepers and the consumers will gain will not be equal to the expense and labor, and the consumer will pay just as much or more for the honey ; but it is the law, and all concerned must make the best of it. C. C. Clemons Produce Co. Kansas City, Mo., Dec. 4. Binding Magazines with Nails No doubt many of your readers feel an interest in saving copies of Gleanings for reference, but do not wish to go to the expense of buying binders or having them bound. In the following method I find a good and cheap way to keep them, and have them always arranged for ready use. I find that twelve numbers, or half of the year, make about the right number for putting together. Select these and make the backs and bottom edge even by holding the lot edgewise on the table; also make sure that you have them arranged properly. Now use eight nails of the size for nailing frames together, also eight small pieces of oilcloth or thin leather about Vz inch square. I find that oilcloth doubled to make the size is best. Drive the nails about Vi inch from the back edge of the bunch of numbers selected, four to each side, making use of the oilcloth pieces to prevent the heads of the nails from sinking into the paper and tearing out later. Four of these nails will lack just a little of going through, and the four driven from the other side will make the binding complete, so that you will have your numbers easily bound, and they will not come apart. This will also apply to the other bee-journals ; but I find that the twelve numbers, or full year, can be put together. .-^ht'llinan, Ga. D. W. Howell. A Bid for National Association Advertising 3[r. Editor .-^Juil^ing from quite a number of letters we have had from beekeepers in various parts of the country we imagine that, when the National Association meets in February, there will be some discussion about advertising, as there has been for years, and especially as to the use of a page of reading-matter relating to honey in the American Grocer each fourth week during one year — 13 times — to show grocers that they can sell more honey. The writer for a long time has been firm in the belief that the consumption of honey in the United States might be largely increased, and a good point to start with is the grocery trade — not that the American Orocer covers the whole fraternity, but it is the oldest (and we believe it to be the most care- fully read) paper of its class — one eminently worthy of the support of the National Association. The cost of this page per member of the Association will be 37 a mere bagatelle — so little, indeed, that an outlay live times as large would not be burdensome, and thus other publications might be used too. If the .National Association frowns on the use of this journal, we believe there are individual beekeepers wlio will use the space — being willing to place the wliole burden on their own shoulders — just as in some churches some "pillars" seem willing to "pay Iho freight" for the benefit of the whole body. I should like to have the opinions of your readers as to tlii-s project. The cost for the 13 pages will lie $30 for each insertion. If we may be trusted to do so we will get up the matter here, though we by 110 moans insist on doing the work. The American Grocer, per F. J. Root, Adv. Manager. Now York, Dec. 9. Bucher's Drawer Feeder I am sending a sketch of a feeder. I do not know that it is new, but it is the most satisfactory of any of the different feeders I have tried. The case Is made the width of the hive, and three or four inches longer, to provide an alighting-place. There is a bee-space left all around the drawer inside the case so that no bees can be killed in opening and closing ihe drawer. The drawer is provided with thin strips spaced about Vz inch apart to prevent bees from drowning. Of course the depth of the drawer will determine the amount of feud it will hold. If a strip with a hole for pouring syrup is fastened against f]innnnn,oiinnnnnnnnpnng^ the drawer end, flush with the top of the sides, with wire screen tacked over the hole on the under side of the strip, no bees can get out while feed is given. As an experiment, on June 13, 1914, we took an old bo.x hive that had cast a swarm about 17 days previously, and drummed the bees out, making sure of the queen, then dumped them in front of the entrance of a new hive filled with full sheets of foundation, except one frame of honey (our honey- flow had ceased at that time). The old hive was tlien set close to the rear of and connected to the new hive with a tube and Porter bee-escape in such a way that the remaining bees in the old hive on coming out were compelled to pass through the tube into the new hive. In three or four days prac- tically all the bees were in the new hive. Then they were set over the feeder, and their stores fed back l:y simply filling the drawer with the old combs. When the first batch was clean, the drawer was re- lilled and so on. In a short time those bees were in a new hive, with new straight combs, without the disagreeable mess of trying to fit old crooked combs in frames, and a poor job in the end. Littlestown, Pa., Sept. 15. C. F. Bucheb. The Net-weight Law a Nuisance The net-weiglit law has caused me no end of trouble. I sent for three rubber stamps, and marked all my sections that weighed 12 V^ oz. or more. How- ever, K. A. Burnett, of Chicago, says that every section weighing within an ounce should be cased 38 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE separately. This would mean that I would have to have several more stamps to mark the different sections. If one case has its sections marked 12% oz., and another 14 or 15 oz., I am afraid that the case marked 12 V2 oz. would not bring the price the other would; yet the one marked 12 1^ oz. may be No. 1 comb honey. Plum Citv, Wis. H. E. Luebker. Beekeeping in Texas We begau work about the first of March, going through the colonies which had come through the winter in fine condition on the summer stands. We found many of the brood-chambers so full of honey that the queens had very little room to work. We take out one or two frames of honey and put foundation in place of the honey. If we have any weak colonies that seem to need help in the begin- ning of spring we take honey, and sometimes brood from the strong hives, and give to the weak ones ; then about the time the huajilla is beginning to bloom we put two weak colonies together, one on top of the other with a newspaper between them, so we have all colonies strong at the beginning of the honey -flow. We store the frames of honey taken from the hives in early spring in the honey-house ; and as we hive the swarms we give each swarm one or two frames of honey. We always wait until near night to do this work, so we have no trouble with robbers. Our bees usually gather enough honey from the per- simmon and prairie flowers for brood-rearing through the early spring. The huajilla is the earliest bloom that we get any marketable honey from. Then comes the catclaw. These are the main sources for our crop in this country. Some years we get some honey from horsemint, whitebrush, and some few other flowers that yield very good honey in early summer. We had a fine huajilla bloom last season. Just as that was giving out, the catclaw bloomed — the finest crop of bloom we ever had ; but the rainy weather set in and cut the crop from that source short. We got 12,000 lbs. from our two apiaries — 185 colonies in all — mostly bulk comb honey. We have about 3000 lbs. of that on hand yet. PREVENTIXG GRANULATION OP BULK COMB HONEY. We heated the extracted honey that we packed our comb honey in. We heated it very slowly, and kept it hot a long time. We did not let it get to the boiling-point and did not spoil the flavor nor turn it dark, and none of it has granulated so far. We had a broomweed bloom last fall, and had no cold weather, but a good deal of rain. The hives filled up rapidly, giving a crop of that off-grade honey to extract. It is worthless, as there is so much of the better honey on the market. We went to the apiary a few weeks ago and put some foundation in the brood-chambers — on the aver- age one frame to the colony — so that we would have more combs to hive swarms on in spring instead of so much of the off-grade honey. Del Rio, Tex., Nov. 26. Mrs. C. Dishman. Queens and After-swarms Last season my wliole yard swarmed at once, about 150 colonies in ten days. Much mixing occurred. I feared there would be many queens missing for that reason, and because there was a pest of bee- martins. The swarming took place during a heavy honey-flow from alfalfa. There were many after- swarms, having from two to six well-developed virgin queens. I proceeded as follows: Putting a few queen-cages in my pocket, with the ends closed with wads of cloth, I took a dishpan to where the swarm had settled, and shook the bees into it. I picked out the virgins and caged them, shaking the bees about as necessary, then took the pan to the middle of the yard and threw them into the air. I mated the vir- gins in Rauchfuss nucleus boxes holding three com- mon comb-honey sections, and when inspecting for frefli eggs I introduced them into the queenless colo- nies, which were 15 in a total of 270 in the apiary. I do not claim this is the way to raise the best queens, though I fail to see in what way they are inferior to any of those left in the hives after natu- ral swarming. It did, however, take care of the queenlessness, and also put the bees of the after- swarms back where they belonged. Zapata, N. M. H. H. Brown. A New Way to Stop Robbing Find tlio colony which is doing the robbing, and cover it over with old carpet or burlap, or grass or weeds. Leave its entrance wide open and tuck the sacking down close under the hive so those out will have much difficulty in finding their way into the hive. May be they will not get in. There will be something doing around that hive within a few min- utes. Leave it that way for an hour or two. The colony will come to no harm, even on the hottest day here. Also go to the colony being robbed, and smoke slightly and close the entrance for a minute and pound the hive; then open the entrance for a few minutes. The robbers will all leave quickly. Then contract the entrance to two bee-spaces and leave for a day or two, and you will have no further difficulty. This method has never failed here. I have never seen this in print. May be it will help some one. Vincent, Ohio. W. S. Basin. Terrible Fire in California On Nov. 19 we had one of the worst fires here in the mountains ever known. It burned a strip 5 miles wide and 30 long. The people had to run for their lives. I lost 90 stands of bees, my bee-house, eight-frame extractor, gasoline-engine — in fact, every thing I had. I was living in my honey-house, and I even lost my bed and bedding, cooking utensils, 367 empty hives and frames. Besides mine there were two houses and a barn burned and six head of horses, and five deer. Arroyo Grande, Cal., Dec. 9. M. D. Price. [Gleanings extends sympathy. A disaster of this kind is terrible indeed. — Ed.] Queen Accepted after CeUs were Started T have had good success with direct introduction of queens with smoke, although I had three failures which I cannot account for. I had also a rare ex- perience. To a populous colony of cross hybrids in a two-story hive I introduced a queen. On the fourth day I examined the colony, and found numer- ous cells started. I grafted them all. On the third day I examined to see how many accepted. Not one cell was in existence, and I found the queen intro- duced all right. C. M. Carmona. Trinidad. British West Indies. Bee Martins — Do They Do Damage in a Honey-producing Yard? Would you kindly advise wliether it is advisable to do away with murtiuhouses near an apiary? We love to have these birds on our fruit-farm; but I am not sure that they may not do serious harm to our bees. Some claim tlioy eat drones only. Chicago, 111., Nov. 17. T. H. Holmes. [There is a bird, known as the bee-martin, that kills bees and queens; but unless you are rearing queens in considerable numlers, we do not think you need to pay any attention to the birds, as the few l.eemartin houses that you have there will do no appreciable dartiage. Yes, these birds eat drones; but they are also fond of queens. — El).] JANUARY 1, 1915 39 A. I. Root OUM HOME Editor But I say unto you, that ye resist not evil. — Matt. 5:39. Pray for them which despitefuUy use you, and persecute you. — Matt. 5:44. Some of you may, perhaps, feel like saying, " Why, brother Root, you have had the above text over and over. Can't you think or talk about something- else?" No, friends, ] eaiuiot think or talk about some- lliing else when this same " Gospel of Christ -Jesus " is still such an "unexplored region" as I told my good mother jears ago. About the first thing on reaching our Florida home was to see if the Sears auto- mobile was in good trim after standing unused six months in the auto house. It went off promptly on almost the first crank- ing. Have you forgotten about the mis- chievous boys who vexed and annoyed me two years ago? Well, if you have, the boys liaven't. Just as soon as I stopped before a store, two of them, with mischief in their looks, pounced on my auto, began pinching the tires, blowing the horn, and pulling and twisting almost every thing movable. The impulse to forbid them touching my proper- ty was almost irresistible; but (thank God) 1 had learned some lessons. I took no no- tice of them, and started to go into the store; but as I neared the door and heard them rattling things the temptation was so great to look around and see what they were at T could hardly stand it, and could only mentally gi'oan in distress, " Lord, help ! " I think I added, " 0 Lord, give me faith to believe you will not only take care of my machine but of my poor self also while I am trijiiifi to follow your commands." Years ago, when 1 was laboring in the Medina jail with my poor friend " Fred," he said that, while this new doctrine might be right, it " went awfully agin the grain," and I realized it. When I came out of the store they had topped meddling (my prayer was prompt- Iv answered, please notice), and I said, as if nothing had annoyed me: *'Boys, can you tell me where Roy Parker's jihice is? " ■'Oh, yes ! we'll show you. Sha'n't I crank \ iiiir machine? " As he was a small boy, and hardlj^ equal to the task, his companion laughed at his apparent failure; but I gave him some in- structions; and w'hen off it Went I asked them to get in and ride with me, and we parted the best of friends. Dear friends, the above is only a trifling incident. Why should T take pains to tell il at all? Because it embodies a great truth. These boys were simply wanting something to do. I succeeded in diverting them from tlieir mischief into something useful. They are a fair type of boys all over our land. In our recent temperance crusade the ques- tion was asked, " Which is of more impor- tance— the revenue or our boys?" Also, " Sliall we pay the revenue by sacrificing our boys? " A year ago two of my auto tires were punctured while my machine was left some time on the street, and how did I know that my tires would not be punctured again while I was in the store trading? It did occur to me; but I answered Satan that saving these two boys was of far more moment than many " tires " or even a whole automobile. Very soon after our arrival a boy's face on the street startled me, and I soon recalled it was the boy who (by God's providence) I saved from a watery grave.* He is now bringing me every evening the Bradentown daily paper. In answer to my prayei', God gave him back to life, and a further respon- sibility rests on my poor shoulders. Is it not of far more importance that I win him to Christ Jesus and everlasting lile'^ When- ever I meet him his face appeals to me as if there exists a sacred relationship between us. Does it not behoove me to feel a greater interest in all the boys because of that in- cident ? A word more about being in haste to " resist evil." Do we who are church mem- bers remember as we should that " a soft answer turneth away wrath " ? Mrs. Root and I were once riding with our old pastor, Rev. A. T. Reed. The livery horse balked. Mr. Reed said, " Wait a minute." He jumped out of the buggy, un- buckled the " belly-band," and quickly buckled it up again, " chirrupped " to the horse, and off we went all right. In answer to our surprised request for explanation for such an absurd remedy he replied: " My act simply diverted the attention of the horse from his ugly spell; and when I got back into the buggy and told him to go he had forgotten about being contrary." * A few weeks ago I attended a moving-picture show that is attracting much attention just now — John Barleycorn. It seems " John " became dis- courased in the effort to break away from his foe; and while partly intoxicated he attempted suicide by .iumping off the dock. His struggle in the water, and failing strength as he made his last faint strug- gle when he ro^o the last time, were so real it re- called the incident of the drowning boy so vividly that T involuntarily started before I recalled why the scene affected me so. GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE Are we not much like the dumb brutes in this respect? The boys were surprised (and disappointed) because they did not get the scolding that would naturally follow; and finally (like the horse) they forgot about the mischief they had planned. When you learn to love your enemies you will have the " happy surprise " of finding they are en- emies no longer, but friends. I have just read in the daily of two men who got into an argument about the war. It ended by both drawing revolvers and riddling each other with bullets. Will any one explain what was settled or accom- IDlished by this silly and wicked act ? When I was a boy, skeptics made fun of the stories in the Bible about being " possessed of devils." Were not these two men possessed of devils to do this? and would it be so very preposterous to suppose whole nations are just noiv in enthrallment of " legions of devils " ? How does it come these two men had revolvers, defying the law against con- cealed weapons? and does not the incident point out the worse than folly of equipment for war that runs up into many millions? HOMELESS BABES AND " BABELESS " HOMES. On these pages I have often spoken of the efforts that are being made to save the babies that have been so long dying in in- fancy, and dying for want of intelligent and proper care. A few days ago an agent of the Ohio State Board of Charities spoke at our church about fifteen minutes just before the sei'mon. His business is to look up the orphaned babies of the State of Ohio, or babies that have no parents or relatives to give them proper care. That is one part of his business. The other part is to hunt up fathers and mothers who have no babies or little children of their own, and who are willing to take a child and give it proper care. Let me digi'ess a little right here. Somewhere in this big wide world is a boy eighteen or nineteen years old. When he was born his mother was unmarried; but his father was rich enough to hire Iier to "keep still;" and the baby was sent to an Ohio infirmary. Perhaps we had better call it an Ohio " poorhouse " on this occasion. When this boy got to be old enough (o be of some use in choring, etc., a well-to- do grasping farmer agreed to take him. I think he was " bound out " to the farmer, for that is what they called it then. Well, the agreement was that the boy was to have board and clothes, and a certain amount of schooling. My attention was first called to him when he was about fifteen years old. He was strong, and able to do a man's work, and had been doing it. But he had no wages, and was sent to school so little, with so many interruptions, that his school- ing amounted to about nothing. He ran away, as many another poor boy has done, and changed his name so his old " *^orraen- tor " could not find him without trouble. I consulted an attorney, and set the boy at work. He was so willing, and put in with such energy and vigor, that it really touched my heart. Well, so many cases of this kind have come to light by investigation, that the State of Ohio (may God be praised) has appointed a " commission " of men and women, first to visit the homes of those who ai-e willing to take a child and see what sort of home it is, and what kind of people they are. Then at regular intervals the home is visited again, the child looked after and interviewed, to see if he has a fair chance. My friend, did you ever consider that every baby in our land, boy or girl, has a right to live and have reasonable care? The respon- sibility rests on you and me. From the moment a child is born under the American flag there is, thank God, a right invested in him or her to " life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness;" and if the circumstances of the child's birth have not given him this fair chance, you and I are responsible for it. Please recall the words of the dear Savior when he said, " Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." Of course, the speaker's talk that Sunday morning reminded me of the picture on page 76 of our issue for January 15th last. Dear friends, I have had no end of kind words for that article. If you have a copy of Gleanings handy, of that date, it might be worth your while to look it up ; and after you have looked it up, read the letter below : STATE OF OHIO, BOARD OF STATE CHARITIES, 1010 HARTMAN BUILDING, COLUMBUS. My dear Mr. Root : — I thank you for the courtesy you extended to me Monday, and also for your will- ingness to mention Ohio's children who are in need of mother love in your Gleanings. I am very much interested in the article you gave me which con- tained the story of the deserted baby. It reminded me somewhat of a little one whom I carried a long distance in my arms on the train (and who cried almost the entire distance). She had been picked out of an ash-barrel one January morning. A wo- man in the morning heard a sound that she thought was a cat. On examining the debris and garbage she discovered this beautiful little two-months'-old baby nearly dead from exhaust ion and neglect. The little one was .placed in a beautiful Christian home, .and has been legally adopted. The house she lives in to-day cost nearly $40,000. She is a splendid line little girl of fifteen, and has brought great sun- .<,hine into the lives of her foster parents. I was also interested in your article conceruiiiL' your trip from Florida with your wife. I think I JANUARY 1, 1915 have a strange feeling of respect for a man of your ase who speaks and writes so tenderly of his wife. Of course it ought to be the rule, but it isn't. With best wishes for the sui-cess ot' your Christian ,ind humanitarian work that you arc dolus in con- luH'tiou with your business, not divorcing them as ^oiuf men do, I am Yours sincerely, C. V. Williams, Director Children's Welfare Department. Now, if any citizen of the Slate of Ohio 41 who has read the above knows of :i baby neglected and uncared for, will he please notify the writer of the above letter"? and if you are willing to take a baby, or know of somebody else who would do so^ send the names to the same address. May God help US in our efforts to care for the homeless babies. eiGE=PKE§§UME GAMDEMNG DASIIEENS Ul' TO DATE. Our neighbor, Mr. Stanton, got a peck of tubers of us last April, from which he has raised ten bushels. On a part of his mound that was damp black muck he got a uood full peck from only one hill, and this hill came from a single small tuber. After seeing the peck of tubers 1 came home and had Wesley dig one of our best hills, and we got a heaping half-bushel. How is that for reducing the "high cost of living"? Are they as good, and will they really take the place of Irish potatoes? There is a •' draw- back '' to the dasheeu as food. Once in a while you get a hill that has the wild un- tamed ''acridity." The government bulletin mentions this, you may recall, and recom- mends baking soda as a corrective. We, in niir own home, have never got hold of such; but Huber and his wife had one hill of our raising that " stung their throats " quite badly. Mr. Stanton says they have also had one such experience, and the women folks since then are prejudiced against the dash- een ; but as for himself he wants them every meal instead of Irish potatoes. He expects to plant his whole ten bushels. There is just one other fault. When baked we occasionally get a tuber, or more frequently a corm that is tough and watery, and won't bake so as to mash up dry and lloury. Sometimes a small part of a tuber, say one end, will be like this; but when stewed we have never noticed any such trouble. Another neighbor, Mr. D. Abbott, a bee- keeper, has periiaps 100 busliels of fine matured tubers, and I would advise the friends who want seed to con'espond with him. As for myself I still consider a nice baked dasheen (such as we have just had for dinner) as far ahead of any sweet or Irish potato. So far we have not succeeded (so far as I recall) in getting any tubers to go across the ocean without spoiling. It seems to be because they cannot liave sufhciont ventila- tion in the mail. They go to California and other remote States, but not to foreign countries. Now, while this is true I have dasheen growing in our garden, the tubers of which were sent me from South Africa. See p. 471, June 15, 1913. I cannot recall now how friend Thompson packed the tubers; but he may recall when he sees this, and let us know. TREASURE ON EARTH, AND TREASURE IN HEAVEN. I have a walnut-tree that is a very strange one. It is a cross between a franquette and an English walnut. This tree is 11 years old, and never puts forth a leaf until July 2 or 3, and then it will grow two or three feet of wood, and harden up the wood for winter so frost will not freeze it. It bore four nuts last year. We ate one, and found it finer than any nut we ever saw before. We planted the three remaining nuts, and now we have two little trees from the three nuts. Now, Mr. Root, would you like to have me send you one of these trees this fall? I am doing some experimental work. I have a chestnut grafted on to a black oak. It bore chest- nuts the second year after grafting. They are good, and the tree is full of burrs this year, and promises a large crop of nuts. Let me tell you something else. You are the cause of me and my family going to church here; and now we have a nice Sunday-school, of which I am the superintendent. The people here have tried to break it up, but I am in it to stay. Pine Grove, Cal., Aug. 13. George Peeston. Many thanks, my good friend, for the olfer of a walnut-tree. In our Florida home, I have several walnut-trees, and perhaps you had better mail yours to me there, as the climate is more like yours in California. May God abundantly bless that Sunday- school and its superintendent. Such work may not be treasures laid u]) on carlli, but it is treasures in heaven that can never be taken away. GREEN CORN ; MAKING IT MORE DIGESTIBLE. Friend Root : — Did you ever use a corn-scratcher on your green corn? If you have never used one you would find a very decided improvement in the corn, and find it much more digestible, as you do not get any of the hulls of the corn. I do not remember seeing you mention it, so I concluded you had not. Oregon City, Ore. H. A. Bly. My good friend, 1 thank you especially, as I have noticed green corn sometimes dis- tresses me, and it occurred to me these tough hulls are ditRcult of digestion. I now recall seeing such a " scratcher," as you call 42 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE it, once, in the home of a relative. As I remember it was a little brush of sharp steel wires. Can any one tell us where to get the implement? SWEET CLOVER THE SUBSOILER. We clip the following from Farm and Fireside : Sweet clover is one of the best miners we have. Few plants develop root systems equal to those of this plant. Judge Quarton said so when pointing in Farm and Fireside .to the growth of sweet clover on his farm. But sometimes we need to see for our- selves. Grantham, of Delaware, has made a com- parison. He says: " A year ago sweet clover, alfalfa, and mammoth red clover were sown side by side in oats. Owing to the lateness of the season, and wet condition of the ground, the oats were not seeded until April. When the oats were harvested the sweet clover had made a growth of 18 inches, the alfalfa 10 inches. and the mammoth red clover about 5 inches. On August 1 a number of plants of each of the legumes was dug up, care being taken to remove the roots with as little damage as possible. The dry, hard condition of tile soil prevented tlie remo\al of the roots of the alfalfa and sweet clover to their full length. The sweet-clover roots were fully twice the length and size of the alfalfa roots. The root de- velopment of sweet clover during a period of ninety days, when grown with a nurse crop of oats, indi- cates the value of the plant as a subsoiler and its bearing on soil improvement. The soil on which the legumes were grown is a clay loam, and produced 50 bushels of oats per acre this year." Besides this evidence in favor of sweet clover we must remember that the sweet-clover roots, quick in growth as they are, are likewise quick to rot. Con- sequently they do not make the trouble that alfalfa roots do at plowing time, and some say they equal alfalfa roots as soil-enricliers. And yet sweet clover is not esteemed «s is alfalfa. Why ? Perhaps we have used neither of them as much as we should, and so do not fully appreciate either of these crops. TEMPERANCE " NATION WIDE " PROHIBITION NOT SO " DIS- ASTROUS ■''' AFTER ALL. The following, which we copy from the Jacksonville Times-Union of Nov. 19, comes pretty near being the most convincing argu- ment for absolute prohibition I ever came across. Can the Ohio Anti-saloon League find anything better to give the people in the present crusade than this? Just think of cutting off a " revenue " of five hundred millions at one stroke, and in one day, and instead of " disaster " great good came at once. Read the following: COMPLETE PROHIBITION IN EFFECT THROUGHOUT THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. Petrograd, Nov. 18. — Actual and complete prohi- bition is in force to-day throughout the entire Rus- sian empire ; and not a drop of vodka, whisky, brandy, gin, nor any other strong drink is obtainable from one end to the other of an area populated by 150,000,000 people, and comprising one-sixth of the habitable globe. In every foot of Russian territory the word prohi- bition is taken literally. It does not mean a par- tially successful attempt to curtail liquor consump- tion, resulting in drinking in secret places, abuse of medical licenses, and general evasion and subter- fuges. It does mean that a vast population who consumed $1,000,000,000 worth of vodka a year; whose ordinary condition has been described by Russians themselves as ranging from a slight degree of stimulation upward, has been lifted almost in one day to sobriety. On that day, when the mobilization began, police- men visited every public place where vodka is sold, locked up the supply of liquor, which is almost pure alcohol, and placed on the shop the imperial seal. Since the manufacture and sale of vodka is a gov- ernment monopoly it is not difficult to enforce pro- hibition ; and from the day the shops were closed drunkenness vanished. The results already are seen in the peasantry. They are beginning to look like a different race. Marks of suffering, the pinched looks of illness and improper nourishment, have gone from their faces. Their clothes are cleaner, and both men and women appear more neatly and better dressed. Homes of the poor, formerly destitute, now present something like order and thrift. In Petrograd and Moscow the effect is fairly start- ling. On holidays inebriates always filled the police stations and often lay about in the streets. To-day unattended women may pass at night through por- tions of these cities where it formerly was dangerous for men. Minor crimes and misdemeanors have almost vanished. This miracle virtually has been accomplished by one man. He is Michael D. Tchelisheff, a peasant by birth, originally a house painter by profession, then mayor of the city of Samara, and now a millionaire. Physically he is a giant, standing over six feet four inches. Although 55 years of age, his movements display the energy of youth ; his eyes are animated, and his black hair is not tinged with gray. In Petrograd Mr. Tchelisheff goes about clad in a blue blouse with a tasseled girdle and baggy black breeches tucked in heavy boots. He offers his visitors tea and fruit. Speaking to-day to a representative of the Asso- ciated Press of what he had accomplished for sobri- ety in Russia, Mr. Tchelisheff said: " I was reared in a small Russian village without schools. I picked up an education from old news- papers and stray books. One day I chanced upon a book which treated of alcohol. It stated that vodka was poison. I was so impressed, knowing that everybody drank vodka, that I asked the first physician I met if the statements were true. He said yes. I decided to take every opportunity to discover more about the use of vodka. " At the end of the eighties there came famine in Russia followed by agrarian troubles. I saw a crowd of peasants demand from a landlord all the grain and foodstuffs in his granary, and I noted that every man who was taking part in this incident was a drinking man, while their abstemious fellow villagers had sufficient provisions in their own homes. " At Samara I decided to do more than passively disapprove of vodka. At this time I was an alder- man. Many tenants in my houses were working men. One night a drunken father in one of my houses killed his wife. Then I decided to fight vodka with all my strength. ■ lANUARV 1, 1915 ■■ On supposition that the government was selling vodka for revenue, I calculated the revenue received from its consumption in Samara. I then introduced a bill in the city council providing that the city give this sum to the imperial treasury with the request that the sale of vodka be prohibited. This bill was passed. The money was offered to the government, but the government refused it. " It dawned upon me that Russian bureaucracy did not want the people sober, because it was easier to rule autocratically a drunken mob than a sober people. " That was seven years ago. Later I was chosen mayor of Samara, and subsequently elected to the duma on an anti-vodka platform. In the duma I proposed a bill permitting the inhabitants of any town to close the local vodka shops, and providing also that every bottle of vodka should bear a label with the word poison. At my request the wording of this label, in which the evils of vodka were set forth, was done by Leo Tolstoi. This bill passed the duma, but in the imperial council was amended and finally tabled. " I then begged an audience of Emperor Nicholas. He received me with great kindness, and listened to me patiently. He was impressed with my recital tliat more revolutionary and social excesses were committed by drunkards than by any other class. He promised to speak to his minister of finance concerning the prohibition of vodka. " Disappointed at the failure of my bill, I had abandoned my seat in the duma. It was evident the bureaucracy had obstructed the measure. Minis- ter of Finance Kokovsoff regarded it as a dangerous innovation, depriving the government of 1,000,000,- 000 rubles ($500,000,000) yearly. " While I lobbied in Petrograd the emperor visited the country around Moscow and saw the havoc of vodka. He then dismissed Kokovsoff and appointed the present minister of finance, M. Bark. " Mobilization precipitated the anti-vodka measure. The grand duke, remembering the disorganization due to drunkenness during the mobilization of 1904, ordered prohibition except in first-class clubs and restaurants. ^ This order, enforced for one month, showed the Russian authorities the value of absti- nence. In spite of the depression of war, the paraly- sis of business, and the closing of factories, the people felt no privation. Savings banks showed an increase in deposits. There was a boom in the sale of meats, groceries, clothing, dry goods, and house furnishings. " The 30,000,000 rubles a day that had been paid for vodka were now being spent for necessities. The average working week increased from three and four days to six, the numerous holidays of the drinker having been eliminated. The working day also became longer, and the efficiency of the worker was perhaps doubled. Women and children who were seldom without marks showing the violence of husband and father, suddenly found themselves in an undreamed-of paradise. There were no blows, no rough treatment, and no insults. There was bread on the table, milk for the babies, and a fire in the kitchen. " I decided to seize this occasion for a press campaign so far as this is possible in Russia. I organized delegations to present petitions to the proper authorities for prolonging this new sobriety for the duration of the war. This step found favor with his imperial majesty, and an order was issued to that effect. A similar campaign to remove the licenses from privileged restaurants and clubs was successful, and strong liquor was no longer of value anywhere in Russia. " The second month of abstinence made the mani- fold advantages so clear to everybody that when we called upon bis majesty to thank him for his recent 43 orders he promised that the vodka business of tlie government would be giveu up forever." XO MORE HEROIC REFORM MEASURE WAS EVER INTRODUCED BY ANY GOVERNMENT." A friend in New York sent the following, but neglected to say what New York paper it comes from: EUS.SIA'S GREAT DRINK REFORM. If the manufacture, sale, and consumption of whisky and all "hard" liquor were suddenly stopped in the United States — if the country's 2300 distil- leries were put out of business by a stroke of the pen, and the Government's income of $163,879,3-12 yearly from this source absolutely cut off — we should have a condition of things approximately resembling that brought about in Russia by the abolition of the vodka traffic. Yet even this parallel does not fully represent the revolution in Russia's drinking habits whereby 150,000,000 persons are affected at an annual cost to the Government of $500,000,000 in revenue. Doubtless no more heroic reform measure was ever introduced by any Government. It has re- mained for the absolute monarchy whose name is synonymous with oppression, but which yet antici- pated our own free nation in liberating the serf, to give force to what is altogether the most remarkable temperance movement in the world's history. Here is something more, from the New York Times: But that Russia will profit in every way except that of immediate and direct income from such suppression of the use of vodka as is attained need not be seriously doubted. As always, too, the loss of revenue will be more than balanced by increased capacity to pay taxes, and possibly in the increased sobriety of its people the great empire will find more than compensation for its military expenditures of money and men. France seems to be meditating like though less sweeping reforms, and hints of similar plunges into abstinence more or less nearly total are coming from other countries involved in the war. It all marks the world's new appreciation that alcohol and effi- ciency of any sort do not go together. This fact is now demonstrable by scientific tests of the most convincing sort, and it applies to war as well as to any other form of activity. WHAT A QUART OF WHISKY MAY COST A COUNTY. Since there has been such a talk about the loss of revenue if the saloons were ruled out, the following, clipped from the Xew Republic, may give us some light on the subject : One of the citizens of Belmont County went to Bellaire some years ago and bought a quart of whis- ky, got drunk, and went out and killed a man. It cost the county about $5000 to send the murderer to the penitentiary. The circuit court set aside the verdict, and sent the case back to the lower court for a new trial. It cost tlie county about $6000 more to land the man behind the bars at Columbus. Two years later Governor Harmon pardoned the murderer. The fellow went right back to Belmont County and bought another quart of whisky, got drunk, and killed another man. It cost the county $5000 more to send him again to the penitentiary. Once more the circuit court reversed the decision and sent it back on error for a new trial. The de- fendant asked for a change of venue, and the case was heard in Jefferson County. It cost Belmont 44 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE County approximately $8000 more t-o send the man finally to the penitentiary for life. Of course, the distiller who made the whisky which, in turn, made the murderer, was not pun- ished in any way. Neither was the saloonkeeper who sold the man the whisky. The reader can see from this one incident how the profits on that bushel of corn went glimmering, and the other fourteen quarts are yet to be heard from. However, it may be that one other quart out of that same bushel of corn has gotten in its work in Belmont County, for a few months ago the papers over there announced that the brother of the man who cost the county so much money as the result of drinking two quarts of whisky, purchased a quart of the same stuff, got drunk, and killed a man. Quite likely it will cost about the same amount by the time the case is finally disposed of. In addition to all the expense, five families of the county have been deprived of their breadwinners, and the taxpayers of Belmont County are far from unanimous in a desire to turn any more of their corn into whisky. There are two morals that might be de- duced from the above transaction. First, the folly of selling whisky for beverage purposes; second, the folly of having an "easy" Governor who may be led to pardon a man out after he has, at an enormous cost, been landed behind the prison bars for the safety of the community. The Governor doubtless thought that, if he would give this prisoner his liberty, he would profit by liis lessons; but he demonstrated to that neighborhood, and to the wJiole wide world, for that matter, that his place, and his only fit place, is behind prison walls. And then, again, it would indicate that his craze for whisky and murder runs in the family. I do not believe in the pardoning business, espe- cially pardoning out criminals guilty of crimes like those pictured above. GOOD NEWS FROM ARIZONA. On Nov. 3 we voted Arizona dry by 3891 votes. But we had a hard fight to win, as the wets worked very hard, and they sent out a large amount of lit- erature, judging by what I received myself through the mail. I am .sorry to hear that the grand old State of Ohio went wet, as that is my home State, as I was born six miles east of Lima. I had the privilege of visiting your factory at Medina in Sept., 1911, and will say I enjoyed the visit very much, as all the men seemed willing to an- swer any questions that I would ask them, and they all treated me very nicely. Buckeye, Ariz., Nov. 17. Albert J. Ross. A "wet" exposition; should it be patronized? Dear Mr. Root: — I am a stranger to you, but you are not to me. My father has taken your paper for twenty years, and my grandfather took it from its first publication. We like your paper very much, especially the Home talk. As you seem interested in the temperance cause I thought a little " dry " talk would be of interest. San Francisco went wet six to one — a very nice place to invite our friends to the exposition next year, isn't it? I am telling my friends in the East not to come. A man who lived there said it is no uncommon thing to find dead bodies floating in San Francisco Bay. I am a girl eighteen years old. My father keepi bees, and I am much interested in them; also in th« proliibition cause. Corning, Cal., Nov. G. Cakoline Hubert. Thanks for your suggestion, my good friend; but are not the temperance people somewhat at fault that California went so very wet? It is reported the drys tried to pass a law making it a penitentiary offense to purchase and drink California wines in one's own home. We, even in this fight, must be " wise as serpents and harmless as doves." CIGAEETTES, AND TOBACCO IN GENERAL ; WHAT THE OHIO FARMER SAYS ABOUT IT. We take pleasure in clipping the follow- ing from the Ohio Farmer of a recent date. Government statistics show that during the year 1913 the people of the United States consumed cigarettes to the number of 14,530,486,200. This was an increase of 2,186,633,708 over the previous "banner year." Think of it I This is an average of 39,000,000 cigarettes each day, and the total value of all of these cotifin-nails was $72,781,626. One authority has estimated that it must have been necrs- sary for 1500 boys to fall victims to the devastating habit each day, in order to keep up this terrific de- mand. It is also observed by sociological workers and students of the general question that the taste for liquor in a mild form is inspired by constant smoking, and the habit is thus responsible for many of the most serious woes of society. Dr. Dennis, of the medical school of Cornell University, states that " the tendency to beer-drinking is greatly strengthen- ed by cigarette-smoking, because this habit becomes almost constant, causing a dryness of the throat and fauces, and hence irritating the throat." Another effect of cigarette smoking, we are told, is that it lands more boys in the police and juwenile courts than all other habits combined. One city magistrate testifies that out of 300 boys brought before him, charged with various crimes, 295 were cigarette- smokers. While it may not be true to say that every boy who smokes cigarettes acquires criminal tenden- cies, it is true, beyond question, that every boy or immature man who indulges in the habit to any extent suffers certain physical impairments that les- sen his value as a worker, either with his muscle or his brain; and he is placing a serious obstacle in the way of his success by continuing the habit. The records of Harvard University have been cited to the effect that while over 83 per cent of the students use tobacco, for over 50 years no tobacco-user has stood at the head of his class. Smoking in any form does not do the smoker any real good, although it may soothe him and furnish him a certain amount of amusement and indulge a taste that has been ac- quired. It is less injurious to mature men than to young men who are just getting their development ; and the boy who wishes to make the most of his career should refrain from tobacco. May the Lord be praised that we have at least one agricultural paper that dares to come out like the above, not only against cigarettes but against tobacco in general, especially while it is true that so many men occupying prominent positions continue to set a bad example before the boys gi'owing up all around them. Ikt dnltutt A..ijpl*iuv< - • ■I^v.. ^:¥-'ars. Tlie original queen, which he calls S ( from wliich many non-swarming queens uHie reared) lived nearly four years, the last ten months of her life having with her a successor, S'. S' lived more than four years ; her successor, S", being with her the last three months of her life. S" reared a successor when a few daj's more than four years old. Excellent work was done bj- the colony all the while. No wonder the Swiss believe in breeding for longevity and toward non-swarming. " If you u.se full sheets of foundation in sections it really pays to fasten it with melted wax an inch or so from the top on each side, to prevent ihc iciideucy of the sheets swinging over when tiie bees cluster on one side, so that the comb is attached to the separator," p. 954. Formerly I had trouble that way, but not a single case for many a year. My remedy is much better than melted wax. Simply have strong colo- nies so the super will be crowded with bees, and then never will " the bees cluster on one side." [Your remedy is all right; but not all colonies will be up to the required strength. You would say, " Do not run tliem for comb honey, then." Perhaps you would be wise. — Ed.] F. A. Hannemann, inventor of the zinc perforated queen-excluder, was born in Wartenberg, Germany, May 25, 1819. He came to Brazil, South America, in 1853, bringing with him two colonies of bees, which he increased the first summer to 28. He sold five of these, and increased the remaining 23 the next summer to 250. July 24, 1912, he died near Rio Paulo, Brazil. [The scheme of making holes big enough to let workers pass, and not cjueens or drones, is not one of the minor inventions in beedom. It is evident that Hannemann was not aware of the importance of his invention at the time. — Ed.] Please^ Mr. Editor, don't say a V starter in a section is a satisfactory compromise, p. 954. It's false econom\. The bees will fill out with drone-comb; and unless you use excluders the queen will go up and fill out your sections with drone-brood. [We grant that it is false economy to use V-shaped starters; also false economy to use nari'ow starters an inch deep at the top. But there are W.c^q who believe that full sheets of fouuuation cause too much midrib in the comb honey, and a tendency to revive the so-called manufactured comb-honey canard of years ago. Said a prominent honey- buyer two weeks ago, "I believe tliat all comb honey should be jModuced with nar- row starters because full sheets make too much midrib in the honey." We ventured the suggestion that he could not tell, by eat- ing, comb honey made on full sheets of foundation from that on narrow starters; but he thought he could. Personally we do not believe there is any appreciable differ- ence in the midrib — certainly none that the l)ublic will recognize. But there are those who believe that it is unwise to use full sheets, for the reason stated, and hence our suggestion in the way of a compromise to use a V-shaped starter. — Ed.] GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE J. E. Crane I IF" TT I N G § I Middlebiiry, Vt. That is certainly a " new discov- ery " or method of making chaff division-boards, fully described on pages 833, 834, Nov. 1, and well worthy of following. Many colonies in this section have gone into winter quarters much lighter in bees than usual, and it will not be surprising if there is considerable loss in wintering. Such results are apt to follow a poor season as well as foretell a good one. » * * Wesley Foster, page 751, Oct. 1, says the Government bulletin on sweet clover should be in the hands of every person who wants to sow the seed. Quite right you are, my brother; and you might have added that it ought to be in the hands of every person whose land is adapted to its growth. * * * Our friend Arthur C. Miller, page 842, Nov. 1, quotes Allen Latham as saying that " good clean spit is the best thing for di- luting royal jelly." This would seem to exclude those who use tobacco from this method of reducing royal jelly to a more fluid condition. I am sorry for them. » * * The experiments of the Department of Agricultui-e at Washington begin to throw a good deal of light on the subject of win- tering. The discovery that has interested me most has been that, the lower the tem- perature outside the cluster, the warmer it is likely to be inside the cluster. This may account for the brood we often find in strong colonies in February, our coldest month. • » # Mr. Ames, in the Nov. 15th issue, gives a nicely illustrated article on wintering bees in a four-hive case witli permanent bottom- board, somewhat after the plan of Holter- niann. Those four-hive cases certainly look good, and I am sure they can do their part in cari-ying a colony through our cold win- ters; but I doubt if they are much better than single hives well packed. I made a case three years ago that would take twelve single-walled hives with their entrances at four points of the compass. They are well packed, and wintered well ; but I fail to see that they do any better than in well-packed single hives. « • • Page 81(), Oct. 15, in footnote to Mr. J. J. Wilder's article, you appear, Mr. Editor, to lake issue with him, contending that, if a (en-frame hive is the best size in one loca- tion, it must be in another. I honestly be- lieve you are mistaken. Many of Mr. Wil- der's yards are quite peculiar. In those places where the partridge pea is his chief source of surplus, the bees do not .breed up into strong colonies for the reason that, while working on this source, they gather very little pollen, but they gather the nectar from glands from the base of the leaf-stalk. As a result, the amount of brood in most of these hives is quite limited, and colonies rather small. Of course a small brood- chamber will force such colonies into supers much better than a ten or twelve frame hive. I can well believe his statement that eight half-depth Lang-stroth frames are prefer- able to full-depth frames, as such would be ample for the brood, and it would force the bees to store most of their surplus above in the .super. [Your points are well taken if the conditions are as you state. — Ed,] * * * There seems to be some mistake as to the amount of sugar syrup required to draw out a set of frames of foundation. The editor says that the foreman of the yards at Medina says, page 794, Oct. 15, that a colo- ny drew out six combs of comb foundation one-half on one quart of sugar syrup, half and half, and that he thought they would complete the job on another quart. As a quart of syrup of this quality would weigh about 2 lbs. 10 oz., two quarts would con- tain 2 lbs. 10 oz. of sugar. If this was enough to produce six combs complete, then it would require 7 ounces per comb, or 3 lbs. 8 oz. of sugar to fill an eight-frame hive. Eight frames of drawn comb would weigh somewhere from a pound to a pound and a half of wax more than the foundation used to fill the frames. Some have thought it takes 25 lbs. of honey to produce a pound of wax; some have thought 20 lbs. Others have estimated that it takes from 10 to IG lbs., while these Medina bees are able to produce a pound or a pound and a half of wax on 3I/2 lbs. of sugar. Well, I am not going to say they didn't do it, or that other bees can not do it while you are feeding that amount of sugar syrup. They will sometimes do it without any feeding at all; but I am a little skeptical about their doing it from the syrup fed them alone. Were they not getting more or less from the fields at the same time? [See what R. F. Holtermann has to say on this subject, p. 13, last issue. — Ed.] .lANUAKY 15, 1915 BEEKEEPING IN CALIFOMNIA P. C. Claadwiel In the editorial columns there appeared a word of caution to would-be inventors of new hives and fixtures. The warning is doubt- less timely ; but all we now liave we owe to the dreams of enthusiasts and the experiments of the dream- ers. There are many thing's yet to come in the advancement of our industry, and it would be far better to disappoint than to discouraire the good that comes from them. If we are all successful in producing a crop of honey each j'ear, we should fail from overproduction. Did you ever stop to consider what would happen if it were pos- sible to pay every laborer in the United States ten dollars per day for thirty days to cease labor? The nation would starve to death. If we fail to get a crop, there is always some other place to till the place we leave. If some other place fails we shall ofttimes be benefited by their failure. So the world goes. Production is based on ups and downs, in a give-and-take manner. With the president of our State Associa- tion, as well as a majority of the executive board in the North, a new era has begun in our State Association. I am of the opinion it will result in a much more healthy condi- tion of affairs. The fact that it will elim- inate the petty politics which has been far too prevalent in the South is worthy of consideration. In Prof. Willis Lynch, Harry K. Hill, and J. G. Gilstrap we have a strong trio to govern the body. That Prof. Lynch as president will be the strongest and most efficient man for the place that we have had in recent j'ears is well known. He is a scholar, gentleman, and a man of wide ex- perience and travel, with a most pleasing personality and kindly disposition, and en- joys the confidence of all. M. H. Mendle- son deserves thanks for his unrelenting fight for the North. • • • Wesley Foster speaks of the prohibition amendment carrying in Colorado. Well, it did not carry in California by a great many thousand. I hardly thought it would, on account of the tremendous innnence the gi'ape industry gave the liquor men in fight- ing the amendment. If it had been only a question of killing the saloon alone it would have carried handsomely. Now the grapemen are fearing the result of another election in 1916, and are asking that the saloon men get out from behind them. I could stand it all pretty well as to that part ; but when San Francisco voted three to one to defeat the red-light abatement law my shame for tliat city was complete. The loyal support of the rest of the State, however, overcame tlie result in San Francisco. San Diego voted three to one for the law, thanks to her good people. We are inviting the world to the two great fairs that are to be held at these cities. Our sons and daughters are invited to come to a city whose moral test has just been given. Shame, for the show- ing of San Francisco ! » « « A movement has been started in San Francisco to divide the State into two parts — the southern part to include the counties of Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange, San Diego, and Imperial. A- division has been talked of before in the South, due to the impression that the southern half of the State is paying an unjust proportion of the State tax. This time the movement has start- ed in the North, due to great dissatisfaction on moral lines. The North (principally San Francisco) is angry because the southern half voted the red-light extinguisher amend- ment to the constitution on them, besides giving them an uncomfortable feeling on the prohibition question. In the South there is a feeling of as deep dissatisfaction over the showing of the North on these lines. So in common they have a feeling of desir- ing to eliminate each other. If the question should be submitted to a referendum I should not be the least surprised to see the sepai-ation come about. Should it come about it would leave almost the entire sage- producing section in what would be known as Southern California, while the only re- gion producing alfalfa honey would be in Imperial County. The South would be, in my opinion, the gainer in this line, for prac- tically all sage honey would come from the southern section, and would soon be known to be the only sage-producing State. With the grape industry eliminated there is no doubt that Southern California would be a dry State. GLEANINGS IJST BEE CULTURE Beekeeping in the Southwest Louis H. Sclioll, New Braunfels, Texas. Kain, rain, rain, and slusli. This is a very general condition in Tex- as this December. Good fall and ■winter rains mean good honey crops the following year, however. iiitciesting indeed to study nature's flowers, and doubly interesting if we consider the value attached to these flowers from an apicultural standpoint. Inventory time was here at the close of last year. I wonder how many beekeepers have taken stock of their possessions; and how many are going to keep books during 1915, so that they may be enabled to "know where they are " any time during the year. * * * COMB HONEY ON HIVES IN WINTER. The bad roads, caused by the long-contin- ued rainy weather, have prevented hauling home a large part of our comb-honey crop. As a consequence, something over 35,000 pounds of choice white comb honey is still on the hives. As many as three and four supers are tiered up on many colonies. As we have not had much very cold weather, none of it has even begun to granulate; and as there is always a great deal of well-sealed comb honey that does not granulate at all during some winters, we hope that this may become true with all of it this year. As soon as the roads permit, most of the honey will be hauled in and put in "warm storage" liowever. This should prove an experiment of some value to the bulk-eomb-honey pro- ducers who sometimes have difficulty in disposing of all their honey in the fall. « « « THAT BEE-BOTANY DEPARTMENT. I am one, Mr. Editor, who would favor such a department in Gleanings. It is very essential that we be better acquainted with the flowers that yield the nectar for our honey crops. It is very important that we know the honey-yielders so that we can locate our bees properly and to the best advantage. Even outside of that, most of us do not live merely to make money out of every thing that we do ; but for those of us who are after more knowledge of those things that have to do with our chosen pur- suit, such a department could be made of considerable interest. I worked for yeai'S on the collection of Texas honey-yielding plants, and I believe I have about as large a private collection of the honey flora of one State as anybody. But I ha\e not had the time nor have I been able to collect all the honey and pollen yielding plants that grow in Texas which help more or le.«s in the yield of honey, jjollen, or both. It is when TO FEED THE BEES. This question is asked very often indeed. There seems to be no end to it, in spite of the fact that it is so often discussed in the bee- journals. I have always been of the opinion that bees sliould be so managed as not to require feeding at all. However, there are times during a season when the colonies may become so short of stores that it becomes absolutely necessary to give them such assistance as they may need in order to tide them over. But outside of this I do not believe that it is as profitable to feed the colonies either in the fall or in the spring as it is to leave plenty of honey on the hives in the fall. We have found that colonies with plenty of stores in the hives during the winter and throughout the fol- lowing spring always build up to rousing strength with very little attention, and are the colonies that gather the most honey during the honey-flows, especially the early flows. We have made it a practice, there- fore, for many years, not to take honey from colonies too closely, but to leave really more honey than they may need. The re- sult has been that we are enabled to get just so much better yields from our colonies than those beekeepers who believe in " rob- bing close," and then depending upon feed- ing sugar syrup in case the colonies need it. The trouble about such a plan is that too often the feeding is either neglected alto- gether, or not properly done, or not enough is fed for best results. Another objection that we have toward wholesale feeding is that it wears the bees out unnecessarily when they are needed the most. This is especially true in the spring, when every bee is worth several bees later in the season. Even in the fall it is a good plan to disturb the bees as little as possible. If we feed them, the wearing-out effect it has on the bees begins to show very early the follow- ing spring in that they die much earlier, and at a time when we ought to have them to aid in the early brood-rearing operations. Tiie better way is to leave plenty of stores on the hives in the fall; and this will not only save feeding and the trouble connected with it, but will give the best icsnlls in the way of stronger colonies anEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE GENERAL COEEESPONDENCE EIGHT-FOOT FENCES AIROUND THE BEE=YARDS BY R. F. HOLTERMANN In " Siftings," page 883, Nov. 15, J. E. Crane does not agree with me upon the point of high-fence protection for bees. Now, I have met Mr. Crane at conventions in years gone by, and I have always valued his sound practical judgment. 1 read his department with interest, and find it in- structive. There may be a condition, other than the fence, which brings about the re- sult he mentions, or I have never knowingly had the combination of conditions he men- tions. It is possible to find something an unqualified success for years, and then, owing to the introduction of another com- bination of conditions, find that in that par- ticular instance it was a failure. Mr. Crane states, "I have known just such a yard hope- lessly ruined in spring by such a fence. If the weather should be sunny, with cool north winds, such a yard will be many degrees warmer than outside." I reasoned that way before I tested the matter, but have never had the result he mentions. Now let me say this : If bees are packed, there are many days when, so packed, they will not be influenced by the sun's warm rays, when, with less packing at the en- trance, or with single-walled hives, they will be drawn out of the hive when the cold wind outside of the hive would be injurious to them. This is obvious, and is particularly true if the bees have had a cleansing flight. With the winter packing as I have described it, there is another advantage; and that is, that the first flight they have, unless there is an extraordinary rise of temperature, will not be at the same time with all the colonies. The stronger colonies, and those requiring a flight the most, will be those coming out first ; and perhaps — in fact, quite often — those not requiring a flight will not fly at all the first day it is possible for them to fly. If a long time elapses between the time the well-wintering colonies might have had a fliglit, and when they can again fly, it may be an act of wisdom to disturb such colonies the first time when conditions are favorable. They will then winter better. This is pai'- ticularly true of mid-winter flights under favorable conditions. Next the side of the winter case from which the bees fly is not close to openings in the case in front, or the first to the right or left of it. This is on account of the way the eases are placed, with the object of breaking the rows of flight. Where hives are set out of the cellar, and placed in rows with the entrances all in the same direction in the row, the tendency — yes, general result — is for all the bees to fly about the same time, resulting in tre- mendous excitement, and liability of the bees drifting, by which we mean that the bees are attracted to the most populous colonies or to the ends of rows. By having just a certain combination of circumstances it would seem possible to have the result Mr. Crane mentions; but I have not so far had this condition, and I have had more loss in years past from not having the protection now given. What I should like to ask Mr. Crane is. Was the fence about 8 ft. high? were the bees packed in outer cases? and were the cases so placed as to break the openings in the rows so as to have every second case each way without an opening for the bees to fly from? Let me again say, I do not despise^in fact, I wish, if possible — a location with natural shelter; but I would sooner have the protection from spring cold winds a dis- tance of 8 ft. from the ground than to have none; and when it comes to winter protec- tion T consider such protection almost im- perative. TARTARIC ACID. Mr. Crane is also inclined to find no use for tartaric acid. I find that, by using it, I can make the syrup thicker than if I do not use it. I am an advocate of late fall feeding in my section. With 100 colonies T like to feed about Oct. 15. Tlie weather may be cool at that time; and if the syi-up is made 2^ parts sugar to one part water it may crystallize so that is it difficult for the bees to take it. This is found particularly true if an inverted perforated feeder is used, for the crystals tend to form at the bottom of the food. Where tartaric acid is used this crystallization does not readily take lilace. More than that, where this thick syrup is left in the jar I have known the jars to break from the process of crystalli- zation inside. Why or how I cannot tell; but that it takes place I know to my cost. Whore tartaric acid has been used the lANUARY 15, 1915 crystals are an entirely different formation. Tliey take very much longer to form, and they never break the jar. On the ground of cheraisti7 the advantage 111 tartaric acid can be explained. The bees storing the syrup i-apidly cannot be expected to invert it as thoroughly as with nectar wliich they gather thin from the field, and then have to evaporate to a consistency equal to the syrup made according to the above directions. A young man, quite close- ly related to me so far as practice is con- cerned, used to despise tartai'ic acid; but recently he experienced this ei-ystallizing in cool weather, and remedied it by reheating the syrup in the feeders and adding tartaric acid. Brantford, Canada. MOVING BEES IN CAM LOTS A New Arrangement of the Staging to Secure Greater omy of Space ligidity and Econ- BY J. G. BROWN Mr. Brown, recently from Colorado, is now one of our apiarists. He accompanied the second car of lees tu the Dismal Swamp. — Ed. On page 547, July 15. 1914, appeared an illustration of a plan of car staging for moving bees by rail used by The A. I. Root Co. in shipping bees to and from Florida. Rut the severe strain to which the staging i> subjected when holding a heavy load, and tiie bumps of the locomotive when switching, together with the exces- sive freight rates on bees, which in turn makes necessary the conserv- ing of all possible room in the car, caused the devising of a more substantial and at the same time a more economical plan for future car eratings. It will be noted by referring to tlie illustration mentioned above tl'.at the uprights bore the weight of all the tiers of hives above them, plus the weight of the stag- ing. When the distance from the I lip of the upper tiers of hives to the railroad track is taken into consideration, together with the heavy mo- tion of the car, the reader will form some idea of the strain upon the uprights. Neither will he be surprised that a part of the stag- ing gave way in the first car, and Mr. Marehant was compelled to stop ears in >^^^^^^^^^^^^M ^^^^H^I^^^^^^P IkI'^^ ■ ' '^^^^^^^^^^^^^^1 ^^^^^^^t^^^^^ - "^.ly^ li^^^^W^^HI^I ^^^^^^^^Hl t^ »L>i^^^^ '^g'^'^JJ^^^^mBWM ^^^^^H^^ ji^''.' • ■ - • *i HH^hH ^9MH||k ^^^uk^^^ ^ The cover on, aud the job complete. The cover is roofed with a good quality of paper, and painted. The other productions ran from forty down as low as twejity, and four said they had no surplus at all, and were heavy sugar-buyers in preparation for the winter months. The drouth of the late summer and fall months curtailing bloom was given as the cause of the light crop. One of the most interesting talks of the convention was made by H. C. Ahlers, West Bend, Wis., who related some of his ex- periences in shipping his apiaries to vast Spanish-needle beds on the bottoms adjoin- ing the Illinois and the Mississippi rivers. The cost of freighting from his home to Louisiana was $170 a car one way — 500 colonies to the car. This did not include his own transportation traveling with the car; and this fact brought up the question as to the alleged unreasonableness in carrying a stockman free with liis stock and charging a beeman for the privilege of riding with and caring for his bees en route. Mr. Ahlers told how he managed to secure the colonies in the car so that thej^ will not be jolted out of place. He fastens stanchions in the car, leaving space to walk from one end of the car to the other. The space at the doors is left vacant for his own occupancy, but the hive.s are tiered up as high as the height of the car will j)ermit. Plank nailed on length- wise and crosswise at the doors are fastened GLEAT.aNGS IN BEE CULTURE to the stanchions and wedged tight, so that none of the hivos are jolted about. He eames 40 sixty-iDound cans of water, and gives this to the bees by pouring it on the screens at the top of the hives, the passage- way allowing him access for such purpose. An ordinary stock-car is used. Another apiarist told of using refrigerator cars, by which plan an even temperature was preserved en route. E. G. Bacon, of "Wisconsin, talked on the subject of educating the people to eat honey. It isn't enough to say to a family, " Eat honey." The thing to do is to tell them why they should do so, to demonstrate the mani- fold points of utility, and to point out opportunities to substitute honey for sugar. The beekeepers should start a propaganda of this nature, but it cannot be done unless the money is first raised. One of the speak- ers said that if every beekeeper would con- tribute the price of half a pound of honey much could be raised for such an educational campaign. People of other countries, no- tably Germany, consume vast quantities of honey, and at a cost much in excess of prices in this country. The question was brought up as to why the big bakeries are making use of less honey. It was stated that a big concern that formerly made use of 125 carloads is now using but fifteen. A South Water Street commission man said that the honey- sweetened cakes are less in favor. E. S. Miller, Valparaiso, demonstrated the use of a bee-cellar in wintering bees. The proper temperature in this cellar is evenly maintained by the use of a sub-earth vitrified eight-inch air-duct, starting fifty feet away from the building at the earth surface, and opening on the bottom of the cellar. The cellar, 18 x 24 x 7, has a story above it, and then an attic. An upright flue e.xtends from the bottom of the cellar through the roof, and n stove on the second floor heats the cir sufficiently to keep up a circulation. The basement is of concrete. In this cellar ]^£r. Miller winters from 100 to 200 colonies with good results. It is claim-id that only a vei-y small percentage of beekeepers belong to associa- tions, althouga memberships are increasing; and considering the crops of the last season, and the terr tory covered by the Chicago Northwestern, this convention was a good one, chock full of real live interest. A feature of the convention not printed in the program proved to be the most un- expected but none the less interesting. During the forenoon session of the first day a man who looked like a prosperous farmer, about sixty years old, and who had participated in some of the discussions, was seen to move toward a closed piano in the corner of the room during a recess. Above the buzz of conversation was heard a lively tune, and the player was discovered to be the farmer beekeeper. He played none of the rag-time stuff of the present day, but the melodies which most people love. The name of the man at the jDiano is John Kleine, and his home is in Mendota, Illinois. He said that he had been playing the piano since he was a boy. He has a son and daughter, both musicians. The windows of his music -room open out into his beeyard; and when asked if he played for the bees as well as for himself and his family he said lie did. No one at the convention volunteered any remarks as to the effect of music on bees. The subject wasn't discussed; but we know of several instances in which dairjTVomen and dairymen believe in the efficacy of music for the cows at milking time. Chicago, 111. A FINE FLORIDA BEE PASTURE BY F. M. BALDWIN A city engineer has little time for any thing but his regular task; but the close of the second week in October gave me a few hours oft", and I took advantage of it to cross the river and hurry to the country south of Bradentown to see the bees that I had recently obtained from J. B. Notestein. I had bought four hives of him; and, acting on the advice of that expert beekeeper, C. H. Clute, I had divided three of them, one being too weak for successful division. My route took me just east of the creek where A. I. Root's ducks met the alligator. Just a little south of his chicken-yard was a great patch of gold gemming the landscape. A little further my eyes were gladdened by two more. Then there were others ; and east of Bro. Ault's home yard was a great field of the cloth of gold. The wild sunflower was coming into full bloom. No nectar yet — but, ah the promise ! An examination of the hives revealed lots of brood and much new honey, evidently from Spanish needle, of which there were quantities on every side. To add to my expectations, goldenrod was beginning to TAxrAin" Fig. 1. — Colonies strong in honey above and below, and only six weeks on the stands, during which time each colony was divided twice. show color, and tliat is usually followed by sweet myrtle, from which enough stores are irathered to carry us through to orange bloom in February and March. On my way back to Palmetto I plucked a big bunch of wild sunflower to prove to Mr. Clute that things were going well with my bees. But he had been further afield than I, and my tale was but a tame one to the one he could tell. THE BIG SAWGRASS. In the vernacular of South Florida, " a sawgrass " is a flat that is under water most of the year, and on which grows a wild grass with a fine saw edge. It is what covers most of the Everglades, and its presence means first-class land, rich and black. We have many sawgrasses in Mana- tee County — some of them covering hun- dreds of acres. The tract to which the title *' The Big Sawgrass " is applied is about a mile north of Erie station, on the Seaboard R. R. It covers about a thousand acres. Too wet as a rule for fall and winter crops, it is given over to tomatoes in the early spring, and brings bountiful crops of them. The rest of the year it is covered with smartweed, thoroughwort, and wild sunflow- er. For the sake of brevity I shall call the last-named flower W. S. F., and the tract fif land a.s the B. S. Ci. The last week in August Mr. H. L. Christopher, discouraged with the poor yield he was getting at Terra Ceia Junction, moved his bees to a live-oak hammock on the west side of the B. S. G. As Mr. Clute is the adviser of everybody in this section who works with bees, Mr. Chris- topher had taken him out that tlay lo see what wonderful luck he was having, and to 65 get his suggestion as to future manipula- tions. The tale he had to tell so far exceeded mine that I soon stop- ped talking and took to listening. Having first seen the light in that great State on the west bank of the Father of Waters that takes its name from the mighty Missouri, T had to be shown, and we agreed to run up to Erie Monday after- noon and look the B. S. G. over. About 3 p. M. the train left us at the lit- tle flag station, and we walked north across the prairie through the saw palmetto. A mile and a half of that kind of thing grows monotonous, and we were not sorry to rest and look at the flight of booming bees. The 20- weak colonies had been divided and were now fifty strong ones. Hives from which colonies had twice been started were cai-rying a super, and the super was full of capped honey. Every hive of the fifty was heavy with stores, and seemed to be begging for combs or founda- tion— any old thing in which to place nee- tar. To us it looked almost like a crime that the beekeeper was not right there vig- orously running an extractor. It was more room or a bad case of swarming, and that right then. Before he would let me snap a picture, Mr. Clute insisted that we take the liberty of sampling smartweed honey, which he said was of the best. A taste was all that was needed to convince me that it was A No. 1 white, of fine flavor, and should command a top price in any market. The picture was then taken, and we started to explore the B. S. G. Explore is the con-eet term. It was a wilderness of weeds, many of them far above our heads, and only by hard work could we make any headway through the tangle of heavy growth. The bees sailed over it with ease, can-ying loads of sweets. But we could scarcely penetrate its dense jungle of grass and flowers. We knew that we were near the big drainage canal that had been completed within the last year, and thought that if Ave could get to it we could go east along its left bank to the head of the ditch. The steam-shovels had dropped the earth and marl fifteen feet from its banks, and we planned to travel along this spoilbank. But W. S. F. had 66 GLEANINGS IN BEE GULTURE Fig. 2. — The big drainage canal in Florida, showing how the wild flowers crowd the banks. comi^lete possession of the spoilbank also. We could not make progress along it, and we dropped down into the ditch and walked at the water's edge on a slippery, sloping- incline set at an angle of 45 degrees. After what seemed an hour we came to a bridge and a road which led toward the rail- way. We climbed out of the ditch into the road, catching a snap-shot by the way. Everywhere there were vast sti'etches of nectar-bearing plants. In a comparatively open place Mr. Clute gathered a bunch of boneset and held it up while he posed beside a clumj:) of W. S. F. that towered far above his head. The boneset and the smartweed had been in flower for more than six weeks. They looked as if they were taking a fresh siart with a second crop; and the W. S. F. that gemmed with gold this rich region was just coming into its own. There were acres upon acres of lioney — enough to keep a thousand colonies busy for months, and only fifty colonies at one corner. What a wealth of sweetness going to waste! As Av.e walked we discussed the wisdom of bringing bees to save a little of this vast store. Ours were doing well where they were. Spanish needle and goldenrod would give them pasture for a while, then would come sweet myrtle, on which they always grow rich. To move meant time, trouble, and expense. We thought we might as well let well enough alone. Then we talked of the future. What about 1915? Should we keep the bees on their present stands until after the orange and palmetto flow, then get them in June to the B. S. G. for a summer and fall killing? The old beekeepers, like Poppleton, claim that iheie is no honey-flow on this peninsula in August. But we lielieve we can show them that the last word has not yet been said about Florida possibilities. The longer one stays in this great State the more he finds what it can do. Mr. Christopher had a summer flow, and he was at least a month late getting there as we figure it. There are other sawgrasses, and they .should be as promising as this. IXTRODUCIXG BY SMEARING THE QUEEN WITH HOXET. Mr. Clute had a fine year — more than .30,000 pounds and 100 ]>er cent increase. If he cai'ries out tlie i^roject that we dis- cussed he should be able to show three times as good a year in the one that is coming. Like all old hands with tlie bees, he has a store of practical knowledge that is very valuable to the novice. On one occa- sion, when I had a high-priced queen to introduce, he said, *' Let the smoke method go. Put her in half a cup of honey. Don't be afraid to push her 'way down into it with your fingers. Smear her all over. The bees will lick her clean. Get her covered deep, and pour her and the honev into the to]) of the brood-chamber." My heai-t sank when I saw her apparently drowned in tlie honey smothered in sweetness. But the deed was done, and I could tliink of no way to s:et the sticky stuff from hor body and wings. The bees would have to do it or she would be hopelessly smotheied. So into the liive T poui'ed her. When T opened the hive after several days I found that she had been :icce]ited. and Avas doing all that one could desire of the mother of the colony. Not long after, I repeated the operation. This lAXlTARY 15, 1915 67 Fig. 3. — Mr. C. H. Clute btaudiug in biuaitwetid aiul Loueset, looking up at the wild sunflower. time it was a virgin, and she was laying when next the hive was examined. Mr. (Mute claims to have used this method for years without a single failure. It is easy; anil, if safe, just what the fraternity has been looking for. Has anybody had an ex- jierienoe that has given a different result? Will some venturesome spirit please try it and report? It will probably prove simple, safe, and successful. CALIFORNIA CONVENTION KEPOMT BY P. C. CHADWICK The California State Beekeepers' Asso- ciation convention was held as scheduled, Dec. 16 and 17, at the Y. M. C. A., Los Angeles. The attendance was not up to the usual, which may be accounted for to some extent by the fact that rain and threatening weather continued throughout the two days. Tlie first session was called to order by the president, Mr. FaiTee, who gave what he called his message to the convention. Prof. ( 'ook being present, but unable to attend the following day, was given preference on the program. Ilis talk was both interesting and instructive, and he was given a vote of ll)anks for his remarks. He spoke briefly of the beekeeper and the horticulturist, after which he gave a long and interesting talk on honey as a food — its relation to the physical economy. Re\'iew5ng the food contents, especially sugar, in various food staples, and comparing them to honey wa.« tlie main feature of the address. It was tlie lii-st time tlie writer liad had an o]>portunity to hear Prof. Cook lecture, and it was the best discourse he has ever heard at State conventions. The association needs more men like him on the program each year. There are plenty of members who generalize in their thoughts; but to such men as Cook one must look for scientific facts. Following Prof. Cook's address the dis- cussion drifted into the weight of honey ])er gallon, cause of granulation, etc. The afternoon session was called together by Delos Wood, with Harry K. Hill acting secretary-. Few were i^resent at the begin- ning of the session ; but Mr. Wood announc- ed " One o'clock is one o'clock so far as I have ever been able to learn." The Los Angeles County inspector, Geo. Cr. De Sellen, gave a brief talk while mem- liei-s were getting to the liall. An interest- ing pa])er on marketing was read, discussioJi following, wliich drifted into the require- ments of the nel-weight law. Prof. Cook again spoke, this time his subject being (he proposed foul-brood law, in which he warned the members against 68 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE trying to force the bill through to the Governor as now proposed. His opinion was that tiie bill would be vetoed if the pro- vision which gives the president and secre- tary of the association control of the board by legislating them as members of the board with a controlling power. There was some disagreement with Prof. Cook's opinion, one member even declaring that the bill could be forced over the Governor's head ; but a very strong opinion prevailed that Hiram John- son is still very much in evidence as Govern- or of the State, and any such policy could not be accomplished. Mr. Wilson, the legal adviser of the asso- ciation, spoke briefly on legal lines, after which he was given a vote of thanks, as he had spent considerable time and energy on association work without charging for his services. The secretary's report was then read and adopted. A report was made by J. G. Gilstrap for Prc^f. Lynch, who is at the head of the northern division of the present exhibit committee, and who will have the responsibility for whatever exhibit is made at San Francisco. The exhibit as planned is to be of an instructive nature. On Thursday, the 17th, Delos Wood, act- ing as chairman of the convention, called the meeting to order promptly on time, George Brown acting as secretary. Few members were on time at the call. The reports of the county inspectors were taken up. All inspectors reported some loss by disease, black brood being the most preva- lent, with better conditions existing. The Los Angeles County inspector reported the number of colonies for his county, normally 60,000, had dwindled to 30,000. Great im- jn'overaent had been made by requeening. It was his impression that, by the end of another season, they would be back to their normal numbers. The open discussion as to the management of the journal, to which a number of the members had been assigned, was eliminated from the program, due to the fact that no good could be accomplished, and that it was sure to precipitate a very warm discussion, although there was no mention of these facts except a warning by L. B. Andrews. Mr. Andrews has a knack of sighting these riffles and avoiding them. The election of officers resulted as follows : Willis Lynch, president, with A. B. Shaffner i-e-elected as secretary. Seven candidates were nominated for the executive board with but tln-ee to elect. Harry K. Hill and J. G. Gilstrap were almost unanimously elected on the first ballot, with George Brown and W. H. Allen tied. Mr. Allen won out on the second ballot by three votes. This puts the control of the association in the North. An interesting report by J. Edgar Ross on his litigation over keeping bees in the city of Rrawley was read. An unmistakable case of bee-poisoning was also reported. The raising of a legal fund for the protec- tion of beekeepers was suggested by Mr. J. D. Bixby, which met a hearty response, and was immediately acted upon. The plan is to assess each member three cents per colo- ny, if need be, one cent to be available at once, the other two upon call. The conven- tion adjourned, with the understanding that it would probably be called in San Fran- cisco next summer. MORE ABOUT CAUCASIAN BEES BY J. J. WILDER In commenting on my previous article aboat Caucasian bees the editor states that they were great swarmers when under test; and from reports from other beekeepers they had experienced about the same thing; and, going further, in one of the articles, that on this trial the greatest season resulted with them in an almost complete honey failure on account of their high swarming impulse. Mr. Benton, the importer of these bees, made the statement more than once in his writings that they swarm too frequently, but that they are good honey-gatherers. Once in a great while a beekeeper might experience the same thing the editor and a few others have experienced with these bees; but even this might be said of what we call the best. This is surely not much grourd upon which to condemn. T have had years of experience with these bees in an extensive way, and have sent out several thousand of their queens to almost all parts of the TTnited States. From the purchasers many reports have returned, and not one has reported the editor's experience. Yes, without a single exception, based on reports, every one is pleased with this stock. T have had to discontinue the sales of these queens; and as I have none to offer T have no policy in this article except to bring out the facts about them as I have found iheni, and as others have repoi'ted. We have found Caucasian bees almost r.ANrAHY 15. 1915 noii-swaniiing under our methods of con- trolling;- tliom. We give tlieiu plenty of ventilation al the bottom of the hive, plenty of room at all times for the queen, and plenty of storing room, allowing no honey to be finished up next to the brood-nest dur- ing the height of the swarming season. The foundation is started and partly drawn out there, then raised, and another one given as long as they will draw out foundation. Then by our general method of frame manipula- tion we look over the brood-nost once a week during this time; and should any preparation for swarming be found we re- move the queen-cells or divide them up, making two colonies out of one. The latter we do mostly, for we want the increase. But there is only a very small part that ever attempts to swarm after the main honey-llow comes on, and the most of the increase is made on the first and second rounds in early spring. After the main honej'-flow is on, only two or three natural swarms will issue from each apiary ; and if we do not resort to frame manipulation the loss in bees is almost nothing. What about these few natural swarms from these bees? They are not more than a mere double handful of bees, and not worth hiving. We have left off having the farmers living ni'ar our apiaries hive swarms for us, should they find any. BUILDING UP. This alone is almost a redeeming feature over the Italians. Artificial feeding is not necessary to bring this about if there are any outside resources obtainable. It might be said that such rapid building up and great progress in this way, kept up throughout the season, might not always be in their favor. I have these bees in almost every kind of location in the South, and I never saw these colonies rise to such great pitch and go back. As a rule they maintain their strength, and store right on through- out the season. Of course progress may be slow at times when nectar is not so plentiful. On the other hand, what do these great rousing colonies mean to the beekeeper who wants to spread his business, especially in the spring? Well, it means almost any amount of increase he wants, right at a time when it will be best to make it. In doing this I usually find two full-depth eight- frame hive-bodies full of brood, and vei*y often a shallow extracting-super or two with some brood in them in addition. Very often I find as much as three bodies of brood, quite often four, sometimes five, and once in a great while six, with brood scat- tered througii them. This mav sound a little " fishy," or the limit on extremes; but as 1 liMNO a number of honest men working for Mie who know this to be a fact 1 am not afraid that I shall be branded as untruthful, Tlie beekeeper cannot afford to ignore this fact ; for it is a matter of great considera- tion by any beekeeper who is not pleased with the stock he has. AS HONEY-GATHERERS. 1 have mentioned tliis feature of these bees before in Gleanings, and it is not worth while to dwell on it, for the interested readers can refer back a few numbers and understand more fully. But under this head there is one more feature I wish to mention, and it is a redeeming one. I have often been astonished at the prog- ress these bees would make in storing in just a few days when the main flow came on heavily and suddenly, owing to moder- ating weather conditions. Up to May 10 this season it looked as if the crop from gallberry was going to be a failure. The bloom was far advanced; nothing ap- peared in the supers, and blooming would soon be past. But suddenly a great harvest took place at just the last moment as the blooming period was passing off. They just simply went wild over honey-gathering, and 1 never saw as great energy manifested in bees. They were simply ready for it in every way. We have few days of a great honey-flow in the South, and sometimes these are reduced to very few, owing to adverse weather conditions. The remainder of the season the flow is slow or weak, and a marvelous thing must take place during the short time it is at its best. FINISHING THE ARTICLE. There is nothing more fascinating than to remove from two to five supers of well- finished honey from each colony of Cauca- sians. These dark smutty-colored bees, when smoked, move down between the combs, in appearance like a dark mantle folding down from over the honej', which looks like frames of compacted snow, so beautifully white and evenly finished is it. This feature makes them marvelous indeed. Here in the South we produce much honey that is naturally thin in body, which, in the extracted form, ferments to some extent and gives dissatisfaction on the market. It results about the same in the comb form, the capping bulging and sweating, and hav- ing a greasy appearance. Such honey is simply too thin to be wholesome. This is found not only in the South but in the Xorth as well. The Caucasians, as a rule, evaporate this seemingly naturally thin iionev and give it a good body, and it is 70 GLEANIKGS IN BEE CULTURE much more wholesome. They are very slow to cap such honey — so much so that it looks as if they do not intend to. This is another good feature in them worthy of much praise. THEIR ONLY BAD FEATURE. The only thing that has ever been brought up against these bees that I consider worthy of argument is that they are bad to propo- lize or glue up the interior parts of their hives, and often deposit this glue in balls of considerable size in the most remote parts of the hive, and especially about the bottom, causing annoyance in frame manipulation. Since I have had these bees I notice that this bad feature is gradually leaving them. I have partly brought this about by breed- ing from stock less inclined to do this. But with good wide-open entrances, front and back, they make their deposits of glue there, endeavoring, seemingly, to close up these openings where it is easily removed, and we no longer consider this an objection. It has been the experience of all that this gathering of propolis does not occur except during a honey-dearth. Is not this evidence that they are great gatherers or very ener- getic foragers'? THEIR CROSSES. I have crossed them considerably with my Italians, and I like the cross as well as I do the pure stock. In fact, the " dash " of Italian blood seems to combine the good qualities of both races, and make a great strain of bees, in some particulars pref- erable to the liure stock. It seems to a great extent to eliminate the desire to gather propolis and build burr and brace combs, and does not change their good qualities. The only bad thing about crossing these two great races of bees in this way is that the cross will gradually go out in favor of the Caucasians. This is accounted for by the fact that they raise more drones. In jaoint of purity they are racially strong where Italians are weak. The reader should not think that I am condemning in the least the Italian bees. I Jiave over one thousand colonies headed with pui'e Italian queens as near the $20 mark as tbej' can be bred, and I expect to keep them and add more. Cordele, Ga. FIGHTING THE ANT INVADER BY E. S. MILES On page 944, Dec. 1, 1914, F. H. Cooper writes an interesting account of the insect and bird enemies of the bees in South Africa. I had kept bees a good many years, and in four or five different places, before I found there was an insect enemy formida- ble enough to make real trouble here in Iowa ; and this experience which I shall re- late may be so exceptional as to have no practical bearing. In fact, I think one would meet with it very rarely, and yet, as Mr. Cooper says, it might be interesting to read nevertheless. The enemy referred to must be about the same ant Mr. Cooper describes on page 945 as being bee-eater rather than a honey-eater. It is a large black ant, although, if I i^emember rightly, the fore part of its body is dark red in color. It lives in great colo- nies that gather small sticks and rubbish, and make a mound from 1^/2 to 3 feet in diameter, and perhaps a foot or more high. They also work down into the ground a foot or more, and in cold weather they go down and do not appear until the warm days of spring. On the fiist real warm days of spring, however, the top of their mound is black with them, and they can be seen run- ning in all directions, going mostly in certain paths or lines. These lines will go for several rods in all directions from the mound, the ants evidently traveling a regu- lar route or trail. They are usually to be found in old brushy or woody pastures, hence are not often if ever found on farms that are rotated in crops. In locating an outyard in the spring of 1912,in an old brushy pasture, never having lieard of ants bothering bees in Iowa, hence thinking of nothing of the kind, I set a yard down right in the center of a circle of five or six monstrous colonies of these ants. I did not notice the ants until we had the yard all rigged up, and then we did not know tliat the bees could not win out in a "scrap" with the little black demons. On the con- ti'ary, we expected to see some ants very glad to go on about their own business shortly after we set the bees loose in this yard. Xeai- where one of these ant-trails ran tlu'ough the yard we set what we considered a veiy vigorous colony of Italians — one that seemed very quick to notice and resent any intrusion into their domain, so we watched with somewhat pleasurable antici- ])ation to see Mr. Ant get shown the way out when he (or she) began investigating the entrance to the hive. Imagine our sur- jirise to see that, instead of Miss Bee grab- .TANUARY 15, 1915 71 t)in^ Mr. Ant ajid showins: him tlie door Mr. Ant ran risiht up to ]\Iiss Bc'c and ^^rabbed for her! At tliis tho bee turned, ran, and squealed, or whined, as Mr. Cooper calls it. To nie it sounded like a squeal of fear. "When the ants get hold of bees (thej' usually get them by the leg), the bees seem terrified, and usually ily away, ant and all. Sometimes a bee will get up courage enough to seize an ant, when they also Ily away witli them. I cannot say positively, but lliink from what obsen-ation I've had, that tlie ant never lets go. His grip is that of a bulldog, I believe, and while the bee rids the hive of one ant by flying, perhaps, far atield with him, yet it seems highly probable that the ant also holds the bee in a death- grip, so that she does not return. When we found that the ants would in a short time conquer the bees we got busy. We set one or two of the worst besieged hives up on stakes, painted around them with axle gi'ease, and sent at once for kerosene. We took a sprinkler and sprinkled kerosene over all the ant-mounds, and along the main trails Avhere they were traveling thickest, and set it afire. We used up probably a l)arrel of kerosene in getting the ants de- .>